Romans 15:30
[30] I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, (ESV)
There are times when someone will tell you of their particular problems. Perhaps they have been diagnosed with a potentially fatal disease. Maybe they have lost a child to a drug overdose. It could be a loved one who does not know the Lord that a person is concerned about. What is our response? I'll pray for you. I fear that many times we say, with good intention, that we will pray. But we don't.
The Apostle Paul is making an appeal for prayers on his behalf. In the next verse he will tell them his specific concerns. In his appeal for prayer he says something quite interesting. He asks them to strive together with him in prayers to God. The NIV translation puts it this way: "Join me in my struggle by praying for me."
Churches are notorious for struggling. Too often they are struggling with one another. It is easy for us to get distracted and lose our focus. We find some particular issue that we want to go our way. We struggle against the rest of the church body in our effort to get our way. In so doing we find ourselves struggling for something that is not worthwhile at all.
Paul wants the believers in Rome to struggle. They are invited to struggle with Paul in prayer. This is more than a request for a simple prayer. He wants the church to unite in his struggle by praying for him. There is an intensity in this description of prayer. Instead of a church finding issues that are divisive to struggle over, a better recommendation would be to struggle, united together, in prayer for God's work.
Consider how you will respond the next time someone asks you to pray for them. Instead of a flip promise of prayer, think about how you can find others to unite with you in that person's struggle and pray for them.
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