the struggle

Romans 15:17-33

This passage is basically Paul's personal message to the Roman Christians: he hasn't come to them because he has been so busy taking the teachings of Christ to people who have not yet heard them. However, he is now hoping to visit them on his to Spain via Jerusalem. He asks the Roman Christians to join him in his struggle by praying for him. Paul has some sense that his visit to Jerusalem will not go well - perhaps because there is a sense that he has betrayed and abandoned the Jews.
I have forgotten how vital prayer is to my life and to my ministry. I have fallen out of the habit of praying and I need to get back into it. I have given lip service to the fact that my ministry only comes to life through Christ and the Spirit but I have not really acted on that belief by constantly and intentionally laying my ministry at the feet of Christ and inviting the Spirit to fill it. I also need to be inviting others to join me in my struggle through prayer.