Greetings fellow image bearer. Bountiful blessings and peace to you.

Today at Stating Faith, let us chat about the importance of keeping each other prayed up.

(Read our last post – 21 Bible Verses That Show Us The Ways of God)

Scripture – Ephesians 1:16

¹⁶ I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,

Observation – Paul keeps the Ephesians Prayed Up

Paul shows in this verse that he has a very rich prayer life.

He is grateful and exuberant at learning of the dedication of the people of Ephesus.

He is encouraged by their faith in God and their love for His people.

Paul’s response here expresses his own dedication to them, pledging to keep them prayed up.

He sees prayer as an appropriate response to their diligence in following Christ.

In this scripture, we see that Paul has purposed to lead by example.

He wants them to lead a prayerful, consecrated life just as he does.

His actions here drive home the truth that the real mark of spiritual maturity is not in how much biblical knowledge we acquire but in how well we love others.

Constantly praying each other up therefore is a beautiful act of love.

Application

Ephesians 1:16, short and simple as it is, packs quite a punch when we consider the great need to apply this very practice to our own lives today.

Prayer ought to be the lifestyle of all believers.

It is to be our first response and not our last resort.

Truth is, we need to always strive for consistence in prayer.

And Paul gives us great insight right here in this verse on how to live out the instruction to pray without ceasing by praying for others.

In fact, might we consider that it is better to lift others up in prayer rather than ourselves?

We can become so accustomed to giving God our grocery list of requests daily that, it just might be refreshing to offer up petitions for other people.

Think about it too…Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:25-34 that we needn’t worry about our own needs.

We can indeed trust Him to provide for us because He knows our needs far better than we do.

Now we aren’t saying it is somehow holy to never pray for ourselves BUT praying for others must never be neglected.

It is the kind of habit that will have immeasurable effects both for the one who prays as well as the one being prayed up.

A believer who constantly prays is perpetually abiding under the shadow of the Almighty.

And what’s more, this is the will of our Father.

So, in a sense, we maximise our efforts when we purpose to pray for others daily.

We model Christ’s love and we position ourselves for receiving the promises of God.

It is how we draw near to God.

When we consider all Paul was able to accomplish and his influence on our faith today, we cannot deny that this model of constantly praying and praying for others, is worthy of imitation.

People Always Need To Be Prayed Up

When is prayer not necessary?

The truth is there is never a shortage of prayer needs.

So many people lack hope and are traversing some real hard situations.

We then should jump at opportunities to offer this hope through prayer.

The beauty with praying people up too is it can be anonymous.

In fact, it is not always wise to divulge that information.

We can leave that up to the Holy Spirit who will direct us to either pray privately or pray in the presence of the person.

Our prayers hold so much weight.

Let us never forget that the effectual fervent prayers of the righteous avails much – James 5:16

Prayer

Holy One, I thank You today for the gift of prayer.
It is a great privilege to be able to approach Your
throne of grace and offer up my praise and petitions.
Thank You for being so accessible, gracious and merciful.
Thank You Lord Jesus for showing us how important
it is to love others.
Thank You too that I do not have to live this life in isolation.
Fill my soul with a delight for prayer.
Give me a zeal I pray Holy Spirit, to pray for people already 
in my life as well as those I am yet to come across.
I thank You Lord for the vast body of believers here on earth
and ask that You help me to bring more people to the fold.
Help me to live a prayerful, consecrated life just like Paul.
Thank You too for providing for all my needs according to
You riches in glory.
In Jesus' name. Amen.

Our Parting Song

Here at Stating Faith we love us some gospel music.

It is such a practical and enjoyable way to cultivate an atmosphere of praise and state our faith.

Tauren Wells happens to have the perfect song to compliment today’s blog.

Play it and Enjoy.

So, don’t forget to stay prayed up

And be sure to pray up others.

If you enjoyed today’s blog, please let us know what else you would like us to cover.

Do you have a favorite verse we are yet to explore?