Prayer (5-14-13)

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 - "To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ."

In reading the letters written through the apostle Paul I am struck by the way he talks about prayer. I'm not sure, but it seems that every time he talks about his prayers for individual churches and believers, or asks for prayer from the people to who he is writing, he focuses on spiritual needs rather than on physical. It would be a good exercise to simply read through the New Testament letters and make note of all the prayers and prayer requests that are made. They overwhelmingly focus on the spiritual rather than the physical. Don't get me wrong, we do have physical needs and we implore the Lord for those needs, and we should. It's right for us to bring our physical needs before the Lord. He Himself taught His disciples to pray "Give us this day our daily bread." James also talks about prayer being offered for those who are sick and suffering. But our prayer life shouldn't be focused exclusively, or even primarily on our physical needs. Whether we realize it or not, we have great spiritual needs, and the primary focus of our prayers should be on these.

I want to take a look at a few of Paul's prayers, just to give us an idea of what the Lord sees as our true needs. Remember, all Scripture is God breathed. These prayers that the apostle prayed were inspired by God, so in looking at these prayers we can get an idea of what God considers to be the true needs of the church.
Ephesians 1:15-19 - "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." This prayer is entirely focused on the spiritual need of the church to know God in a deeper and more intimate way. Our need to be drawn closer to Him and discover through revelation more of who He is. Phillips translates this prayer in this way - "That God, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ and the all-glorious Father, will give you spiritual wisdom and the insight to know more of him: that you may receive that inner illumination of the spirit which will make you realize how great is the hope to which he is calling you—the magnificence and splendor of the inheritance promised to Christians—and how tremendous is the power available to us who believe in God." Our focus is so often limited to the things that we can see, the temporal things. It's hard for us, being physical beings, to focus on invisible, eternal things. And that's why we need to pray all the more that God would give us wisdom and insight to know more of Him, and to emptied of self in order that we might be full of Him and used by Him.

When we come to Ephesians chapter 3 we have another prayer that focuses entirely on the spiritual needs of the saints. Ephesians 3:14-19 - "For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God."

The prayers of Gods people today, both individual and corporate, are almost exclusively focused on our physical needs. We you get together with other believers and ask for prayer requests you see how many physical needs we have. And like I said, it's right for us to pray about these things. But how many times have you heard someone ask for prayer that they might grow in love toward God? How many times have you prayed that your local church would be completely submitted to the Spirit of God in order that He might do His work through you? We know that it is Gods will for His people that we would be conformed to the image of His Son, do you ever pray for people to this end? We need to learn from the example of the prayers given in Scripture and allow God to use His Word to transform our focus, and ultimately our prayers.

Philippians 1:9-11 - "And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God."

Colossians 1:9-12 - "For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light."

Colossians 4:12 - "Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God."

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 - "To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ."