#18 - Learning From the Prayers of Others.
Pause
Lord, as others have prayed for me, let my prayers lift up those around me.
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. - Ephesians 1:15-16
Teach
The Bible is packed full of great examples of how to approach God in prayer. Studying the prayers in the Bible helps us discover God’s character and deepen our relationship with him. When we come across prayers in the Bible and approach them with openness to learn, we can transform our spiritual life.
In Ephesians, Paul gives us several amazing prayers and we will specifically break down his prayer for spiritual growth at the end of chapter 3.
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. Pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. - Ephesians 3:14-21
You’ll notice in the first two sentences he touches on all 3 persons of God. He submits to the Father for strength through the Holy Spirit, so that we may grow closer to Christ as he dwells within us. Paul recognizes God as the creator of all, and in doing so is showing us how God is intertwined with all people and creation. When he continues and says “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts” it is a recognition of the fall and existence of sin that has kept us from God, and at the same time, the truth that Jesus has paid the price for that sin for us. In just two sentences, Paul summarized the essence of Genesis 1-3 and how the Gospel has fulfilled the Law.
Next, Paul speaks to our foundation. Rooted and established in love, but that is not just any love he is referencing, it is the love of Christ. A love that stops at nothing to get to us, a love that conquered death and bore our punishment, is the same love that our lives are founded in. It is through that love that we can start to understand the power God has, but the way that we fully understand that love is within community. Our relationship with Christ was never designed to remain personal or private, which is contrary to what today’s culture tells you, but a call into unity together through Christ.
Our foundation is then built with a call to meditate on “how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,” a task that Paul reminds us surpasses anything our minds can process. Nevertheless, we should spend that time in deep reflection of the cost of Christ’s sacrifice because in those moments of reflection, we understand more and more the fullness of his love for us. There is a process that takes root as we internalize Christ’s sacrifice and the magnitude of his power.
Finally, while reflecting on the infinite power of Christ, Paul closes out the prayer with a praise and reminder that the same power that has formed the world is in work in us. When we pray, we are communicating with the author of life, the creator of all things, and we get to share in that glory now and forever as part of the body of Christ.
In four sentences Paul communicates an intertwined story of creation, sin, resurrection, community, the Trinity, and an abundance of hope. There is nothing wrong with praying simple conversational prayers to God, if fact I think they are great. There is something powerful to studying the prayers in the Bible and asking why the Biblical authors decided to choose the words that they did. These Authors were humans just like you and I who encountered the Living God and had their experiences preserved so that we may come to know God more fully through their experiences. The more we recognize the humanity of these authors and the words they wrote, the more we see God’s power at work.
The prayers in the Bible changed the lives of the people in these stories, study them and dig into them. Let them show you who God is.
Action
A relationship dies without dialog and prayer unifies us with God. Prayer also unifies us in community with each other through the power of the Holy Spirit. Our challenge this week is to pray with someone, and not just for them. Lay your hand on someone and pray for them or pick up the phone and pray for them that way. Encounter God together in prayer.