What are you praying for?

(CREDIT: t-bet via Flickr)

Our church has recently started testing a new, online prayer diary called ‘PrayerMate.’

It enables people to subscribe to prayer points from many, terrific organisations and missionaries.

It also helps us connect with the regular prayer points of our own church.

One benefits is that it gives me a list of people from within our church that I can specifically pray for each week.

But what should I actually pray for each person?

Well, according to Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, I could start by thanking God for each person, and particularly, for their faith and their love, as he writes:

“…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” (Ephesians 1:15-16)

It’s great to start our prayers by thanking God for how he is working in each person, leading them to grow in their trust in him, and in the outworking of that through the love they have for other Christians.

But after that, Paul prays that they would know God better:

“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 1:17)

The reason we pray that people would know God better is so that they can enjoy the riches of their relationship with him.

It’s a bit like getting to “know” a friend or a spouse: it’s not so we can pass a knowledge test about them, but it’s so we can grow deeper in our friendship.

So, let’s keep thanking God for each other’s faith and love, and keep asking him to help us know God better.

Jodie.