PRAY EPHESIANS 1:15-16

08/29/2024

"Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers..." (Ephesians 1:15-16)

Some of the most efficacious prayers you can pray for saints including yourself are found in the Pauline epistles. In today's theme scripture, we find that praying for the saints was an integral aspect of Apostle Paul's prayer and it would benefit you to incorporate the same into yours. 

So what exactly did Paul pray about for the saints and why? The Bible tells us he prayed "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him..." (Ephesians 1:17) In essence, he prayed that God would grant the saint skillfulness and insight on how to know the Lord intimately. What this means is that there is a skill and insight required to knowing the Lord intimately.

Ephesians 1:18-19 begin to explain why we should pray for saints like this. The Bible says, "the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power..." The Message Translation puts it this way: 

"I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!"

The reason we pray for saints is so that their hearts or inner beings may be enlightened to know the hope of God's calling on their lives, individually and corporately (corresponding to the congregation of which they are a part); that they may become aware of the vast inheritance set apart for them individually and corporately (corresponding to the congregation of which they are a part); and that they might become acquainted with the exceeding greatness of His dynamic miracle-working ability. 

Now, with the fulfillment of these three reasons in the life of any saint, irrespective of the stage of their development, much of the work to fast-track maturity is dealt with by praying this way. 

So, if you have won any souls in the course of the year or the Lord has brought certain people into your life for you to disciple for Him, pray for them with this prayer. Pray for yourself too in this manner.

God bless you

Faith-Filled Confession

I collaborate with the Lord to pray for the establishment of His saints including myself, that He would grant us skill and insight in the intimate knowledge of Him and that our hearts would be flooded with light so that we are able to grasp our callings, inheritances and the exceeding greatness of His miracle-working ability earmarked for all who believe in Him. In Jesus' name. Amen

PRAYER DIRECTION

1. Pray in tongues for your family. Proclaim the name of the Lord Jesus over them, with peace, health, protection, righteousness, prosperity, and grace.

2. Pray in the Spirit and prophesy as the Spirit inspires for the deliverance of children and teens from satanic ideologies, worldly lusts, and the corrupting influences of this world, especially through social media, video games, and entertainment (2 Thessalonians 3:1-2).

One-Year Bible Reading Plan: Psalm 139-141; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13