Praying for Others

For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about 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 every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection 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 1:15-23

Wisdom. Knowledge. Revelation. Hope. Enlightenment. Glory. Inheritance. Power. His strength. His might. What wonderful things to pray for other believers!

I love that the examples we see in the Bible of prayer. These examples are not “Lord meet the need of brother so and so.” “Lord, fix the marriage of this couple”, “Lord deliver the son of so and so”.

The disciples understood if people pressed into God that wisdom and knowledge would be given in meeting those specific needs. Revelation and hope can bring deliverance. As we seek God’s glory, power, might and strength, they will meet the tangible needs of others.

What if we stopped focusing our prayers on the tangible things and pressed into the things that God truly desires for us to have that would let everything else be met in God’s timing?

When Jesus spoke deliverance, when the disciples spoke healing and deliverance it was a command. Come out. Build. And walk. These are prayers to us now. Their prayers were like this one for the bigger kingdom needs.

Lord, I want to pray for the things that matter to you. I know that you care about the individual needs of people lord but there are bigger things that they need in their lives that could meet those tangible needs. Help me to move past the superficial but real needs of others and pray for the kingdom needs! I ask these things in Jesus name. Amen`