“Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition.
To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints.”
(Ephesians 6:18). ESV
Sometimes my prayers seem shallow. “Help Aunt Betsy’s dog stop having diarrhea on the carpet”. “Give Bobbie that job he applied for”. “Heal the wart on Brandy’s finger”. Don’t get me wrong. God loves Aunt Betsy and her dog. He loves Bobbie and meets his needs. God loves Brandy and is her Healer. I think we are to bring these “small” requests to the Lord, but I also think we are to consider Aunt Betsy, Bobbie, and Brandy’s deeper needs, and pray in ways that minister also to their hearts.
Some friends and I were recently studying the letter Apostle Paul wrote to the Colossians. One of the exercises we had was to look at his other epistles to see how he prayed for the believers that received his letters. I walked away from that exercise convicted. I was challenged to examine how I prayed for my fellow brothers and sisters in my church, in my town, and around the world.
So what does that look like? Here are some ways I found from the way Paul prayed, that we can utilize as he says in I Corinthians 11:1, “You are to imitate me, just as I imitate Christ”:
~ May you be enriched in Him in all speech and all knowledge (I Corinthians 1:5).
~ May you not lack any spiritual gift (I Corinthians 1:7).
~ May you be comforted in all your affliction by the Father of mercies and God of all comfort and in turn, comfort others with the comfort you have received (II Corinthians 1:3-4).
~ May you patiently endure suffering (II Corinthians 1:6).
~ May you rely not on yourself but on God who raises the dead (II Corinthians 1:9).
~ May you set your hope on God (II Corinthians 1:10).
~ May you never quickly desert (or distort) the grace and gospel of Christ (Galatians 1:6, 7).
~ May you seek the approval of God rather than humankind (Galatians 1:10).
~ May the Father of glory give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him (Ephesians 1:17).
~ May the eyes of your heart be enlightened that you might know what is the hope to which He has called you and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power (Ephesians 1:18-19).
~ May you remember that God will bring to completion the good work He began in you (Philippians 1:6).
~ May your love abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment (Philippians 1:9).
~ May you be able to approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:10-11).
~ May you be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding (Colossians 1:9).
~ May you walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him (Colossians 1:10).
~ May you bear fruit in every good work (Colossians 1:10).
~ May you increase in the knowledge of God (Colossians 1:10).
~ May you be strengthened with all power according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy (Colossians 1:11).
~ May you become imitators of godly leaders and of the Lord (I Thessalonians 1:6).
~ May you receive the Word in affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit so that you might become an example to all believers (I Thessalonians 1:6-7).
~ May the Word of the Lord sound forth from you and may your faith in God go forth everywhere (I Thessalonians 1:8).
~ May your faith grow abundantly (II Thessalonians 1:3).
~ May the love you have for one another increase (II Thessalonians 1:3).
~ May you be steadfast and faithful in enduring persecution and affliction (II Thessalonians 1:4).
~ May you wage the good warfare, holding onto faith and a good conscience (I Timothy 1:18-19).
~ May you fan into flame the gift of God given to you (II Timothy 1:6).
~ May the sharing of your faith become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in you (Philemon 6).
~ May the hearts of saints be refreshed through you (Philemon 7).
I know this list is long (and not even exhaustive), but may it whet your appetite to pray in new and deeper ways. And what a blessing it would be to know that this has been prayed for you!
