Get to Praying

Ephesians 6:18-20  "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.  With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.  Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains.  Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should."

Paul wrote to the Church at Ephesus while he was imprisoned in Rome.  In fact, he wrote the letters to the Philippians, Colossians, and to Philemon during that same period.  As Paul wrote His word of exhortation to the Ephesians, he shared that he knelt "before the Father . . . . (that) He [God] may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith." (Eph. 3:14-17).  Paul continued by sharing that he prayed that they might experience true depth of faith and love, and that they would have power to grasp the magnitude of Christ's love for them.  Paul was astute enough to know that the greater the Ephesians appreciated Christ's love and grace, the more they would be inspired to share that faith with others and to live lives of obedience to God as an expression of appreciation.  Paul knew that this is exactly where the Lord would desire them to be.

Now, at the end of his letter, Paul petitioned the Ephesians to pray on all occasions, with all kinds of prayers and requests.  He knew that the more the people were engaged in a regular communion with the Lord, the closer they would be drawn into fellowship with Him.  Paul too knew that with more prayers (and thus acknowledgement of the need for God's regular intervention in their lives), the believers would experience the blessedness of seeing God orchestrate things which would be absolutely magnificent and quite possibly outside the realm of what they anticipated.  This would draw the people into a spirit of praise and adoration of God for His responding in truly spectacular ways.

Paul uses in his letter an interesting imperative to "be alert."  Much like a watchman on a city wall that would assess the circumstances before him to assure the safety and protection of himself and his fellow citizens, so too Paul charged the Christians at Ephesus to be alert and keep praying for the saints.  We as the body of Christ are on this journey called life together, and we need to lift each other to the Lord with regularity for provision, for protection, and for guidance.  Paul too asked that they pray for him so that he would share the mystery of the gospel clearly and fearlessly to those in Rome.  One can only imagine the persecutions that Paul experienced as he awaited his trial there.  He knew that his life likely would be sacrificed for the cause of Christ, if he remained faithful to proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ.  And yet at the same time, he understood that in his flesh, there would come a temptation to seek the easy way out so as to avoid his demise.  Paul asked that his brothers and sisters in Christ in Ephesus lift him up so that he might boldly share the message, no matter the outcome.  He knew that his strength would come from the Holy Spirit, and this is why he himself prayed similar prayers for the Ephesian believers with regularity.

This text is a wonderful word for us today, for it seems that one of the prevailing shortcomings of today's disciples of Christ is the offering of regular prayers of all kinds to the Lord . . . particularly prayers that call out to God to strengthen fellow believers with His power and His wisdom.  How often are we praying for each other, that we would grasp the magitude of His grace and love for us?  How much are we praying for others to have a distinguishing depth of faith in God and love for others?   How much are we praying that our fellow believers would speak the truth of the gospel with boldness and clarity when opportunities are afforded to them?  It sounds like we need to "get to praying."