Paul's prayer in Ephesians 1:17-19 begins with the words "I keep asking". Paul made the same requests of God on behalf of the people he loved and was thankful for, and he prayed those prayers repeatedly. He apparently felt no pressure to be "original" in his prayers. In this, he followed the lead of His Savior who was not "original" on the cross when He prayed the Psalms.
Why pray the same prayer over and over? Some prayers will never be answered fully on this side of heaven. We will grow in our understanding of the prayer as we pray it and we will see growth in the answer. Paul prayed that they would grow in knowledge of God, hope, His inheritance and His incomparably great power. I will never come to a place in my life when I will be able to cross those items off my list of completely answered prayers! The prayer at the top of the list, knowing God, easily gets crowded out by other requests. But Jesus said in John 17:3 that knowing God is the very essence of eternal life, so I would do well to keep that prayer at the top of my prayer priorities.
Find some Scripture to pray for yourself and the people you love. Pray it repeatedly. Let them know you're praying it. And watch yourself and them grow in the answer!
No comments:
Post a Comment