Praying for the Church

“All that matters may be brought before God, but we must always bring before God those things that matter most.” – Alistair Begg, Pray Big

Prayer is Christianity 101. We all know we are supposed to pray. We all know we should pray for the church (and the people who are a part of it). What is maybe a bit more challenging is to know how to pray or what is the most important thing to pray about for the church and its members. As a pastor, I feel an increased responsibility to pray for the church family and the church as a whole. What is striking about Paul’s prayer for the church in Ephesians 1:15-23 is that it isn’t about “practical” or political or physical matters. While all of those are matters of importance and things about which we are encouraged to pray, Paul’s prayer gives a window into the priority of prayer on a different plain. Paul prays for spiritual realities. In his great book, Pray Big Alistair Begg drives home the point that for many of us (myself included) our real-world priority in prayer demonstrates a far different ordering of mattering things than Paul’s prayer. Yet, what is true and critical for us to grasp and apply is that spiritual matters are the most mattering realities of all. What you and I pray about the most in any arena, is what we feel is the most important thing for God to accomplish in that arena. So, what are your prayers telling you about what matters most in your work, your school, your marriage, your children’s lives, and of course your church? This is a convicting thought. Might it drive us to pray about the most important matters.

Often for me, prayer is as well done as a song (or Psalm) to that end, I discovered last week this song by Unspoken entitled, If We Only Knew and have found it to be helpful in asking God to help us know Him and have our eyes opened to all that we have and are in Christ. Enjoy!