Paul’s prayer – that they may Know

I got to lead prayer meeting last week, so I decided to do a little review of the prayers of Paul.  I’ve been over this ground before, but I was just listening to a sermon on Romans 1 and thought it would be interesting to review some of the common themes in Paul’s prayers for the churches he wrote to.

So we took a look at three passages – Philippians 1:9-11, Colossians 1:9-12, and 2Thessalonians 1:11-12.

You can check them out if you want, but some common things he prayed for were purity, fruit (fruit of justice, good works), patience, joy, strength, love, and faith.

But interestingly enough one very strong theme was knowledge.  Discernment.  Knowing what is good and what isn’t.  Knowing what God’s will is.

So if you really want to have fun, after looking at those passages, and seeing what Paul says about knowledge, head over to Ephesians 1.  Start at verse 15 and go from there.

You’ll notice Paul starts talking about knowledge again – "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know …"

That you may know what?

Well, then Paul launches into this magnificent discussion of all the wonderful things God has done for us.  He keeps going on and on and on… right into chapter 2, in fact!  Go right to the end of chapter 2.  Amazing!  These are the things that Paul prayed that the people would know.  And remember we’re talking about wisdom and discernment – not just being aware, but experiencing and living the incredible power of God in their lives.

Are you living it?  Are you praying that your church will know these things, and will make these things a reality in their lives?