The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing. Marcus Aurelius
Epaphras, who is…always struggling on your behalf in his prayers…” Col4.12 ESV
I would say that most of the time my conversations with God are free and natural. But there are also times, especially when I am praying for someone I love, that the weight of my concerns for them make my prayers seems more like a wrestling match. The word struggle in the verse above is from the Greek agōnizomai and if you tried just now to sound it out, you would hear the word “agony” in it. Actually the word means to labor or contend for a prize as in a wrestling competition. I think there are many levels in prayer where we wrestle. One of course is reconciling our desires with God’s will and often with God’s timing. Another is overcoming our worst fears and doubts about His final decision. And, if we are honest with ourselves (this can be its own wrestling match) there are times when we labor to persuade God to do what we are asking Him to do. While there are no assurances that God will give us what we want, He will certainly give us what we need. We can also be certain that all this laboring and striving in prayer is doing one thing that God desires in our prayers. Struggling works the spiritual muscles of our faith, which is after all a great prize itself. 10/9/2008 ts
Just me trying to be honest with God.
