Daily Devotional for Wednesday 18th September
Pray like you mean it!
And here is the second, big, lovely prayer that Paul prayed for the Ephesian believers and wrote in his letter to them. We would truly be loving each other if we prayed this for one another regularly! We read about the other big prayer in Chapter 1, verses 15-23.
Paul writes, “For this reason” – meaning, because of everything I’ve just been saying to you (that we are not alone, that we are all part of God’s big God family, and we should be unified and living for God’s glory), “I bow my knees before the Father”, he’s going to pray for them. This Father God, to whom he is about to pray, is the one “from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name”. God created us, and He has redeemed us; we are doubly His children.
And here are some of Paul’s prayer requests:
· That God would strengthen each believer with power from the Holy Spirit in their inner man (Paul’s praying for each believer’s spiritual person)
· And that the strength from the Holy Spirit would help us allow Jesus to flourish in living in our hearts – that we’d make room for Him to do that
· And we would as a consequence be rooted and grounded in God’s love for us
· Which would allow us to grasp, comprehend, see, and understand, with all the other saints/believers, the breadth, length, height, and depth of Jesus' love for us which goes beyond mere head knowledge
· And that we would each be filled up to all the fullness of God.
How’s that for a prayer request?!
And then Paul says, and guess who I’m praying to? I’m praying to God who is the only One “able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all we ask or think, according to the power of His Spirit who works within us” and Paul says, I want to bless Him! “To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever, amen!”
Time to reflect…
· When we’re in a difficult place, what should we do? Pray!
· When we have a loved one or brother and sister in Christ who has a need, what should we do? Pray!
· Is our life in Christ worth praying about continually? Do we already have it all figured out and don’t need any more help? I didn’t think so. Let’s pray! Paul has set us a fantastic example to imitate.
Pause to pray…
Dear Father God, thank You for Your word, where prayers like this are recorded to encourage all Your family, believers in the past, the present, and the future. Please help us to grow in knowing You, allowing You to truly be our Lord over all our lives, and to understand what it means to be alive spiritually. Help us to pray for one another and encourage each other to live for You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
