RECOVER PRAYER

Ephesians 1:10-23 And this is his plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ-- everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because of Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us from the beginning, and all things happen just as he decided long ago. God's purpose was that we who were the first to trust in Christ should praise our glorious God. And now you also have heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God's guarantee that he will give us everything he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious God. Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for Christians everywhere, I have never stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the wonderful future he has promised to those he called. I want you to realize what a rich and glorious inheritance he has given to his people. I pray that you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of his power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else in this world or in the world to come. And God has put all things under the authority of Christ, and he gave him this authority for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is filled by Christ, who fills everything everywhere with his presence.

What an honor and privilege to be able to engage in prayer. Knowing that Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father interceding on our behalf, constantly, makes our prayer life all the more important. We are called into prayer as we commune with Christ through His Spirit, and even when we aren't sure how to pray, the Holy Spirit prays for us and through us in accordance with the will of the Father. Moving mountains is God's work, and yet we are called to cooperate in some mysterious way in making those mountains move. There is power in all prayer, individual and corporate, but truly amazing things happen, I think, when two or more are gathered together in the name of Jesus Christ, praying in accordance with His will for others. We in the West need to recover a supernatural understanding of faith in general, and prayer in particular.