A prayer for the Equipped

“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.” Ephesians‬ ‭4‬:‭11‬-‭16‬ ‭‬‬

Heavenly Father, there is often a sense that Your work is handled by the pastors and leaders of the church, or contained in the four walls of a church house by an elected few. But Lord, You have called us to more. You tell us in Ephesians that those appointed as apostles, prophets, pastor, teacher, and evangelists to equip us to do the work of the service, to build up the body of Christ. Lord, help us to come along side our church leaders and truly be Your hands and feet in our community, to serve one another, to encourage others within Your body, not just the four walls of the church. Remind us that despite worldly separation due to denominations we are part of one body, Your body. We are equipped to do Your work help us to do it. In Jesus name amen!