Brothers and Sisters,

We should pray for one another. I know that you’ve heard this from me a thousand times. “Pray through the directory.” “Just pray for a page a day.” “Pray Scripture for your fellow church members.” You’ve heard it again and again, and now you’re hearing it again. In the words of Peter, “I intend always to remind you of these” things (2 Peter 1:12).

We should pray for one another, and we know it deep down in our hearts. But why should we pray for one another? There are a thousand reasons why, but I stumbled along one reason as I was reading through Colossians the other morning. Near the end of his letter in Colossians 4:12, Paul writes,

Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.

Do you see at least one reason why we ought to pray for one another? Ephaphras pleads on behalf of his brothers and sisters in Christ as Colossae. He prays and pleads on their behalf so that (indicative of purpose) they may all stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. Ephaphras prays for his brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae so that they may stand matured (fully spiritually developed) in Christ. Part of the means that God is pleased to use to bring about our personal spiritual maturity is the prayers of fellow saints, brothers and sisters in Christ.

I need your prayers to grow into maturity, and you and I both know that I need to grow into maturity. And…you need my prayers to grow into maturity too. In some respects, God has ordained that our growth in grace is dependent upon the prayers of others. The body of Christ is interdependent in many ways, and this is one of the ways that we depend upon each other, so let us not fail to struggle for one another in prayer.

You should know that the elders pray through a portion of the directory every other Monday night, and that the staff prays through a portion of the directory every Wednesday morning. Your brothers and sisters are struggling on your behalf in prayer, so let me encourage you to struggle on their behalf in prayer too. We need it. Our growth into maturity depends upon it.

Warmly in Christ,
Mike