Praying for the Brethren by WR Gingell
15 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,
16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. Ephesians 1:15-23
Recently, I got to know a lady who had just come to God a few months previous to our first meeting. She was reaching out in every direction for fellowship, since she’d lost a lot of her former friends since becoming a Christian.
For the first few months after I met her, I was very much in prayer for her: in fear, in worry; almost in desperation. I’d had experience before in praying for a loved one who never came to Christ despite my prayers, and this lady’s situation was so difficult, her church life so much less than ideal, and she had for so many years been in the world. I was afraid it would be too much for her. Or, if she really was in Christ and it wasn’t just a phase she was experimenting with, that she might, due to her church situation, simply not continue to grow.
And as I searched the scriptures in my daily devotions, I began to feel convicted about the spirit of fear in my prayers for her—and others.
We know that God is a father who knows how to “give good things to them that ask Him” (Matt 7:11). We also know that “all that the Father giveth…shall come” (John 6:37) and that “he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ…” (Phil. 1:6) So we know that those who are the children of God will be called, will be sanctified, and that God gives to those who ask of Him.
Which in turn means that our prayers for our brothers and sisters in Christ will be answered; it means that they can’t fail to be answered. Any child of God can’t fail to grow, especially when their brothers and sisters in Christ are praying for them.
It struck me for the first time, just a few weeks ago, how inexpressibly joyful a thing it is to be able to pray for my brothers and sisters. Whether it’s a matter of growth in Christ for a specific person, problems in the church, disagreements between brothers, or a desperately wrong spirit we’re mourning for in our brothers and sisters, we can pray in joy, in hope—in peace.
And we can pray fervently, loving our brothers and sisters, knowing that this is what we’re called to do for each other. Knowing that God won’t fail to answer those prayers. Knowing that sometimes the change to be made is in our own hearts, lives, and prayers.