13th-19th January 2025
At the start of this new year, I thought it would be useful to look again at Paul’s first recorded prayer for the Ephesians, as we have just picked up again on this letter for our Sunday morning teaching.
I am sure you will agree it is vital that we don’t only understand and be impressed with Paul’s prayers but that we make such prayers our own.
So, to help us, I have divided his prayers in chapters 1 and 3 into seven parts and we will pray focusing on one of these parts each day.
On Monday and Tuesday, we will in turn think about what Paul gave thanks for. Namely their faith and their love.
During the rest of the week our focus will be on each of the following: knowledge, hope, inheritance, power and Christ’s love.
May the Lord grant our request as we come this week asking “Lord, teach us to pray”.
Written by Robert Mullan
MONDAY
“For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus … I do not cease to give thanks for you …” Ephesians 1: 15, 16
Before the apostle prays for them, he gives thanks for two things they already have. The first of these is their faith in the Lord Jesus. Coming in faith to Jesus was the starting point of their spiritual journey and having faith in Jesus was their daily living experience. Paul himself could say, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Heavenly Father, thank you for every brother and sister in Glenabbey and for the faith they already have in Jesus. Thank you that it is this common faith in him that binds us together. That there is only one Lord, one faith, one baptism.
We thank you that, as the wall of division was broken down between Jew and Gentile, our faith in Jesus removes all walls that might ordinarily rise between us. Thank you that Jesus is the foundation on which each of us are built and that we are built up together in him, that he is the founder and perfecter of our faith. Help us to value the ‘faith in Jesus’ that is seen in others and to give you thanks for it.
In Jesus’ name we pray.
TUESDAY
“For this reason, because I have heard … of your love towards all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you …” Ephesians 1: 15, 16
The second thing that the apostle gives thanks for is their love. And it is interesting that he specifically refers to their love towards fellow Christians. This reminds us of the words of Jesus, doesn’t it? … “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another”. Paul has already given thanks for their faith in the Lord Jesus. Now he gives thanks for the outward evidence of this faith as it is seen in their love for one another.
Heavenly Father, thank you for the ‘love for others’ which is evident in Glenabbey. We thank you that this love has its source in you because you are love. We thank you that your love is not only in word, but in action. You have demonstrated it to us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We thank you for evidence of ‘love to others’ in Glenabbey when brothers and sisters proactively reach out to others to be present to them in whatever appropriate way. For the elders and leaders who give of their time to encourage and build us up. For those who share your love with boys and girls, youth and young adults. We thank you for the ongoing love that is evident in all of Glenabbey’s activities, ministries, partnerships and towards the missionaries that are supported. And not least, towards ‘strangers’ and those amongst us who are in special need or struggling in various ways at this time.
Help us to value the ‘love for others’ that is seen in our brothers and sisters and to give you thanks for it.
In Jesus’ name we pray.
WEDNESDAY
“that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him” Ephesians 1:17
Having given thanks for their faith in Jesus and their love for one another, Paul now makes his first request to God in prayer. And it is that they might come to know God in a deeper way. To not only know about God and his will and ways but to know God himself. This surely is the greatest prayer you could pray, either for yourself or for others. But this is a knowledge that we cannot attain on our own. Our Father needs to reveal it to us. So Paul prays that God would give them a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. This is life’s greatest quest. It is life itself. “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent”.
Heavenly Father, how blest were the Ephesians to have Paul pray such a prayer for them. We desire nothing less. Thank you that your divine nature is clearly perceived in the things that you have made. Thank you for the many times and ways in which you spoke by the prophets. But above all, thank you for speaking to us by your Son. He who is the exact imprint of your nature and who could say, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father”. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear. Give us, in Glenabbey, a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of you.
In Jesus’ name we pray.
THURSDAY
“having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you” Ephesians 1:18
The next thing that Paul prays for is that they would have a greater awareness of the hope to which they have been called. In the past, their situation was described as ‘having no hope and without God in the world’. But now they have come to know that they have been called to a sure hope. Thankfully for them, and for us, our hope is not just ‘a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen’. By contrast, the hope to which they and we have been called could not be more certain. This is because it is God who has called us. We hold fast to the hope set before us because it is a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the heavenly sanctuary … where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf.
Heavenly Father, thank you for the hope to which you have called us. We pray that you will help us to grasp it more firmly. We thank you that it is an anchor of the soul. For some of us ‘the skies are blue’ and ‘the sea is calm’ and we find it easy to be thankful for the present as well as the future. But for others of us ‘the skies are dark’ and ‘the seas are rough’. Things don’t appear to be working out as planned, or prayed, and we find it easy to lose hope. We pray that, even if our present circumstances and situations appear to remain unresolved and hopeless and batter us like waves against the ‘vessel’ of our lives, that you will reassure us of the hope to which you have called us. That we will know that it will ultimately bring us safely through.
In Jesus’ name we pray.
FRIDAY
“what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints” Ephesians 1:18
Yesterday, when thinking of hope, we saw it as a source of comfort as it means that, even should life be unbearable now, we will be delivered out of it in the future. However, ‘hope’ means much more than an escape because it is linked to our next word which is inheritance. Something to look forward to and well worth waiting for. Nothing in the present world can compare with the ‘riches of his glorious inheritance’ which he has in store for us. I’m not even going to try to describe what it will be like as I don’t have a clue. I am happy to wait and be surprised! It excites me and I have no doubt it will make up for anything negative we experience here. And isn’t it wonderful that one of the outcomes of believing in Christ is to be sealed with the Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. Something to give thanks for!
Heavenly Father, thank you for what is in store for us in the future and that we can look forward to it with great expectation. Thank you for giving us your Holy Spirit whereby we are sealed and through whom we have a foretaste of the world to come. And thank you that through the Holy Spirit you have already revealed to us what no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the hearts of men and women could have imagined in pre-Christian times. Help us to know what riches are available to us now and to live in the good of them for your honour and glory.
In Jesus’ name we pray.
SATURDAY
“what is the immeasurable greatness of his power towards us who believe” Ephesians 1:19
Yesterday we thought primarily about the inheritance we have in the future. Today we consider something that is of vital importance to us in the ‘here and now’. It is God’s immeasurable power. In ourselves ‘we are without strength’. Every gram of energy we have is derived and does not originate in ourselves. God’s eternal power is one of his invisible attributes and has been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. God is omnipotent. His power is as infinite as his person. And amazingly it can be known in a personal and experiential way by those who believe. We can know the power that worked in Christ when God raised him from the dead.
Heavenly Father, we acknowledge our complete dependence on you. Our very existence depends on you. In you we live and move and have our being. Our spiritual life also totally depends on you, for while we were without strength Christ died for us and we are being kept by your power. And in the ongoing struggles of our lives, it is your strength that is made perfect in our weakness. Help us in our great weakness to lean on your great power. Empower us for every God given task.
In Jesus’ name we pray.
SUNDAY
“and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God”. Ephesians 3:19
Paul, this time in his second prayer, prays again that we may be strengthened through his Spirit in our inner being. But this time it is to the end that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith so that we:
might be rooted and grounded in love
might be enabled to comprehend the breadth, length, height and depth of his love
might know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge
may be filled with all the fulness of God
Surely this is the zenith of Paul’s prayers. Where it all leads.
We have used Paul’s words throughout this week’s diary but let’s give him the last word and finish by directly quoting from him in his doxology …
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever. Amen”. Ephesians 3:20-21