Praying for Your One, for All Your—Ones
Have you ever bowed your head to pray and not find the words to speak, wondering if God will read your heart instead?
If you have ever loved another, then you know exactly the sentiment of praying without words.
We love our families, those precious individuals God has given to us, and because we do, we find ourselves continually praying for them. We pray for their futures, for their struggles, for their daily lives, and for their relationship with the Savior.
Today, in the wee hours of the morning, I found myself sitting in the dark, holding my newborn grandson. As I did, I found myself praying.
Thanksgiving came first to my lips.
Then came a petition for his protection, for his growth, and for his future.
Lastly, I settled into the innermost desire of my heart:
- that he would come to love the Lord Jesus Christ with all his heart &
- that he would bring glory and honor to our heavenly Father.
While he suffered as a prisoner, so far away from the believers living in Ephesus, the Apostle Paul revealed prayer like this
“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
(The Letter of Paul to the Ephesians 3: 14-19 NAS)
from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,
that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory,
to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;
and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge,
that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.”
Beautiful, right?
In our modern-day age, the Reverend Adrian Rogers preached a sermon using Paul’s biblical passage, detailing the ways we are to pray.
1st—Pray for God’s eternal purpose, that those we love might know the unfathomable riches found in Jesus.
2nd—Pray for God’s unfailing provision, for we serve a God bigger than our needs and also bigger than our little prayers. Pray for BIG things, for our GOD IS BIG!
3rd—Pray for God’s presence to have preeminence in their lives. Faith in Jesus leads a believer to the indwelling Holy Spirit and power of God.
4th—Pray—asking boldly for God’s presence to utterly overflow and bubble over from the hearts of those we love.
5th—Pray for God’s magnificent being to be REAL to them: “and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, . . .”
- We want those we love to know how wide, long, high, and deep is GOD’S LOVE FOR THEM.
- We plead, “Lord, show them YOU, and help them to see with eyes of faith.”
6th—Pray that your loved one will desire to bring God glory. Whether they grow up to be famous, to be well-known, to be highly educated, or to be wealthy, we pray asking God to lead them in their daily walk, to show them how their lives can be sacrifices of praise to Almighty God.
- Yes, sometimes we are brokenhearted over those who are not saved.
- Yes, sometimes we are sad over those we love who are struggling.
- Oftentimes we are grieved over those who are entrapped in relationships or situations.
- Yes, oftentimes we don’t really know the words to pray, but still, we are called to pray.
As a Believer in Christ, you are called to place your knees upon the floor, like Paul, and pray for your one, for all your—Ones.
May you & I be found faithful.
“Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory.
(The Letter of Paul to the Ephesians 3: 13-16 NAS)
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,
that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory,
to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,”