And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
Ephesians 6:18 NIV
At the end of Paul’s admonition to stand firm and put on the armor of God, he encouraged us to pray. To pray in the Spirit on all occasions. And with all kinds of prayers. Prayer should be a part of our daily life. It is a part of the armor that allows us to stand our ground in the spiritual battles we face.
Praying for Others
After this encouragement to stand firm and continue in prayer, Paul gets more specific about how we should do that. We should never forget to pray for all of God’s people. We often seem to struggle with how to pray for others. Remembering expressed physical needs is pretty straightforward. But there is so much more that we can, and should, be lifting up to the Father.
Pray that . . .
- Each of us may know God’s will in our own lives.
- We might know what he has given us to do as a part of his kingdom.
- We might understand his equipping for service.
- We would recognize the opportunities we are given to serve.
- Each of us would be growing in our faith and knowledge of our Lord and Savior.
I cannot pray for everyone in the world by name. But I can, and should, lift up those I know and who are a part of my life.
