-Paul was assured that these Ephesian believers were exactly that, that they genuinely believed in Jesus because they genuinely loved one another. Once he knew they were truly following Christ, he began praying for them (altho I for one would not be surprised if he had been praying for them even before then). And he was praying for them a lot. Now, he may have had added incentive to do so, since he had had a hand in helping to plant the church in the first place, but his still serves as an excellent example for us. If nothing else, the very fact of their faith was a constant source of gratitude for Paul, and he says he never stopped giving thanks for them. He was so encouraged and gratified to know that they were truly following Jesus. But there’s more to it than that...
-No, Paul wasn’t with them, he couldn’t be with them, but he could (and did) still make a difference in their lives. He knew he had a direct line to the One Who had a direct line into every heart in Ephesus and on planet earth. ‘Call to Me and I will answer you’, says the Lord (Jeremiah 33.3). I. WILL. ANSWER. YOU. We must never underestimate the power and reach of prayer. Prayer at its simplest and most profound is talking with God, but let us not whizz past the import of the act. We are talking about talking with Almighty God Himself, having words with the One Who with a word made the entire universe. This is speech in its most natural state, exercising the gift with the Speech-Giver Himself, that highest form of communication which He gave only to man, not to any of the other animals or other creatures. It might be fair to say that prayer, talking to God, is the ultimate reason why He gave man the gift of speech to begin with. He gave us speech so that we could talk to Him. Expressing gratitude and praise as well as talking about life, our thoughts and feelings, our hurts, our joys, our needs and desires. In our natural fallen state (How’s that for an oxymoron? Fallen was never to be our ‘natural’ state...) we hide from Him, we avoid talking to Him, we go hours and days and long seasons ignoring Him Who is with us always, yet this One Who made us wants us to talk to Him, and He hears and listens and understands what we’re saying, even when we mess up. Like any normal parent, He waits and longs for us to come and talk to Him, with Him, sharing our heart, our messes, presenting requests and pleas, claiming His divine promises and tapping into the untold resources of Heaven, finding forgiveness as well as strength to move mountains (or to move through them) and to fully live into the supernatural greater works about which His Son told us (John 14.12-13). You want to get to know God better? Talk to Him. You want something in your life or somebody else’s to change? Talk to God about it. You want something in the world to be different? Talk to God about it. Keep on talking to Him, because He promises that He will answer you. You want to grow in your experience of God’s breathtaking goodness, and for others to get a glimpse? Talk to God, spend time, communicate, celebrate, appreciate. And by all means, ask. We do not have because we do not ask (James 4.2). Jesus Himself, on that last night He was with His disciples gathered in that upper room, repeatedly told them to ask (John 15.7, 15.16, 16.23-24). And I think they got the message, cuz you know what they set themselves to doing in that upper room after Jesus ascended back to heaven? (Acts 1.12-14) We leave so much meat on the bone when we pray and ask and thank God for so little...
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