32 Praying To Get Results
To pray, "God bless So-and-so" would cause God to say, "I
can't answer that prayer. I've already done that, but they don't
know it." Instead of Paul's saying, "God bless them," he said,
"[My] desire [is] that ye might be filled with the knowledge of
his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding." That would
be a good way to pray for Christians. That's what most
Christians need, isn't it?
Paul wrote this prayer under the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit. Since it's Spirit given, it would be a good prayer for you
to pray for yourself. You can say, "Lord, I'm going to pray this
prayer for myself. It's my desire and prayer that I might be filled
with the knowledge of your will in all wisdom and spiritual
understanding."
I think these prayers Paul prayed for the Christian Church
will give us insight on how to pray for other believers as well.
For example, Paul wrote in Second Thessalonians 1:11:
2 THESSALONIANS 1:11
11 Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our
God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil
all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of
faith with power: that the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him,
according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus
Christ.
I particularly like where Paul said, "fulfil all the good
pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power."
(That's what God wants fulfilled in us.) I also like the phrase,
"that the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you."
Whoever thought of praying for a whole church that the Name of
the Lord Jesus Christ might be glorified in them? Are you
praying that way? This is a clue for us. I'm convinced we need to
be specific in our praying one for another.
Paul was very specific and very definite in his praying. Let's
look at more Scripture where Paul said something about prayer.