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| “…I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.” |
| —Ephesians 3:14a |
Do you begin your day with prayer? I ask because over time most followers of Jesus have come to realize that the spiritual disciplines of Bible reading and prayer remain critical elements of a daily walk with our Savior. It is important that we both listen to God through His written Word and talk with Him in prayer.
Now, I realize that some current believers do not like the concept of “spiritual discipline.” They apparently feel that to do anything with strict rigor smacks of a loss of their “freedom in Christ.” I think I understand their reactionary position.
These individuals may have heard much about the “Liberal vs. Fundamentalist” battles that begin in earnest in the 1930s and continued quite actively up through the end of the 1960s. Instead of leaning on the Holy Spirit for guidance, many Fundamentalist believers tried to follow a strict set of regulations to mark them as followers of Jesus. It appears that what many of these dear ones did was construct a new kind of “Law” to follow, in place of allowing devotion to Christ and following the direction of the Holy Spirit to mark their Christian formation.
In spite of these concerns, there are very positive spiritual disciples that will help believers become more and more like Jesus. Using the language of the Apostle Paul, by making Bible reading and prayer a beginning point of their days, wise believers will become more “in Christ.”
So, if we do determine to start our days with prayer, for whom are we praying? Let me offer an example to answer this question.
Over the years my prayer list has grown quite long. It seems that God has impressed on me the need to pray for those towards whom God has chosen to warm my heart. That last sentence may seem a bit strange to you. But in my case, it’s true that God has attracted my attention toward certain people and motivated me to pray earnestly and fervently for them. I continue to do this each day. I do so at the beginning of the day. And, as God brings one of these dear ones to mind during the course of my day, I pray for them again.
As a result, my list of people for whom I pray has grown quite long. It is quite likely, if you’re reading this as one of my friends on Facebook, that you may well be on that prayer list. This is also true of the individuals who attend the church where I worship. And, that long list has names on it from across the entire span of my nearly 74 years of life.
The Apostle Paul conveyed some of his prayers for those he loved in his letters. Here’s a particularly powerful prayer from Ephesians 3:14-19. In fact, some months back I heard Pastor Rick Crocker, at that time the Executive Director of the Erie City Mission, preach a most excellent sermon on this text.
…I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I 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 that’s a very powerful prayer! And, if I may borrow from this prayer at the beginning of a new day, I will pray that prayer for you, dear one. So, please read Paul’s prayer again and hear my voice pray that very same prayer for you. And perhaps, in turn, you will remember to pray for me, as well.
Based on a blog originally posted on Tuesday, June 2, 2015
