Tomorrow (3rd February 2012) is the next instalment of our monthly “First Friday Fast” at Grace Church.
It’s one day a month we encourage all the people of Grace Church to set aside, to devote time to fasting and praying for our church and the advance of the gospel in our community and city.
Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath, and at the start of a new month we want to dedicate time to praying again for God’s grace to be lavished upon His church. As we prepare our hearts for tomorrow, I thought it might be helpful for us to consider two of the prayers that the apostle Paul prayed, recorded for us in Ephesians.
Ephesians 1:15-23
For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Ephesians 3:14-21
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 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, forever and ever. Amen.
The first thing to notice about these two prayers is that Paul is not primarily praying for a new job, better sleep at night, an end to the stress at work, or similar things that so often make up my prayer list. Don’t freak out, prayers like those I’ve just mentioned are good and commendable, but they are not what we need the most. Paul demonstrates for us through these prayers what is most needed. He petitions God to draw the hearts of his people to Himself, to expand our vision of who he is and what he is doing int he world, to increase our affections for him.
In both prayers, Paul asks God to give understanding to the people he shepherds. He wants them to know the hope of the gospel, the inheritance of the saints through the gospel, the power of God in the gospel and the awesomeness of Christ’s love displayed in the gospel. Paul’s greatest concern is for the people of God to understand, know and comprehend the gospel of Jesus Christ.
More than anything else, you and I desperately need the gospel of Jesus Christ. The reality and truth of the life, death, resurrection and return of Christ will do us the greatest good and needs to be cherished and treasured by us. The gospel is supposed to shape how we live all of our lives — how we: give, think, study, play, work, rest, eat and drink. We never outgrow it. We never move on from it.
The knowledge of the gospel is not merely a head-knowledge, that we ascent to, but should pierce deep down into our hearts so that our love for Christ expands and grows as we come to know Him more fully. Being rooted and grounded in love, we come to understand this love lavished upon us in Christ, and so our capacity to receive and extend that love expands.
So as we set ourselves to pray tomorrow, let’s use these two prayers of Paul as our guardrails and guide:
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