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Retro-Christian: Prayer

Matt Ahearn

Prayer is an important part of Christianity. It is an extremely basic truth. Usually, a Christian walk begins with prayer. We pray before meals. We pray at church. We pray for the unsaved and for the sick. However, we often neglect to pray for fellow Christians who appear physically and spiritually healthy. And, this should not be the case. Perhaps it is time to go retro.

Today, we continue the series “Retro Christian,” a study through Ephesians. This is a study of some of the most basic truths — and often most neglected — truths in Christianity. Often, these truths, like prayer, are things that we may have learned years ago in Sunday school. However, our hearts often require searching to determine if we are truly living out these areas of our faith. If we are, then the Word provides strength and we press onward. If we are not, then we work to change, becoming more like Christ, and become “retro-Christians.”

Never Stop

Paul, continuing his letter to the Ephesians, writes:

Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers… (NKJV, Ephesians 1:15-16)

Ephesians contains a great deal of theological content that can be difficult to understand. This passage, though, is easy. Paul, a captive in Rome, has heard of the Ephesians’ strong faith in Jesus Christ. Not only is their faith strong; they have a passionate love for fellow Christians, the saints. It must have been encouraging for Paul to actually write to a church that had a strong faith and was living out that faith to some degree. Previously, Paul had written to the Galatian and Corinthian churches, both of which had some serious problems. In this case, though, Paul gets to write to a strong, loving church. As a result, Paul gives thanks and…prays.

Now, I can understand the giving thanks part. But, it seems that we often reserve prayer for the times when people are sick or for the unsaved. We are to pray for the sick and unsaved, but, in this case, Paul prays for a church that appears to be reasonably healthy. This is actually a common trend throughout the Pauline letters. Many books such as Galatians contain stern rebukes from the apostle and other books to more “healthy” churches contain prayers for the people. I have no doubt that Paul prayed for the whack-job churches, but this leads to an interesting question: Do we sincerely and passionately pray for fellow Christians when they appear to be healthy spiritually and physically?

Sincere Prayers

Now, sometimes it can be quite easy to pray for fellow Christians in sickness and we love praying for people who simply drive us nuts. They are not sinning, but they have those habits that simply grate on our nerves. We pray for that one sister who has the annoying laugh. We pray for the Christian brother who constantly taps his fingers during the business meeting. We pray for that little kid who always eludes his parents and runs through sanctuary screaming about Winnie the Pooh. Those things are tempting to pray about, however, we should not use prayer as a complaint forum about others or as a place to “gossip” to God. Prayer is conversation with God and it is opportunity for us to genuinely and passionately pray for our own important requests and, like Paul, to pray sincerely for the needs of others.

We do not find any of this in Paul’s prayer. Throughout his epistles, Paul occasionally cites the faults of certain people; however, he only does this on serious issues. And, in this case, Paul’s prayer is extremely deep, saying:

[I pray] that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may 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 exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power…. (Ephesians 1:17-19)

As we read this, we see that Paul’s prayer is far from shallow. It is not simply a little blurb added to ease his conscience or to make him look good. Instead, Paul prays deeply for the Ephesians’ growth. He prays for revelation in the knowledge of Christ alone, not in the knowledge of worldly things or annoying habits. Paul then expresses that he prays that they may more deeply see the confident hope of knowing Christ and the astounding glory of His inheritance. Paul’s final hope is that the Ephesians will know the greatness of the Lord’s mighty power.

This power is, as Ephesians 1:20-23 says, the same power that worked in Christ during His resurrection. Not only did this power raise Christ, he was also seated at God’s right hand far above all principality, might, or dominion in this age and in the one to come. When I think of power, I sometimes think of those muscular men who compete on ESPN’s, World’s Strongest Man Competition. Those men are strong, but the Lord’s power is much superior. If we wish to be retro-Christians, we must be praying that our fellow Christians will know the greatness of this power. We must be praying that our brothers and sisters in Christ will increase in knowledge of Christ alone and know the confident hope of His calling.

Of course, we are not required to pray specifically for these things or copy Paul’s prayer. The point is that we must be praying passionately and deeply for our fellow Christians. We must not ignore them and only remember them in prayer when they are sick, instead, let us lift each other up daily and constantly give thanks for each person in Christ Jesus.

Paul’s Second Prayer

Ephesians contains another similar prayer that Paul makes regarding the church. Ephesians 3:14-19 says:

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (NKJV)

This prayer is also deep and passionate. The first prayer largely focused on the people knowing Christ and His power on a deeper level. In this prayer, Paul expresses his hope that the Ephesians will be “strengthened with might” inwardly and that this strength would come, not from a human source, but from the Holy Spirit.

Like the first prayer, he prays that they would grow in knowledge — this time in the knowledge of the love of Christ. The Ephesian church, as we read in Ephesians 1:15, was rooted and grounded in love as they had a passionate love for saints. Paul prays that this would continue to go deeper. Not only does he want their roots to be in love; but he also hopes that they will be able to “comprehend” somehow the love of Christ. Once again, we see a sincere prayer for the people. Do we, as followers of Christ, pray sincerely and passionately for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ?

Conclusion

Similar prayers are found throughout the New Testament. In John 17, Christ prayed for His disciples and for others who would later become “in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 1). In Philippians, Paul lifted up the church at Philippi, asking that their love would abound and that they would “approve the things that are excellent” (Philippians 1:9-10, NKJV). And, in 2 Thessalonians Paul prays that Christ would be glorified in the church in Thessalonica (2 Thessalonians 1:12). More examples could be presented, but the point is clear: Prayer for fellow Christians is an important theme throughout the New Testament and it should be an important theme in our prayer lives.

Dear Lord Jesus, today, as we conclude, I thank You for Your immense power and greatness. I thank You for the immeasurable sacrifice You made so that we could be “in Christ Jesus.” I lift up those who do not know You. Show them Your power and glory and let them come to the saving knowledge of You. Please be with those who are sick and suffering. Comfort them and lead them into a deeper relationship with You. And, for those who already know You, show them Your power, give them wisdom, and let them have a revelation in the knowledge of You. Let them glorify You and be filled with You each and every day. Once again, thank You for Your power and Your sacrifice. In the matchless name of Christ, Amen.