Pray

Eph.6:¹⁹ And pray for me, too. Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike.” (emphasis added)

This is Paul, Apostle Paul, asking the church to pray for him. It is very uncommon to see that these days. Instead it is the congregation that consistently flood the pastors and apostles with prayer requests. A lot of people these days just want prayer contractors. For some strange reason, pastors these days feel they are super stars and so they do not put themselves in a place where people would pray for them. But Paul, apostle Paul, asked the church to pray for him. Your leaders need prayers. Pray for your pastors, life group leaders, ministers and heads of the department because they need prayers. Pray for preachers and church leaders all over the world.

It is important to mention that Paul’s prayer request was not for a new shirt, or new shoes, or a new car. Paul says in Eph.6:^19-20 “…Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike. I am in chains now, still preaching this message as God’s ambassador. So pray that I will keep on speaking boldly for him, as I should.” In current day parlance, Paul’s prayer request would be for more anointing, for the power of the Holy Spirit to come upon him mightily to preach the gospel with boldness. But Paul is still in chains, you would think his prayer request would be for the chains to be broken. Or for him to find favour with Caesar or the people that had him incarcerated. Paul’s prayer request was not for a miracle that would set him free so that he could visit his family.

Paul says, ‘pray that even with these chains, I will have great boldness’. May we take our eyes off ourselves and turn our eyes onto Jesus and onto the work He has called us to do. May we stop praying for deliverance when we should be praying for deliveries of God’s babies into the Kingdom. I am not saying it is wrong to desire or to pray for freedom. By God’s grace freedom is one of God’s promises for us and without a doubt, we will walk in full and total freedom. But we should not be overly obsessed with ourselves and lose sight of the Kingdom. Paul says, ‘pray for me that I will have boldness, that I will be anointed to speak the Word of God’. That is my prayer point. What is your prayer point currently?

Prayer: Father, please give me great boldness to preach the gospel, boldness to reach people that are far from God and bring them to God’s light, in Jesus Name. Amen!