The One Prayer that is Good for Everybody Everywhere
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. Ephesians 1:15-17 NIV Read More
Remember all of the great things Paul said about prayer in Colossians? (January 9 – Colossians 1:9-12) If this sounds familiar, it should. Paul wrote both of these letters around the same time and had them delivered to neighboring cities by the same entourage.
The thing that Paul is praying for here is one of the most be-all end-all super prayers you can pray for someone. No matter what stage of faith they are in or what kind of circumstances they are going through, praying for them know God better is always good. Not that it’s generic or a cop-out. No, this is exactly what God wants for all people.
In Exodus 33:11 it says that Moses talked to God “face to face, as one speaks to a friend.” In 2 Samuel 7:18 David can tell that God is really caring for him deeply and he prays, “Lord God, why am I so important to you? Why is my family important?” And of course at the last supper. Jesus tells the disciples in John 15:15, “I no longer call you disciples, but friends.” Throughout the whole history of God and man, God has been trying to get to know us better and making a way for us to know Him better.
As we pray thanksgiving for others, we can also pray that God would give them wisdom and revelation. Because a relationship with God is a spiritual thing, you can’t get it from elaborate or simple physical steps. It comes from God and God loves to give it. Wisdom is what helps us to pay attention and listen. Revelation is the revealing of what God is saying to us.
Pray for a ton of people that you know today. Pray that God would give them a spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that they might know God better. In the process, He’ll answer that prayer for you too.