That we may grow! (Thoughts from Ephesians 1:15-23)
An awesome benefit of being a Christian is direct access to our Father in Heaven. It’s a precious privilege we have as Christians…but sometimes we take God and treat him as a solution vending machine. The way to start prayer is letting Him know we recognize His greatness and His gift of love for us, thanking our mighty and powerful God who cares for each of us personally.
God created us to be in relationship with Him – He CHOSE us, even ADOPTED us as His own. When we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, He brings us into His family, granting us the privileges and benefits of that status.
Paul has heard great things about the church in Ephesus. He can’t stop giving thanks for them, lifting them up before God regularly. Interestingly as Paul writes, he is sitting in jail in chains.
I appreciate Paul’s focus as he looks to encourage the Ephesian Christians to deepen their walk with God. He prays for them to know more of God and the power of His Spirit. To encourage their worship of God, he prays that they never lose sight of the hope they have in Christ, along with the inheritance waiting for them in the future.
As a believer, I’ve found that praying is not a skill as much as it’s a relationship, like a child with a parent. We have a lot to learn as we seek to grow closer to God and develop our prayer life.
Many practice “The Lord’s Prayer,” which is a prayer model that Jesus gave to his disciples. I believe Jesus was teaching the disciples how to pray, not necessarily what to pray. God looks for honesty, dependency and especially transparency much more than a particular method or style.
A pattern for prayer that has helped me is the acronym P.R.A.Y. – Praise – Repent– Ask – Yield! Start with 1.) PRAISE God – who He is and His attributes; 2.) REPENT – confess our sins; 3.) ASK – requests of God what’s needed or desired; 4.) YIELD our hearts to Him – submitting our will to His.
Acronyms and other systems can help us establish patterns and creative ways to pray, especially just starting out, or looking to improve how we talk to God. In prayer we grow in our walk with God and in fellowship with other believers, finding encouragement and strength to live and survive in this fallen, broken world.
