Monday, September 15, 2008

Weekly Prayer Thought

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3.14-19

Wow! A whole lot of things are covered in these few verses. There is the claim that all who follow Christ are of one family. What great news! You and I are not alone in our faith. There are Methodists and Baptists and Catholics and Mennonites and Nazarenes and Presbyterians and Pentecostals all around the world who are a part of this family. We need to get over our tendency to think that we are right, and everyone else is wrong.

There is also the fact that this passage easily becomes a prayer that we can use to pray for others. It is simple to insert the name and need of a loved one and pray with Paul. Try it sometime. Use Paul's words, but make it your prayer.

Finally, let's notice some of the areas for prayer that are included here.
  • Prayer for spiritual strength.
  • Prayer that Christ would dwell in you.
  • Prayer for faith.
  • Prayer for a strong foundation and firm and deep commitments.
  • Prayer that love would abound.
  • Prayer for a complete and full knowledge of the love of God.
  • Prayer for the fullness of God's Spirit.

Let's pray that together.

PRAYER: Lord, I pray that You would grant your people, according to the riches of Your glory, to be strengthened with might through Your Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith; that they, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that they may be filled with all the fullness of God. Amen.

No comments: