Ephesians 1: 17-21
Verse 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better.
Our passage today shows Paul knew what to communicate to the Father for his friends. These are good things for us to understand because it would do us good to pray them for our friends too. We already know Paul was thanking God for these friends’ faith and so we know these are things we should pray for our believing friends first and foremost while also praying our non-believing friends will come to desire a relationship with Christ.
After giving thanks for their faith, Paul says he asks God to give them wisdom. This is such an important quality for any soldier. A foolish soldier is likely to cause issues for the whole army. One foolish move or word can put other soldiers in harm’s way. This isn’t any different in the spiritual realm although it may look a little different.
If one Christian is living a life or speaking in a way which doesn’t represent Christ, it can reflect poorly on the rest of us. It can also negatively impact the affect the Church can have on society. Jesus and the Church are, more often than not, viewed through the lens of our lives. This means when they watch us, and they are watching, they see what we do and say as a testament of who Jesus is. That is what we mean when we say we are witnesses for Jesus. But what are others seeing of Jesus in our lives?
Paul knew it would take wisdom to know how to live as a proper witness of the Lord but he knew the need for revelation to know Him on a deeper level was also needed. Paul’s desires for his friends to grow in their relationship with the Lord, showed what these friends truly meant to him. It wasn’t about letting them continue on as baby Christians, he wanted more for them and he wanted it so bad he prayed for them often.
We should have the same desires for our brothers and sisters in Christ enough so that we are intentional about spending serious time in prayer for them. We aren’t talking about a sentence prayer here or there, although that is good too, we should be willing to take the time to be specific about our requests for our friends’ spiritual lives. Their growth could very likely affect our lives too.
Making It Personal
What kinds of prayers do you pray for your friends’ spiritual lives? How would you want them to pray for you? Who is the Spirit placing on your heart today?
Making It Personal Kids
Do you pray for other Christians? What kinds of things do you pray for them? What do you hope they pray about for you?
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for listening to our prayers for each other. Help us devote more time to talking to You about our fellow Christians. Give us wisdom about what to pray for them. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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