This is the way in which Paul prayed for the brothers and sisters from the church in Ephesus. Today, for some it may be surprising that this prayer does not include, say, a petition for a larger home for the church, more income from offerings and tithe, or even those prayers by name for the ones from the church who are sick or have other urgent material needs. On the other hand, apostle Paul may be well surprised at the prayers we say when lifting up our brothers and sisters before the Lord. What is different about Paul’s prayer? How can we also pray in a similar way, and why is it even important to pray in this way? Read along for more information answering these questions.

If you listen carefully to your words when you pray for other Christians you will most likely notice that often (if not always) the physical and material needs occupy the first place in your prayer. Then comes the church building or the like, and only towards the end you happen to quickly mention the spiritual needs of your brothers and sisters. But that’s only if you get that far. Often the material and physical needs are so many that there is hardly any time left to pray for the spiritual condition of our family in the Lord Jesus. There is no doubt that the needs for healing and material provision are important, but what we should learn from Paul is that they are not more important than our relationship with God (or our brother or sister’s relationship with Him). This is why Paul begins his prayer namely with these needs – the spiritual ones… and in this particular case he only addresses them directly. This is how God remains in the center of the prayer.

But what exactly does Paul pray about? Firstly, he prays that according to God’s glorious riches and His Holy Spirit the believers might be strengthened. This is, that God will give them endless strength (for his riches are endless), so that they can continue to grow in their faith and at the same time sustain the pressure of the society against them, the persecutions they will face, as well as the attacks of Satan. For through God’s strength alone we can grow in faith and devote our lives to Him more and more.

Apostle Paul continues by praying that the Ephesians will remain rooted in the love of Christ and together will all other believers will grasp how immense this love is – the love with which Christ loved us. By this way alone today we could overcome the divisions and hatred among believers. But if we continue to pray only for financial or similar needs then we have given up on Christ’s love. Moreover, we are not anymore rooted in that love. In other words – we live our lives not driven by love… and we turn to God only to ensure that He provides us with a comfortable life.

At the end of his prayer the apostle finishes not with a word or two about the spiritual condition of the Ephesians, but with a praise to God, who notice – can do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. The end of this prayer is at the same time a declaration of how much God can do when the Holy Spirit is at work in us. Without His Spirit we would also not be able to either know what to pray for, nor how to do it. As for the reach of God’s abilities – you yourself can surely testify of times when God has provided you with what you’ve needed already before you’ve prayed for it. Sometimes we just need to be more patient with our physical and material needs and through this show that we are fully dependent on God and also that we have surrendered our lives to Him entirely. But not on the larger building or the quick healing of the broken arm, so that we can go back to work as soon as possible.

This is the way we ought to pray not only for our brothers and sisters, but also for ourselves. Only then will we be able to keep God at the very center of our lives and become witnesses of His love and power before all other people.

Besides the thanksgiving Paul also writes about how he (and often the others who are with him) is praying for the recipients of the letter. It is namely this part of the letters that we ought to pay special attention should we want to pray for other Christians – from our own church, but also for believers from far and beyond our area.

Philippians 1:6-11 continues: “… being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.” (NIV)

One can learn several important truths about prayer for the other believers – our family in Christ. As you go on, open your heart and mind for God’s Spirit who will help you to apply in your daily living a similar attitude towards all Christians. The Spirit will also help you to pray sincerely for them, so that your prayers will be pleasing to God.

The first truth is simple to recognize – we must pray for other Christians – not only for those from your own country, but also for Christians from throughout the globe. Just as apostle Paul wasn’t satisfied with prayer for the church of one city alone, so should we also have a broader view over God’s body of believers. Daily set aside time for prayer for the believers who are not closely around you – pray for other churches from your town; pray for all churches from your own country; pray for the needs of Christians outside your country.

As you pray for the brothers and sisters in the faith do not pray with some artificial general prayer. Pray sincerely and for specific needs instead. If you do not know what the current needs of those believers are – use Paul’s prayer from Philippians 1:9-11.

Do not forget also to thank God for the Christians that you are praying for. Very often we take the presence of other Christians for granted. This is a serious mistake. My life, as well as yours has been strongly impacted by the lives of those whom we take for granted. Without them our lives would look very different. In addition, one’s faith in God is best expressed among other believers. Praying for these others will encourage you and will open a way for God’s Spirit to plant more and more love for them in you.

Your sincere prayer for the believers will not only lead to unity in God’s body – which is how God wants to see us, but will also fill your life with a daily portion of joy for the fact that God is at work in the lives of so many people… People, that we tend to forget about in the most difficult times. Pray for the saints as you are praying for yourself!