Prayers That Make a Difference

Ephesians 3:14-21

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height - to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with the fullness of God.

Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever, Amen.

Have you struggled to find the right words when you pray? Do you utter a few sentences and think, "Well, that just about covers it. Now what?"

Most of us know what it feels like to sit in a prayer circle with someone who has the gift of prayer and a perfect grasp of language. Their prayerful words beautifully orchestrated into a fine tapestry of goodness that should be recorded into a book for future generations to read and recite. Surely God hears their prayers more than ours as we trip and stumble over sentences that couldn't pass kindergarten level proficiency!

In embarrassment we sit silently and feel it is better to not pray anything at all.

But let me encourage you for a moment. The prayers that have made the biggest difference in my life have been short and sweet. They get to the heart of the matter and genuinely cry out for the Lord's guidance and intervention.

This morning my New Testament reading brought me to Ephesians 3. The chapter closes with this prayer from Paul. It is focused on the power of Jesus and the fullness of life that is found when we surround ourselves with His goodness.

Just look at the words used to describe the fullness of God:

• Riches of His glory (v. 16)

• Strengthened with His might. (v. 16)

• He dwells in your hearts through faith. (v. 17)

• Rooted and grounded in love. (v. 17)

• A love that surpasses knowledge. (v. 19)

• Filled with the fullness of God. (v. 19)

When we understand that we have these things in Christ Jesus, we see that He is able to take our "limited" prayers and do immeasurably more than we can ASK or IMAGINE!

Another way to look at it is this, God is not concerned with the beauty and eloquence of our prayers. He is more concerned with our willingness to SHOW UP in prayer! When we do that, God promises to take the prayers that we offer and do immeasurably more with them than we ever thought possible.

Prayers that make a difference are those that understand their rightful place, which are to be lifted up to God and placed in His hands.

Lose the thesaraus. Just pray.

I promise to pray for you as well.

Josh Huisman is the senior pastor of New Hope Community Church in Brentwood, TN.

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