Praying for the Hard Work

Ephesians 1:16–19

16 I don’t stop giving thanks to God for you when I remember you in my prayers. 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, will give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation that makes God known to you. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart will have enough light to see what is the hope of God’s call, what is the richness of God’s glorious inheritance among believers, 19 and what is the overwhelming greatness of God’s power that is working among us believers.

Praying for the Hard Work

Good Day Family,

What are you praying for? Even when we praying for another person, what is the nature of our prayer for them. I love this prayer Paul prays for the church at Ephesus. Like most of the early church, and churches today, the Ephesians encounter trials and struggles. They felt the pull of the evil in the world around them. They experienced spiritual warfare and much of Paul’s letter counseled them on how to proceed faithfully in that battle.

Sometimes, we fail to recognize spiritual warfare because we focus on the personalities involved. We may have our allegiances and feel compelled to publicly support what we privately bemoan. We keep quiet out of a desire to not stir things up any more than they already are…even when our voice may be exactly what is needed during those times.

When we do engage, we become weary…because it’s hard work. We may feel worn out and ready to give up. Paul’s prayer was to guard against that. His prayer was that those followers of Jesus would receive what they needed to be sustained through the long journey of faith. If we take a road trip, we prepare. Perhaps we get our vehicle serviced. We load up our supplies. We review the map of the journey. Our life is a long, perpetual road trip taking us through hills and valleys, through toils and snares, through joys and triumphs. I pray you soul is serviced. Your spirit knows God and recognizes the movement of God among us, behind us, before us…with us in the hard work.

Prayerfully,

Be well,

Pastor Cheryl

Let us encourage one another. Let us love our neighbor. Let us be the church.