THURSDAY May 23rd
Ephesians 1:16
‘I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.’
This sentence here in verse 16, was the reason behind why I originally read the verses from this chapter recently in our Wednesday prayer meeting. First to highlight that Paul remembered the Ephesian believers in his prayers and secondly that he continually gave thanks to God for them.
Paul would have been a very busy man, continually on the move, pioneering and planting new churches, writing to them, sometimes from prison as he was being harassed and persecuted for his faith, and yet he still ensured that he cared for those who had come to faith as individuals, and he ensured that he cared for the local churches that had been formed as a result of his apostolic efforts. He cared by praying for them and for thanking God for them.
Going back to that Wednesday evening, which was May 8th, we spent the time praying for each one that attends our local church here in Gateshead, those who are regular in attendance and those who are unable to attend owing to health. We also prayed for the unbelieving family members of those who attend. We put into practice what we saw Paul giving as an example here in Ephesians 1. Going back to the previous verse where Paul talked about their faith and their love, it reminds us that the love we should have for one another should also prompt us to give thanks for one another and to pray for one another.
We don’t even need to know every single detail about one another, we don’t need to know the specific needs that each one may have, we simply need to show our care and concern by praying for one another.
I want to take this as an opportunity to say thank you for each one that prays for me, and for Elaine. But I also want to take this opportunity to encourage us to pray for the younger generation, the children and those who are in their teens, that they will know the protection of God’s power over their lives during these difficult days in which we are living. When I look back to when I was a teenager, and that is a long time ago now, I was never faced with so many challenges and difficulties as to which they are faced with today. May our prayer be that each one of the teens and children will discover what it is to trust in the Lord with all their heart and not to lean on their own understanding. Praying that each one of them will acknowledge the Lord in all their ways so that they will know what it is for their paths to be made straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6).