As believers engaged in the reality of spiritual battle, we need each other’s prayers, desperately.
Even Paul, the great Apostle, would urge the Ephesian Christians and many other believers to pray for him:
Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. (Ephesians 6:19-20)
When you think about it, this is quite a remarkable prayer request. We know that all along Paul has been pouring his heart out in prayer for the Ephesian church. A few weeks ago in this series, we saw Paul’s prayer in chapter 1 that the Ephesian Christians would come to know God better and better; that their eyes would be opened to recognize the astonishing, eternal hope that they have in Christ, and the availability of his incomparably great power for all believers (Eph. 1:15-23). Then, we saw how Paul so evocatively prayed in chapter 3 that the Ephesians would know and experience in their heart of hearts the full dimensions of the limitless love of Christ (Eph. 3:14-21).
And yet, this Apostle who prays so richly and powerfully for the Ephesian Christians isn’t just content to leave it at that. As we’ve seen, in the context of his teaching on spiritual warfare in chapter 6, he urges them to pray for him as well.
Indeed, the great Apostle would be very quick to tell us that he couldn’t have done what he did apart from the prayers of so many regular, everyday believers like you and me. Paul knew that he needed the prayers of other believers just as much as they needed his.
The same can be said of us as followers of Jesus today. In isolation, we’re easy prey (p-r-e-y), but when we pray (p-r-a-y) for each other, we will not only stand firm against the enemy, but together we’ll make significant advances for the kingdom of God.
