Weekly Devotional 7-7-14 Our responsibility and Privilege in Prayer
Returning to Antioch from his second missionary journey (recorded in Acts 18:19-22), Paul had stopped at Ephesus for a short time, and as was his custom, he spent time in the synagogue reasoning with the Jews. No doubt, he presented the good news of life through and in Christ to them. Later on, on his third journey, he revisited Ephesus again. This time he spent 3 years (Acts 19:9-10; 20:31) with them leading many to Christ, securing and encouraging all the believers in their faith. We read from Acts 20:17-38 that as the end of this period drew to a close, Paul called the Ephesian elders to him, told them that the Holy Spirit was leading him to Jerusalem, that he would suffer at the hands of the Jews and that they (the Ephesians) would see him no more.
We learn from the record (Acts 21:17-Chapter 28) that Paul would in fact suffer many things for the cause of Christ. He was arrested, imprisoned and after several years of imprisonment was, according to church history, martyred.
Paul, however, never forgot the Ephesians; nor did he lose his love for the. Concerned that they might become discouraged because of his afflictions, he wrote a powerful letter of encouragement and instruction. In that letter he offered up several prayers for them, but none more powerful than his prayer recorded in Ephesians 3:13-21. He wrote,
“13Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. 14For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. 16that He would grant you, according to the riches of Hi glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height—19to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God: (NKJV).
Shouldn’t this be the prayer of the shepherds of our day? Shouldn’t this be our prayer for one another? I believer so! Christian’s of our day are increasingly facing many kinds of persecution. On foreign soil many are being imprisoned for their faith and many are tortured and losing their lives. Here at home in the United States many (we) are losing their (our) right of free speech, are being persecuted in one way or another for not supporting government mandated causes, and some have been killed because of their faith.
May each of us be responsible and faithful in our prayers for one another.
stevelampman@comcast.net stevelampman.com
Transforming Power, The Work of God on Behalf of Man.