Struggle in Prayer

Colossians 2 begins with Paul’s statement of intention with respect to the churches in Colossae and Laodicea that had never seen the apostle personally (v. 1; note 1:4, 7). He expressed a great struggle (ESV; the AV has conflict; the Greek is agon, meaning “to contend” or “to fight”) for (not against) these saints. The context begins with 1:29 where Paul alludes to his intercessory prayer life in the behalf of these churches. Although prayer is not specifically mentioned, the terms he employed are used of his prayer life (Romans 15:30). His praying involved, laboring “to the point of exhaustion, agonizing [Greek; agonizomai, the participle form of agon, used in 2:1] with the energy He [God] works in me” (a literal translation). Laboring and struggling (agonizing) describe serious praying that few believers understand or experience.

Of course, this does not mean that one’s prayers are more effective if somehow one is able to “wrestle with God” in order to persuade Him to meet some need. Rather, Paul describes a spiritual striving in and with God’s power, not for personal benefit, but interceding for others. It recognizes the total impotency of efforts in the flesh to achieve the desired result. True prayer is and must be directed to the Father (Matthew 6:9), in the Son’s authority—name (John 14:13, 14), and in the power of the Holy Spirit (Jude 20). When the Spirit is at work, one’s praying will be mighty and effectual.

True “treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (v. 3) is what Paul desired for these saints. He wanted them to have full assurance and understanding with respect to the will of God in Christ. The evidence of God’s will in them was their “being knit together in love.” Paul could see in them “good order and the firmness of faith in Christ (v. 5). Sadly, this state was endangered by some who would “delude [them] with plausible arguments,” that is, specious discourse leading them into error. (The Greek term translated delude is paralogizomai, means to cheat by false reckoning.)

Thus, Paul sought to encourage (ESV; the AV has comfort; the Greek is parakaleo, meaning “to come along side” to help them (aid, counsel, or comfort, in this case, by prayer) “to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery” (v. 2, ESV). Absent, Paul interceded in prayer for them, enlisting the Lord to intervene and divert them from the danger threatening them. This was the will of the Lord and prayer was the means God used to help these saints.

This passage teaches us that prayer, the kind that is done in the Spirit—wrestling and striving—the kind that characterized Paul’s life and ministry—is what we need in our present hour. God requires this of us. We are duty bound as soldiers of the cross to press this warfare in the heat of battle. We must also be on guard against the enemy’s efforts to deceive and distract us. We must not despair. We must not surrender ground. We must stay strong, stand firm, and continue “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication” (Ephesians 6:18). May we be faithful to this call.