This is our second week in our new Plugged into Prayer series. In week 1, we looked at the prayer Jesus gave us: The Lord’s Prayer. This week, we look at the example of the Apostle Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1, where he writes, “I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers” (v.16).
By praying, God not only wants us to remember Him, and to remember to come to Him with our needs, but in prayer He also wants us to remember others. Our text for this week is, basically, one long, single sentence prayer of intercession. To ‘intercede,’ means to act on behalf of, or to intervene, for another. What can we learn from this packed prayer of Paul for our own prayers for others? As Paul prays for the believers in ancient Ephesus, we see him praying for an increase of 3 things in their life in Christ: 1) an experiential knowledge of God, 2) an understanding of hope, and 3) a belief in God’s power. Paul’s prayer is that, as believers, they would more fully know what they have in Christ, as there is nothing more important for a believer to apprehend. Do you remember others in prayer? What do you pray for?