Friday, June 11, 2010

A Wish Prayer for Us

In Ephesians 1:17-19 Paul offers a "wish prayer" for the church in Ephesus. A wish prayer is nothing mysterious. It is simply a prayer wishing and hoping that God would bestow some blessing on another person. In this case Paul prays for three things:
  1. That they would have a "spirit of wisdom and revelation" in order to know God better.
  2. That the "eyes of their heart may be enlightened" to know the hope of their eternal life.
  3. That they would experience "his incomparably great power for us who believe."
As a devotional tool, I wrote a wish prayer for you . . . and for me. Pray through it and expand on it. Feel free to offer an amendment to make it better. I hope it will be helpful to you, drawing you closer to a personal connection with God that He desires for all of us to have.

God, I want to know You personally . . . for real. I don’t want to know about You. I want to know You.

I need your help:

Help me to see Your truth and apply it to my life . . . even when it’s hard.

Help me to trust in You and Your purpose for my life . . . even when life is dark and uncertain.

Help me to walk in Your power every day . . . even when I am afraid.

I need a fresh dose of Your grace and mercy to make this possible and the full assurance of Your love for me.

Please reveal Yourself to me and make me to walk in trusting faith. Amen.

I look forward to your feedback . . .
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4 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 21, 2010 at 3:26 PM

    I do a lot of "wish prayers ", but I didn't realize what they were called. Most of my prayers are request for myself or others, but sometime I just talk to God.Who else understands me so well? M.E.

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  2. AnonymousJune 21, 2010 at 3:55 PM

    HSM wrote... Found this blog to be a whole new thought. The words "A "wish prayer" is nothing mysterous. It is simply a prayer wishing and hoping that God would bestow some blessing on another person" does catch your attention, but then had to wonder what more could be said on the subject.Found the things listed, as devotional tools, very helpful, actually surprised me to realize that I could use help in these areas. Thanks. HSM

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  3. JerryJuly 6, 2010 at 9:22 AM

    Love Paul's prayers for the church. "Wish Prayer" is a new term for me. Who coined it?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jim FeirtagJuly 9, 2010 at 3:08 PM

    I don't know who coined it originally. I have heard it used by many commentators and writers, especially on that passage.

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