PAUL’S HEARTFELT PRAYERS (1)

“Therefore I also…do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in MY PRAYERS” – Ephesians 1:15-16

Complementing Jesus’ Prayer Model are PAUL’S HEARTFELT PRAYERS: “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” (Eph.1:15). One way we can improve the quality of our praying is to model our prayers after our Lord Jesus Christ and other exemplary Believers such as Paul, who recorded many Spirit-inspired prayers throughout the thirteen New Testament books he authored. Learning from Apostle Paul’s prayers can help deepen and reinforce our prayer lives aswe gaze into the soul of the passionate apostle who said, “I count everything as loss compared to the priceless privilege and supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Phi.3:8).

Throughout the Epistles, Paul prayed for those to whom he was writing. His prayers, called the “Pauline” prayers, traverse all of his epistles, but those for the Ephesians and Colossians stand out in depth of inspiration and universal application. These prayers which reflect God’s Heart and focused on God’s Will for all Believers, are powerful passages to pray for ourselves and those we love. As we do so, God will use them to transform our prayer lives, give us a greater eternal perspective, and reorient our thoughts and affections to be more Gospel-centered and Christ-exalting.

Praying the “Word” is one of the most effective ways to pray. As we confess the Word repeatedly, two things happen: (a) revelation of the Truth of the Word begins to drop into our hearts; and (b) our lives begin to be transformed into the very image of the Word being spoken. This is a powerful way to grow in the Lord. Paul’s heartfelt prayers to the Ephesians are found in Ephesians 1:15-23 and 3:14-21. The much we can accomplish in this devotional is to declare the truths of these intercessory prayers as follows:

Declaration based on Ephesians 1:15-19: I thank You Lord-God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for giving me spiritual wisdom and insight to grow in my knowledge of You. I thank you that my heart is flooded with Your light and I understand the confident hope and assurance You have given to those You called, Your holy people who are your rich and glorious inheritance. I also thank You that I understand the exceeding greatness of Your power for those who believe in You. It is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him in the place of honour at Your right hand in the heavenly realms, far above any ruler, authority, power, or dominion – not only in this world but also in the world to come.

The essence of this prayer is that we become so spiritually enlightened and illuminated as to comprehend and appreciate our eternal hope, glorious inheritance, and the exceedingly great Power of God towards us who believe.

Declaration based on Ephesians 3:16-20: I pray and thank You Heavenly Father that from Your glorious, unlimited resources You empower me with inner strength through Your Spirit. I thank You that Christ makes His home in my heart as I trust in Him. My roots grow down into God’s love and keep me strong. I have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high and deep Your love is. I experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. I am made complete with the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now all glory to You, God, who is able through Your mighty power at work within me to accomplish infinitely more than I might ask or think.

The essence of this prayer is that we become: so strong spiritually, empowered by God’s Spirit, established in and compelled by the limitless love of God for us in Christ, that we’re increasingly transformed into His likeness and totally dominated by the Fullness of God’s Life and Power, with nothing left of self. Do we really long to be filled with God’s fullness?