The Nugget:
Col 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
My Comment:
There is much more to learn from Paul’s single-sentence summary of the prayer life of Epaphras!
Notice, third of all, that Epaphras labored fervently in prayer for the Colossians.
To explore more fully this aspect of the prayers of Epaphras, study the cross references I have collected for fervently in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge or The Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury.
If you compare the references in those sources they are not quite the same as those I have been sharing here. That is because as I study Colossians 4:12 in preparation for each of these posts I see improvements that can be made.
I am sorting the cross references so that they are given for the key words they properly relate to. I am discovering additional references to these themes in Colossians 4:12 that have not been given before. Enjoy my newly corrected and further expanded set of references below:
fervently. Luk 22:44, Rom 12:11, 1Th 2:8, Heb 5:7, Jas 5:16.
These texts read as follows:
Luke 22:44
44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
King James Version
Jesus is an example of fervency or earnestness in prayer; nevertheless, He included in His request that this prayer be answered according to God’s will.
Romans 12:11
11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
King James Version
At Romans 12:11 I have noted that “in business” may be translated as “earnest care (for others)” so as to read “Not slothful in earnest care for others; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord.” Epaphras certainly conforms to this command even in his prayer life.
1 Thessalonians 2:8
8 So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us.
King James Version
Hebrews 5:7
7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
King James Version
There are false religions as well as mistaken individuals who do not interpret Hebrews 5:7 correctly. They misread it as if this verse said Jesus prayed to be saved from death, and He was heard, which proves Jesus did not die on the cross.
Such an interpretation is mistaken because it contradicts the rest of the New Testament. It even contradicts the book of Hebrews itself (see Hebrews 12:2).
Such an interpretation is mistaken because it contradicts the Greek grammar involved. The translation “from death” is more accurately translated out of death. This prayer was answered because Jesus was saved out of (Greek, ek) physical death by bodily resurrection on the third day, exactly as Jesus repeatedly predicted (Mark 9:31. Luke 24:21).
James 5:16
16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
King James Version
There is much to learn about prayer from James 5:16. See the notes I have furnished for this verse in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and The Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury. Under Paul’s instruction and leadership Epaphras certainly merits the description James gives in this prayer promise that “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
Nevertheless, it is legitimate to ask the question: Does God answer prayer in our day in a manner that corresponds to the prayer promises and encouragements to prayer given during the lifetime of the original Apostles of Christ? There is Bible evidence to support the concept of the Silence of God, a theme we may encounter in a future study of the prayer life of Paul.