You Are In Our Prayers

by Paul Thomas

There will be many times when life is not a bed of roses. It may be a time of persecution of your faith or overcoming a stumbling-block to your faith. There may be times when you have financial troubles or endless car troubles. Probably the most frustrating trial we may face is some physical ailment that renders us immobile and keeps us from meeting with the saints.

Epaphroditus was a faithful man, described as a brother, fellow worker and solider to Paul. He was sent by the church in Philippi to deliver financial support to Paul in Rome (Philippians 2:25; 4:18). Somewhere along the journey, Epaphroditus became deathly sick (2:27). Notice his attitude in Philippians 2:26. He was worried about the saint’s distress rather than himself, "longing for them all." Once Epaphroditus was well again, Paul sent him home, telling the church to "hold men like him in high regard."

In the time that I’ve been blessed to work with the saints in Mooresville, I’ve heard of many battles with sickness and physical ailments. Even more recently is the situation with a brother who is in-and-out of the hospital because of his heart. Like Epaphroditus, he has probably felt like he was close to death, yet he still longed to be with the Saints again.

Whenever there is a brother or sister who is troubled with a physical or spiritual ailment, the whole body hurts with him or her (1 Corinthians 12:26). If you don’t feel this way, how close are you to the brethren? One of the most important functions of a Christian is to look out for the needs of the saints. Things that we can do include: encouragement (uplifting words, phone calls, cards - I Thessalonians 5:14), Bible study (Ephesians 4:13-14), meals (Romans 12:13) and most importantly, prayers (Eph. 6:18, James 5:14).

I’m very grateful to be a part of a group where love and care is seen for one another. For anyone who goes through tough times, always remember that we’ll be praying for you and we’ll do what we can for you. Let us keep up the good work and always look for opportunities to do good to everyone, especially to those of the household of faith (Galatians 6:10).