Word@Work Eph11 - Ephesians 1:17
Published: Fri, 10/10/08
Word@Work from BeaconLight
PRIORITY PRAYING
Read Ephesians 1:17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. (NIV)
Do you find it easy to pray for people? It is easy to be stirred to pray for an immediate need (especially if we have personal experience of a dilemma), but often that peters out all too soon. An immediate prayer need, with an immediate answer, does not demand endurance: undefined needs and delayed answers do. So here, Paul focuses on essentials. Rather than the day-to-day matters of health and welfare, the Apostle prays about the 'stuff of spiritual life' - the Holy Spirit who infuses God's people with truth and wisdom.
God's truth cannot be made up or logically deduced - it needs to be revealed to us. And even Bible truth needs to be personally explained to our hearts ... which is what the Holy Spirit does. God's wisdom is His way of applying truth practically; so that we will rejoice, others will be blessed and God will be glorified. These should be major priorities for every Christian, despite (or even because of) the intense pressure at work. It is not 'strength to cope' that we all need, as much as 'knowing the Strong One'. It is the believer's greatest need, that we might have a much bigger awareness of the Lord who knows, both, what is right, and how to do it.
It is right to ask Father God that the Holy Spirit will open our Christian friends' eyes to His wise truth, and give them the way to do it so that Christ will be glorified. We can sometimes assume that our relationship with the Lord runs on auto-pilot. It cannot; like any relationship, we need to get to know Him better (an active process that we choose to engage in) and find out what pleases Him (cf Eph 5:10). So why not start by selecting one Christian you know, and pray this prayer for him/her? Then why not ask the friend to pray the same for you? Start today?!
Prayer: Please help my friend ... [name] to get to know You better. Please send Your Holy Spirit to show him/her what is right and how to please you. And help me to keep on praying for him/her as You do Your gracious work. For Jesus' sake. Amen.
You can read more of this Bible passage online - in English and other languages - share the Bible with your friends!
Do you find it easy to pray for people? It is easy to be stirred to pray for an immediate need (especially if we have personal experience of a dilemma), but often that peters out all too soon. An immediate prayer need, with an immediate answer, does not demand endurance: undefined needs and delayed answers do. So here, Paul focuses on essentials. Rather than the day-to-day matters of health and welfare, the Apostle prays about the 'stuff of spiritual life' - the Holy Spirit who infuses God's people with truth and wisdom.
God's truth cannot be made up or logically deduced - it needs to be revealed to us. And even Bible truth needs to be personally explained to our hearts ... which is what the Holy Spirit does. God's wisdom is His way of applying truth practically; so that we will rejoice, others will be blessed and God will be glorified. These should be major priorities for every Christian, despite (or even because of) the intense pressure at work. It is not 'strength to cope' that we all need, as much as 'knowing the Strong One'. It is the believer's greatest need, that we might have a much bigger awareness of the Lord who knows, both, what is right, and how to do it.
It is right to ask Father God that the Holy Spirit will open our Christian friends' eyes to His wise truth, and give them the way to do it so that Christ will be glorified. We can sometimes assume that our relationship with the Lord runs on auto-pilot. It cannot; like any relationship, we need to get to know Him better (an active process that we choose to engage in) and find out what pleases Him (cf Eph 5:10). So why not start by selecting one Christian you know, and pray this prayer for him/her? Then why not ask the friend to pray the same for you? Start today?!
Prayer: Please help my friend ... [name] to get to know You better. Please send Your Holy Spirit to show him/her what is right and how to please you. And help me to keep on praying for him/her as You do Your gracious work. For Jesus' sake. Amen.
You can read more of this Bible passage online - in English and other languages - share the Bible with your friends!
Why not share Word@Work with your friends - they can subscribe at http://www.beaconlight.co.uk/email!
If you value your free Word@Work - an occasional donation will help us to maintain and develop the ministry - thank you!
If you value your free Word@Work - an occasional donation will help us to maintain and develop the ministry - thank you!
W@WEph11 | Word@Work © Dr Paul Adams 2008 | Provided by BeaconLight
Contact us at wordatwork@beaconlight.co.uk
Your next Word@Work will be sent on
Contact us at wordatwork@beaconlight.co.uk
Your next Word@Work will be sent on