Dear Church family,
I will be preaching on “prayer part 2” this week. So you can pray for me in the words of Paul from Ephesians 6:18-19 to “make supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the Gospel.”
Remember how this is an example of what it means to “pray in the Spirit.” We pray in the Spirit by using the Sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17-18). And in Ephesians 6, Paul applies for us how we pray in the Spirit with the Sword of the Spirit by requesting that we would pray for him that God would give him words in opening his mouth to proclaim the Gospel (Eph. 6:18-19). Therefore, v19 explains how you can pray in the Spirit (v18) for other ministers of the Gospel, especially those gifted in preaching God’s Word.
However, the truth is that we can ask God to give all of our fellow Saints words to say in opening up our mouths to share the Gospel with folks around us, neighbors, family members, ect… It’s difficult for us to share the Gospel, and that’s why Paul asks that the Ephesian Saints would ask God to give him words in opening his mouth about the Gospel. Sharing the Gospel should always be overlaid and prepared with prayer. It’s not a mission we do on our own. It’s God’s mission to save people through His Gospel. So we would be presumptuous to ever declare the Gospel without communication with the One Who is the Gospel!
In Colossians 4:2-4, Paul asks the Church to pray for him in a similar way: “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the Word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—that I may make it clear which is how I ought to speak.”
He further asks that the Saints in Colossae would ask God on his behalf to (1) open a door of opportunity for declaring the Gospel. (2) And he asks them to ask God that God would help him speak clearly about the Gospel.
So adding Ephesians 6:17-19 & Colossians 4:2-4 together, we have the Sword of the Spirit (because these Scriptures are the Words of God) showing us how to pray in the Spirit. Pray Scripture, and in these instances, we’re told how to pray for ministers of the Gospel. Would you pray and ask God this week, and persevering to ask God every week, that God would:
- Give words for the Minister of the Gospel to preach, because we are prone to say nothing at all, or prone to say something, but not from God.
- Give opportunities to share the Gospel, since God opens these doors,
- Give all of us clarity of speech in communicating the Gospel clearly, because we are prone to muddle the clear & simple truth of the Gospel.
I pray that we would have a praying Church simply because we love God and we love communicating with the One Who sits on His throne and is our Father!
Utilize your privileges, my family, and making supplications (requests) for the saints is one of our biggest benefits & privileges of being children of God! Don’t get too busy to dedicate your soul to the Lord in conversation.
With love in Christ,
Aaron
