Going Deeper in Prayer
By Dean Collins
Who are you praying for lately? I’m not being nosy. I suspect, like me, you have lots of friends, family, and even strangers whose names you lift to the Father from time to time. or even every day. When we hear prayer requests from others, they often have to do with health concerns and loss. We also frequently pray for marriages and families to be restored. We pray for others to have success or victory in the things they are doing or struggling with at any given time. These are appropriate and kind prayers. Our Father in heaven wants to hear from us and cares about every aspect of our lives.
In Ephesians 1:15, Paul gives his readers the things that prompted his prayers for them:
He had heard of their faith in Jesus; and
He had heard of the love these believers had for all the saints, their brothers and sisters in the faith.
As Paul prayed, he first prayed a prayer of thanksgiving. He thanked God for the believers over and over again: “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.” What a powerful reminder that before we bring our list of requests to God, we can begin with simple thanksgiving for the people we are about to bring to the Lord’s attention.
Why not take a moment right now and bring before God the names of people you're thankful for because of their faith in Jesus, because it is clear they love their brothers and sisters in the family of God. Thank you, Lord, for… (you can take it from here)
My gut tells me that Paul surely prayed for the sick. Of course, Paul prayed at least three times that God would remove the “thorn in the flesh” that tormented him, yet Paul believed that this weakness or condition remained because God’s power was revealed in his weakness.
In Philippians 2, we learn of a guy named Epaphroditus, who apparently nearly died while helping Paul at the request of the Philippian church. There may be another reference or two, but Paul’s prayers in his epistles seem to be about other things.
Here, in Ephesians 1:15-23:
Paul prayed that the believers in Ephesus would be given a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God and, of course, of Jesus. Paul wanted the church to be more intimately connected to Jesus and their understanding of his purpose, his love, and their purpose in Christ.
Paul prayed that the “eyes of their hearts be enlightened," meaning that they would truly see how much God loves them and how much they are to reflect that love to others. He prayed that as their eyes were opened, their hope would grow and even reveal the riches of their inheritance in Christ.
Paul prayed that the believers would understand, sense, even experience the immeasurable greatness of his power toward those who believe.
I will confess that I often go through my prayer list and never get around to prayers that sound like Paul’s. I'm not comparing, but I'm observing that maybe there is a way to go deeper in prayer than we often do.
Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1 reminds me of the same powerful teaching Paul gave in Philippians 2. In both passages, we might remember that Jesus served humanity and even suffered death for us. And after death, he was resurrected and exalted.
Our journey of faith includes suffering. But Paul suggests that the resurrection power of Jesus is available to us. We may not be healed, but resurrection power will get us through any and all suffering here on earth; our suffering can and will be used for God’s glory and for the benefit of others in ways we may never understand until we reach heaven.
I want to challenge you as I challenge myself. Consider the prayers of Paul and other prayers in Scripture; be bold enough to go deeper in prayer and see what God will do in your life and in the life of others.
Father, we ask for your wisdom to teach us so that we understand how great your love is for us. Open the eyes of our hearts that we might see the riches of the inheritance that is ours in Christ. And Father, we ask that your resurrection power be released in us, that we might endure the trials of this world, knowing that you will bring us through them and use them for your glory and for the benefit of others. In Jesus's name, amen.
Your Time with God’s Word
Ephesians 1:15-23; Philippians 2:3-11, Philippians 2:25-30; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 ESV
Photo by Joe Jansen on Unsplash
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