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Parallels
The Apostle Paul, for all his evident Greco and Roman strains, was also a Hebrew. As such, he reflexively thought and wrote in parallels, much like the human authors God used to craft the Old Testament.
This is seen in Paul’s wonderful greetings at the close of the Colossian letter. Describing Epaphras, he aligns “wrestling for you in prayer” with “works hard for you.” Now, these are likely describing slightly different activities. Nonetheless, they are parallel on purpose and thus inform each other. Through the construction, Paul is declaring that wrestling in prayer is hard work.
This convicts me. I am grateful for the good work ethic the Lord and my family instilled in me, and I labor to keep developing it. Yet I have not thought of prayer as an aspect of a great work ethic. Prayer is important, of course. It’s commanded of us, allows us to engage in God’s sovereign work, makes a difference in lives, and certainly changes the one praying. However, I tend to look at prayer as less important than physical or mental effort – what we call “work.”
Through Epaphras’ example and Paul’s brilliant prose, I am convinced that praying is work. In fact, it’s mentioned first because it is the most important kind of work.
God bless,
Wayne