After Lynn Ann left here, another lady by the name of Ann crashed. She played the violin. She played one side of that thing. I'll tell you what, she was thrilled to keep up with me. That was kind of a 10-year adventure, and then kind of a little bit of a farmer. And when we had Cup Saturday here, she'd been here for 10, maybe a year and a half, and I had no time to go. But anyway, let's go to number 73 and stand and go hear a song from the Child King. ♪ Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh ♪ He loves us and cares ♪ ♪ We know Him well from the world in His hands ♪ ♪ On earth as it is on the silver and gold ♪ ♪ His offers are full, He has riches untold ♪ I. I'm Jesus, my Saviour, I'm a child of the King. The days are hardened, dawn is striking. The building of power is falling over the earth. Oh, let it soar on and sing, let it sing. Mama! What is it? Oh, okay 115 for a taste of glory divine. Petal of salvation, purchase of love, Lord of His Spirit, wash in His blood. This is my story, this is my song, praising my Saviour all the day long. This is my story, this is my song, Praising my Savior all the day long. Perfect submission, perfect delight. Visions of rapture now burst on my sight. Angels descending great from above. Echoes of mercy, whispers of love. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. Perfect submission, all is at rest. I am my Savior, I'm happy and blessed. This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long. Oh, happy day that fixed my choice on Thee, my Savior and my God. Well, may this glowing heart rejoice and tell its raptures all abroad. Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away. He taught me how to watch and pray, and live rejoicing every day. Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away. O happy bond that seals my vows, to him who merits all my love. Let cheerful anthems fill his house, while to that sacred shrine I move. Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away. He taught me how to watch and pray, and live rejoicing every day. Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away. He's done the great transactions done. I am my Lord's and He is mine. He drew me and I followed on, trying to confess the voice divine. when Jesus washed my sins away. He taught me how to watch and pray, and live rejoicing every day. Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away. Excuse me. If you have your Bibles, let's begin by turning to Romans chapter 15. Romans chapter 15, we'll begin reading in verse 30. Now I beseech you, brethren, that means pay attention to this, you're being called for something. Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake and for the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, that I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judea. and that my service, which I have for Jerusalem, may be accepted of the saints, that I may come unto you with joy by the will of God and may with you be refreshed. Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen. I don't think it's a stretch or a leap to say that the Apostle Paul is one of the greatest Christians and missionaries to have ever lived. God used him in a great and mighty way. He was a man who had certainly the Holy Spirit backing him and leading him and guiding him every step of the way, every mission field he entered. God was with him and used him in a great way. He had God's power behind him. He saw the Lord work miracles. He saw the Lord save so many souls that I don't think we all could see the amount of souls he saw saved. He saw thousands upon thousands of souls saved under his ministry. I'd love to see that many, wouldn't you? You would think that a man of his stature with his pedigree, with his background, with the mighty power of God behind him, you would think that a man like that wouldn't have need of anything. Yet we find here in this passage that he is asking for something extremely important. He's asking for prayer. He was asking the people of God to pray for him. This happens many times in the Apostle Paul's writings where he's asking the people of God to pray for him. In 1 Thessalonians 5.25, very simple, it just says, Brethren, pray for us. There's nothing wrong with asking for prayer. Over in 2 Thessalonians 3, 1 it says, Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified even as it is with you. And then in Hebrews 13, 18, Pray for us, for we trust we have good conscience in all things, willing to live honestly. So here's a man who you would think is on top of the heap, spiritually speaking, right? On top of the world. But he feels the need to ask God's people to pray for him. He is recruiting them. When he beseeches them, he's recruiting them into his ministry, essentially, and saying, pray for me, because when you pray for me, God's going to bless, and you're a part of the ministry that I am a part of. So he's keenly aware of the benefit of having the saints of God lift him up in prayer. So Paul over and over and over asks, who will pray for me? What a great privilege we have as believers. When's the last time someone asked you to pray for them? And you said, yes. Did you do it? Did you follow through with it? Maybe you had every intention of going and praying, right? Yes, I will pray for you, but you go about your day, and by the time you get home in the evening, and you get the kids settled, and dinner's finished, and all the hustle and bustle of life, and you start praying, and they just slip your mind. It happens, doesn't it? I like to write things down. I like the prayer list here because there's names that we can sit down and look at and read about and ponder and lift each name up to the Lord. If I don't write it down, I'm probably not going to remember it. If someone asks me to do something at work, if I'm walking the hall and they say, hey, can you send me an email? By the time I get back to my desk, I'm probably not going to remember to do it. Will you pray for me? If someone asks you to pray, make an effort to pray. You know, down through the years, God has given us some great spiritual giants, the Apostle Paul being one of them. Do you know the phrase, behind every great man is a strong woman? Or is it, behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes? Maybe that's it. Well, behind every great minister, every great Christian, there are prayer warriors behind them, praying for them. The Apostle Paul, as spiritually mature as he was, and as blessed as he was in having the Holy Spirit upon him, he knew he could not do it alone. He knew he did not have the strength to do it alone. He knew he needed help. God raised up so many different people in the Apostle Paul's life that God used to keep the Apostle Paul going. Whether providing needs, delivering letters, or praying, God raised up people for him. He knew he could not do it. And this brings us to Colossians chapter four. I'm going to give you the greatest piece of advice I can give anybody, any Christian, and that is to pray. We cannot carry any burden alone, but God has given us brothers and sisters in this life to help pick up that burden, whether physically, but more importantly, spiritually. picking up this burden and taking it to the throne of grace on our behalf and praying for us. None of us are immune to life's trials and tribulations, but it's always a comfort to know there are people praying for us. This brings us to Colossians 4, and I love this passage. There's a list of folks here in this passage that I like to call forgotten faithful servants. And we're only going to focus in on one of them in particular this evening. And that's going to be in verses 12 and 13. Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you always, laboring fervently for you in prayers that ye may stand perfect and complete in the will of God. For I bear him record that he hath a great zeal for you and them that are in Laodicea, and them that are in Heropolis. So we see that Epiphras, who is one of you, I love that, but also we see servant of Christ, literally a slave of Christ. He might have been the preacher here at Colossae, if you go back to chapter one in verses seven and eight. Excuse me. as he also learned of Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ, who also declared unto us your love in the spirit. And then over in Philemon in verse 23, it says, there salute the Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus. So he might have been the preacher there at Colossae. He is mentioned as being a minister, at least. He's also again in Philemon mentioned as a fellow prisoner of Christ Jesus, and he is a model of what a minister should be, one who prays. He not only prayed much for the church, but also for the work of the Lord. There's something particularly touching in which the name Epaphras is introduced to us in the New Testament. The references to him, they are very, very brief. He is not mentioned a whole lot, but they are exceedingly powerful and meaningful. He seems to have been the very type of man which is much needed today. One who labored fervently in prayer. This is a labor that's often not performed to catch human eye. is often done in your closet. Prayer is done in your heart. Prayer is done at home. Prayer is done when it's just you and the Lord. He didn't care about being seen. He didn't care about having a flowery prayer. I'm not very big with words. I'm not very eloquent. He didn't care about being that. He didn't care if he had the prettiest words or used the prettiest words, but boy, he prayed with everything that he had for the people there. Cared about them, loved them. He was a powerful, powerful prayer, a prayer warrior. I would dare say that as he was in his prayer closet, I wouldn't be surprised if sweat beads were pouring down his forehead. because he prayed so fervently for his brothers and sisters and for the Apostle Paul as well. Matthew 6, over Matthew chapter 6, in verse number 6, but thou, when thou prayest, notice the phrasing there, when thou prayest, not if thou prayest, It's expected of us to pray. We are to be prayerful. When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy father. Again, fathers capitalized. This is our heavenly father, which is in secret. My father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. That's Epiphras. He prayed constantly. He's mentioned as a minister, but it's not like we have many examples of his sermons or him ministering to people. He's not noted as a powerful preacher as the Apostle Paul was, or maybe as Peter was. He isn't described as a great writer. He isn't described as a great traveler, which he may have been for all I know. He may have followed the Apostle Paul around a few places, I don't know. And all of those things are very, very valuable in their place. But he's presented to us as a man of prayer, earnest and fervent and agonizing prayer. And not prayer for himself, but prayer for others. So let's hearken to this inspired testimony that Epaphras has. In Luke chapter 18, I guarantee that Epaphras learned this lesson here in Luke chapter 18. In verse one, he spake a parable unto them to this sin that men ought always to pray. and not faint. So he was always praying. Does this mean that he was just walking around with his eyes closed and his head bowed and praying 24 hours a day? No, you don't have to do it that way. You can pray all times. I prayed all the way here this morning. I spent most of the car ride in silence and prayer just pondering and thinking, you can do that. You can do it while you're performing any really task. I told the story about my mom praying while she was washing dishes. You can pray any and all times. You can go to the Lord in the morning and at noon and at night. I remember going out to lunch with a missionary. He would always ask every waitstaff person if there was something that he could pray for them about. It's things like that that mean a lot, that touch people. We can pray. Epaphras was a man of prayer. In Psalm chapter 5, in Psalm chapter 5, Verse 3, My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord. In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. So what's the first thing you do in the morning? Often it's probably roll out of bed and start getting ready for your day. It would be advisable to say a word of prayer before your feet hit the ground. Lord, thanks for waking me up this morning. You didn't have to do that. Lord, thank you for the air that I get to breathe. For my ability to get up and walk and go to work and provide. A living, thank you for all of this, for the food I'm about to eat. I mean, we just take so many things for granted. First thing in the morning, we take so many things for granted. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning. Oh Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee and will look up. Over in chapter 55 of Psalms, In verse 17, evening and morning and at noon will I pray and cry aloud. He shall hear my voice. And that chapter 88 of the book of Psalms. Chapter 88. Verse one. O Lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before Thee. And back in 86 in verse 3, since we're there so close. Be merciful unto me, O Lord, for I cry unto Thee daily. Do you think we should have an attitude of prayer, a heart of prayer? Sounds like to me we should. Always have this attitude. He didn't have to be prompted or asked. He just did it. And he didn't do it to get a pat on the back. He did it because he had a love and compassion and caring for others, for individuals and their situations, and he prayed for them. Next thing we should notice about Epaphras is that his prayers were specific. We see back in Colossians 4 verse 12 there towards the middle here, always laboring fervently for you in prayers. So his prayers were specific. They weren't just cookie cutter prayers, vain repetitions, bless this, that, or the other, or just asking for things. But he was in prayer for them specifically. He would pray for brother so-and-so or sister so-and-so. and their needs and what they had. He would pray that God's word would bless people that needed to hear it. He would pray for lost souls specifically. He was concerned about others. I wish there were hundreds of like him. I wish there were two of them. I wish there were hundreds like him today. I'm thankful for preachers, I'm thankful for writers, I'm thankful for travelers, I'm thankful for what men and women do in service to the Lord, but we need to be abundantly thankful for men and women of prayer. It is an amazing thing. The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. I'm happy to see preaching, but I'm thrilled to see prayer. Those two things go hand in hand with each other. So be like Epaphras. Men whose closet walls, if walls could talk, right? Seen and heard or bore witness of these labors that he would do every day. So every Christian should engage in them. You may not have the ability to preach, teach, write, travel. We may be limited in what we can do. But each and every one of us can pray. Sometimes you kind of hear, oh, this person has the gift of prayer. Well, I pray that they do. And by that, I mean just this fervent, effectual prayer that they just love somebody so much that they pray for them. That's the way it was with Epaphras. He had a real spirit for prayer. And Matthew 6, 7 says, but when you pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathens do. They think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Sometimes people pray just to be heard. They try to come up with these eloquent prayers. So people think, well, boy, that was such a beautiful prayer that so-and-so gave. You know what the most beautiful prayer is? Probably one you can't even hear audibly. or someone just pouring their heart out unto the Lord, casting all of their care upon Him, not just about themselves, but about others. You know, I think of missionaries out serving the Lord, wherever they may be, there's some in this country, there's some in other parts of the world, there's some in very dangerous parts of the world. We need to pray for them. Think of Brother Sucrage, who's one of my dear, dear friends. I love him so much, known him most of my life. He's stayed at our house when we lived in Florida for a few days. He took Ethan, we had a pond, it was a retention pond, but there were fish in it. And he took Ethan out and they went fishing. And I got pictures of him fishing with Ethan. I think of him a lot. And every time I see his letter come in my email, I make sure to read it. I know that Brother Paul is there at the church there, and Brother Sucron has moved on to another ministry, and I pray for both of them, that God will use them in a great and magnificent way. I followed closely when they were trying to build that church building a few years back, and I'm just thankful the Lord provided each step of the way. And we prayed fervently for them when we were in Florida, and still do to this day. I talked to him on the phone about a year or so ago, maybe a little longer. It was good to speak to him. I know he has a lot of health problems, but guess what? That's something we can pray about. His body is starting to give out. He's having more and more issues. Do you all know Brother Inyetti, Raul Inyetti? He's close to... I can't remember the country he's in now. You'll have to forgive me. But he takes supplies to Ukraine. He gathers up supplies and drives them over to the Ukraine in a war-ravaged country. And he's not just giving supplies, but sharing the gospel. These folks need our prayers. I mean, they're doing something magnificent. Romania. That's it. I knew it would come to me. It just came to me. Sometimes my brain doesn't work very well. In Hebrews 4, I love this passage. I know I've referenced it several times. You don't have to turn there. I'll just read it to you. Let us therefore come boldly. You don't have to come timidly. He wants us to come to the throne of grace. We may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. I pray that we exercise this calling that we're given here, that we exercise it and go to this throne of grace. Our Father's ear is always open. And come what may, God is always ready to hear. He's ready to answer. He's a hearer. He's an answerer. He's a lover of prayer. He wants us to pray to him. In Matthew 7, 7, Christ said, ask and it shall be given you. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you. Matthew 21, 22 says, ask and it shall be given you. Seek and ye shall find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you. James 1, 5, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not. And it shall be given him. Pray, pray, pray. Ask, ask, ask. Encouragement over and over and over for us to pray. I just don't know what to do. What am I supposed to do? I feel so limited in what I can do. Pray, please pray. Epaphras would intensely, you know what I find if you pray, you're interested. Epaphras would, as he prayed for all of these people, He prayed because he was interested. And he was interested because he prayed. You really want to show someone you care? Pray for them. Don't just say, yeah, I'll pray for you and then not do it. But pray for them. Philippians 2. Philippians chapter 2. Verse 4, Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. See, that's the problem. We're too worried about our own selves all the time. We're told to be worried about others. Epaphras was worried about others over in John chapter 13. John 13 and verses 34 and 35. A new commandment I give unto you that ye love one another. Imagine that. What a concept, right? Love one another. As I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another. If we're not showing love for one another, we're not showing the mark of discipleship. We gotta care. We gotta show love for one another. And one of the ways we do that, again, is by praying. In Galatians chapter 6, verses 9 and 10. Let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. One of the things we can do is pray. Whenever we're drawn out in prayer for people, we're going to care. And we're going to rejoice in their growth and in their prosperity and in God's blessing of them. The thought of this should stir us up to imitate Epaphras. And on whom the Holy Spirit bestowed the honorable title of servant of Christ. A servant of Christ isn't just a preacher. Again, it's not just a preacher or a teacher or a deacon. It is a prayer warrior as well. A servant of Christ is in direct connection with fervent prayer for the people of God. So let us ponder the example of Epaphras. Let us imitate it. Let us fix our eyes on others and labor fervently in prayer for them. I pray for more folks like Epaphras. who are willing to labor on their knees. You don't have to break your back. We're not asking you to go out and dig a ditch and kill yourself physically. Get on your knees and pray to Almighty God that he would bless his people, that he would bless his ministers, that the gospel would go forth in power and in truth and in love, that he would bless his preachers, his missionaries, his musicians, his teachers, everybody who has a part in service to him. Pray for him. One more verse in Romans chapter 10. Romans 10 and verse one. Brethren, my heart's desire. What's your heart's desire? Well, there's a lot of answers to that question, right? I mean, people say, I want to be rich, or I want a new house, or a new car, or I want this, and I want that, and I, I, I, right? There's a lot of things people desire. Well, I think Paul's desire, and I think Epaphra's desire was this. Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God. for Israel is that they might be saved. That should be our prayer, that the gospel will go forth, that lost souls will be saved, the Holy Spirit will perform a great work in drawing people to Christ, that eyes will be opened and people will see their need for a Savior. Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. Our hearts desire that they might be saved. I believe Epiphus prayed for this. I believe Paul prayed for this. We should pray for this. You know, two men were talking and one was huge, strong fellow. The other was quite small in stature. The short man was admiring the size of the other and said, boy, if I was as big as you, I wouldn't be afraid of anything. I go out in those woods and find me the biggest bear and I tear him limb from limb. The big fellow smiled and said, well, there are a lot of little bears in the woods too. What can you do? Not everybody can do everything. What can you do? You can pray. Pray for the church. Pray for each other, pray for me, pray for the missionaries, pray for the radio, pray for the special services coming up, the Bible school. There's a lot to pray for. Pray God's will be done, that he will be honored, magnified, and glorified. I'll Don't forget to pray. When you've left your meditation, did you think to pray? I'm inside you. don't forget to ♪ Faithful grace that brought us here ♪ ♪ Glad to see my family alive ♪ ♪ Lived a long summer way ♪ ♪ Oh, the greatness of liberty ♪ ♪ Revealed to man today ♪ ♪ Long for days to come again ♪ ♪ Bits or trials they will haunt you ♪ ♪ But in your dreams you'll pray ♪ ♪ When your soul has been swallowed up ♪ ♪ Fall again and lift you higher ♪ ♪ But in your dreams you'll pray ♪ Don't forget