Praying For The Church


Just yesterday, a dear woman shared with me that “I pray for your church every day.” I was dumbfounded for a moment. She had been praying for our church? Every day? Wow! A myriad of thoughts flew through my mind. “The fruit from those prayers are unfathomable.” “I’m so humbled and ashamed, Lord. I don’t pray for our church every day.” “Thank you God, for this faithful lady and her prayers!”
  • The Church - the Bride of Christ.
  • The Church - the body of believers.
  • The Church – all those who have accepted Jesus as their personal Savior and are being transformed into His likeness. (Revelation 19:6-8)

Do I pray for her? How do I pray for her?

After some thoughtful reflection, I considered the prayer of Jesus in John 17. He prayed for His disciples and all those believers that were to come. (That’s us!) He prayed for unity among the believers, the church, and that through that unity the world would see the glory of His Father. Now, that prayer, in part, I have prayed for our church – but likely at times in a selfish manner. I sought out unity because I wanted peace in my personal relationships, between friends and church members or for my husband. It’s not that I haven’t prayed for unity in the church with a deeper understanding, but my cries for unity have more often been in times of strife and conflict. I believe Jesus focuses in on the importance of praying for unity because it is the key to our witness personally and as a fellowship of believers.

The apostle Paul also gives us many examples of how we can pray for the church. He often opened his letters asking God to bless the believers and their fellowship with grace and peace. He prayed for God’s blessing and in thanksgiving for the believers and their ministry. He prayed that they would be encouraged in their faith and that God would grant them strength to endure to the end. Just as Christ prayed, Paul too prayed often for unity and challenged them toward peace.

Admittedly, I have a long way to go in faithfully praying for my church and my fellow believers. Instead of praying in response to problems, I need to purposefully be praying for unity - not just for my personal peace, but rather for our corporate witness into our community. How about you? When is the last time you prayed unselfishly for your church and those you worship with and work beside of each week?

It is often so hard to birth our prayers out of a purity of worship rather than out of crisis. God deserves to be seen in our world. Our world needs to see the glory of our Almighty Heavenly Father. We need to rest in and seek unity with Him, trusting that He will work out His purposes in our lives and in that of His Bride.

Paul’s prayer for the church in Ephesus is a favorite of many. To help these familiar words of Ephesians 3:16-19 reach deep into our hearts, I have taken the liberty of personalizing Paul's prayer just a bit with the hope that God will do a new work in each of our lives. May we find fresh encouragement and strength through this prayer as we seek to glorify our Father through His unexplainable peace and in His gift of unity in the days ahead.

“I pray that out of God’s glorious riches that He may strengthen you through the Holy Spirit’s power at work in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith. And I pray that you, who have been rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all those in the fellowship of the Bride of Christ, to grasp how deep is His love for you, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – so that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

Oh, to be filled and overflowing with the love of God. We have such an amazing and generous God. What a gift we have, to come to Him with our many prayers. And, oh what a privilege we have to pray for the Bride of Christ – that she may flourish in love, peace and unity – and be a faithful witness of God’s glory to the world around us!

God is big enough to continue the work in your church or to birth a new work and witness. Are you willing to ask Him to do a miracle in your life and in the life of your church?

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21


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