Paul’s Prayer for Us

PRAY

Who made it back with their book tonight?

Well being a Christian can be tough. You can’t do it on your own! You need support and encouragement. That helps us move forward!

Like a couple weeks ago, my son Dawson and Miss LA Henderson’s son Heath were up at the MS playing basketball and they both wiped out. If there hadn’t been a bunch of 8th graders cheering for them, I promise you they would’ve laid their crying. But they had support!

Paul is offering support to the Christians in Ephesus in the verses we’re looking at tonight… , and I think it’s a model for us.

Read verses 15-23

Christians should be praying for Christians to grow in their understanding of all that God is doing for us.

Paul’s gratitude

15-16

He is excited to hear that God is at work in these believers and he prays for them to continue to grow.

I can understand this well as a father. You get excited to see your kids grow and be able to understand and experience new things. Excited for them. I get excited for me as they grow. Man, when our kids got out of diapers, I was pumped!

But none of y’all are parents. But think about when your friends achieve something… You should be excited for them and thankful for what’s happening. If you’ve never felt that then you may have some other stuff going on…

I think this is how Paul is feeling as he writes this.

We also should be excited to see God at work in believers, in ourselves and in others. We should pray for other believers, for our churches, to grow in their knowledge of the things of God. This is a habit for Paul, we see it at the beginning of all of his letters.

Take it a step further, what are you doing to help other believers grow in their knowledge?

But the most important thing is that we start with and rely on prayer, so what does Paul pray? Can it be a model for us?

Paul’s prayer

17-19

He prays that they would grow in their understanding of God. Because when we grow in our understanding of God, we grow in our love for Him and our understanding of how to live lives that honor Him.

This is how everything works pretty much, it’s the way God designed life. Think about it…

These powers can also be used for evil…

The key difference with things of the world and God is sometimes we find that we don’t like what we learn with things of the world, but we will always love God more if we know Him!

Enlightened to see…

the hope

Hope is a motivator…

Romans 8:18 ESV

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

the inheritance

Daniel 7:18 ESV

But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.’

his power

God’s power

20-23

God is omnipotent…

There’s this commercial where it’s some kids playing pickup basketball and they’re picking teams. Then the camera back out and Charles Barkley is there with them, and of course he gets picked first. If you see someone like that you want them on your team! Cause no one can stop them!

God is omnipotent, and that power is at work in every Christian. And at work for every Christian.

Jeremiah 32:17 ESV

‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.

Rest in knowing this power is at work in you and for you! What can touch you when God’s power is on your side? Only those things that He has decided will.

Romans 8:31 ESV

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

His power is at work in us to face all that we will face in this world…

And so Paul prays that we would grow in our understanding of these things because it will change the way we live. It will change our relationships… It will change the way we interact with social media… It will change what we do for fun… Because as we grow in our understanding of God we love Him more and we want more of Him. So seek that. Pray that for yourself and others.