Issue 22 - Day 7

Ephesians 3

Ephesians 3:14-17
14)  For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15)  Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16)  That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
17)  That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

Why do you pray? Do you pray? I trust the question is the former rather than the later, however we read a lot about prayer in the bible and this passage gives us yet another reason to seek God. Much like elsewhere in scripture the focus is not inward, but outward. Intercession for others is a key motivator in prayer. It is also a good thermometer for your prayer life. When you have not been praying, been praying little, or perhaps come to prayer for the first time, you will find your prayers to be looking inward. “Lord, save me...”, “Lord, help me...”, “Lord, give me...”, are characteristic prayers of this time. As we spend more time with the Lord our prayers turn first to him, “Lord, you are ...”, and then outward. “Lord, I pray for …”.

What then is Paul requesting here, and likewise should we pray for one another? Inner strength, indwelling of Christ, and good grounding. To the unbeliever there can be no more nebulous prayer than for inner strength. They see only the outward issues. But this is the reason we ask not that a brother in Christ would stop a particular sin, but that God would give them the strength to stop and repent. The inner change will lead to an outer action, and it is the inner change that will last.

Pray for a brother in Christ today. “Lord, give them strength”. Call them up to encourage them, and maybe even pray together on the phone.