Hello,
Last week I shared about prayer for our friends, and a model
of how to approach that from all angles. As I have looked a little more at
prayer for others through some of the New Testament, something caught my eye
from Paul in Ephesians. Let’s take a look at Ephesians 6:18-20
“With all prayer and petition pray at all times in
the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance
and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf, that
utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known
with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains;
that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to
speak.” (NASB)
What first caught my eye at the tail end of v18 is the
request to pray for all the saints – not just our close friends. Sometimes we
get caught I believe in our prayers in 2 directions; either just praying for
our closest friends – or only praying for large groups/countries that are more generic.
Now, nothing wrong with either – but let’s not forget the group in the middle
of believers we know of, though we may not count them as close friends. When
Paul goes on in 19 and 20 to give some specifics of how he can be prayed for, I
think that this doubles not just as what he was facing – but a good guide for
how we can pray for that group of believers: they speak what God wants them to
and they are unashamed of the Gospel – and this comes through loud and clear in
their conversations and interactions.
Have a blessed day – and I hope we all take some time to
pray for those believers that are beyond the immediate friend group.
No comments:
Post a Comment