Paul is in The House.  Ephesians 1.15-19

Shalom.

You have just come off a dusty street, carefully opening and quickly closing the door to the small gathering of friends and brothers … ‘can’t be too cautious as the authorities look for any excuse to punish Jesus followers.  No matter, now you are with those who have come out of darkness—from pagan religions and Jewish orthodoxy to new life in Jesus Christ! You think to yourself, ‘I am with my people!  This is my family—why, as I look around, I think I would give my life for these folks.’  Paul is teaching on right relationship with one another on this night, but first—he stops to pray.  Before he asks for God’s wisdom in rightly dividing the truth of the Word, Paul prays for you. 

Can you imagine what it might have been like to have Paul pray aloud for you?  Think of it … oh, my goodness—second to the prayers of Jesus, must surely have been the powerful, loving prayers of Paul.  Because of the kind of man Paul was, anyone present would remember the prayer long after the day—the words, his timbre, and how he talked to God, but especially when his prayers became personal—either interceding for one present or praying a blessing over him. 

Recorded in his written letters are many prayers that inform us greatly.  His words are often paternal in nature; so warm was he, in his encouragement of the young believers’ continued faith, knowledge and love of God!

Here’s an example; take a look …and put yourself in the prayer as though Paul is talking about you, praying for you~

“I thank my God every time I remember you.  In all my prayers for you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now ... It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart . . .all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer:

that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so

that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ,                                                         filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.”  from Philippians 1

and here we see Paul’s heart as recorded in Ephesians 1:

“Since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks to God for you.

I always remember you in my prayers, asking the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father:

to give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you will know him better   --that you will have greater understanding in your heart so you will know the hope to which he has called us and that you will know how rich and glorious are the blessings God has promised his holy people.                                                                                

--And you will know that God’s power is very great for us who believe.

That power is the same as the great strength God used to raise Christ

          from the dead and put him at his right side in the heavenly world.”

                                                               Ephesians 1.15-19 

And I pray these things for you, dear follower of Jesus Christ, first thanking God for your faith in him.  I pray that you will know the wisdom of God and experience him more and more with each passing day.

A teacher with the heart of a shepherd feels in his very person the struggle and pain of those he leads.  There are times that I can literally feel in my body the pain of those I love who are hurting—‘can’t really explain it, but it is there, just the same.  The good news is that I have something of substance to give those who hurt, those who struggle, or even those who strive for something that is humanly impossible to ‘master’ without the touch of the Master.  The good news is that Paul’s prayers show me how to pray for all of you—and that, dear ones, is nothing short of amazing.

Christine