Keep Us Thankful in Prayer

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

We know that we’re not to worry, but to trust God (John 14:1). The answer to living this way is to not let our minds drift into worry or anxiety. Let’s pray that God will give us a special sensitivity to worry, so that we can immediately turn our anxious thoughts to prayer. We can and should seek God’s help (Matthew 7:7-9; James 4:2-3), praying without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17), but always with thanksgiving. We’re to thank God in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18) and for everything (Ephesians 5:20).

Why? Because when we pray this way, we put our focus on God and not on our problems. Such prayer indicates our faith in Him, which pleases Him (Hebrews 11:6). Constant prayer helps us fix our eyes on Jesus, and reminds us of what is really important—things that are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:17-18), fruit that lasts (John 15:16), treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21). This is not positive thinking, but living by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7).

Such faith carries its own reward—the peace of God which guards our hearts and minds, the peace that comes from Christ Himself (John 14:27). What a powerful witness we can be to the world when the peace of God rules in our hearts (Colossians 3:15); it’s one of the ways we demonstrate that we are in the world but not of the world (John 17:15-16).

Grace and peace to us all!

May Christ Be Glorified in Us

We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you…. (2 Thessalonians 1:12)

The Apostle Paul prayed this verse for the Thessalonians, and we pray it for ourselves because our most powerful and effective witness to the world is Christ in us, our hope of glory (Colossians 1:17). Those in the world around us need to see Him as the anchor of our soul (Hebrews 6:19), our new life (2 Corinthians 5:17). Christ, the light of the world (John 8:12), should radiate from us (Matthew 5:14). The fruit of His Spirit should flow from us like rivers of living water (John 7:38).

When it is His life and power that fills us, everything we do attracts people to Him:

"And so we keep on praying for you, that our God will make you the kind of children he wants to have—will make you as good as you wish you could be!—rewarding your faith with his power. Then everyone will be praising the name of the Lord Jesus Christ because of the results they see in you…." (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12, TLB)

Are people seeing the results of Christ’s life in us? Is He evident in our lives, not just on mission trips or in other areas of service, but all the time? Shouldn’t we be praying that He is? Because when He is, His presence and power ignites our lives and everything we do has Kingdom value. When He is glorified in us, He can transform our families, our relationships, our ministry and service.

May others praise the name of the Lord Jesus because of the results they see in us!

May God Strengthen Us with His Power

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge....(Ephesians 3:17-19)

Why should we ask God to strengthen us with His power? Certainly one reason is that Jesus promised His disciples that they would be clothed with power from on high, that the Spirit would impart His power for witnessing (Luke 24:45-49). We rely on that power as we go forward in obedience to His Great Commission (Matthew 28:20).

But we need the Spirit's power for more than ministry. This is something Paul realized and prayed for the Ephesians. He asked God to strengthen them with power through the indwelling Spirit so they would grasp the width, length, breadth and height of Christ’s love and would “know [personally experience, in increasing measure] this love that surpasses knowledge….” (Ephesians 3:14-19, italics added)

Is this a surprising thought, that we would need the Spirit’s power to grasp and experience the enormity of Christ’s love? Why would that matter to Paul? Why should it matter to us? Perhaps because our call is not to ministry, but to Christ, to a love relationship and personal fellowship with Jesus.

Some of us may never have known unconditional human love, and find it difficult to relate to such love from Christ. Though we may intellectually understand divine love, it is only the Spirit’s power within that can make that love real in our experience. We don’t serve a distant and uncaring King, but the lover of our souls. How much greater is our service when His love fills our hearts—how much farther we can run, how much higher we can climb, how much more joy can we experience.

Let us pray that God will strengthen us with His power to know, to experience, Christ’s love.

Keep us faithful to pray for each other.

Keep us faithful to pray for each other. (Ephesians 6:18)

Why should we this verse for one another? Because even though we know it’s important to pray for each other if we’re honest, most of us will admit that we have little time or energy for prayer. The time that we do have is likely to be first of all focused on the needs and circumstances of our families and those who are personally close to us, and rightfully so.

But just as Paul so frequently asked for prayer for his ministry and service from those who served with him, we need one another’s prayers too. He exhorted them—and he exhorts us—to “pray always for all of the saints” (Ephesians 6:18), and he lived that way. He prayed for his fellow workers:
…constantly (2 Thessalonians 1:11),
…thoughtfully, specifically (1 Corinthians 14:15),
…earnestly day and night (1 Thessalonians 3:10),
…with joy (Philippians 1:3-5),
…with thanksgiving (Colossians 1:3).

Paul knew that people who were serving with him were in need of much prayer, as he was. They were all spending themselves for God’s kingdom, busily leading people to Christ, planting churches, discipling believers. Paul and his fellow workers needed constant, thoughtful, earnest on-going prayer for one another.

Do we need it any less?