After the Tables

Praying Like Paul

Week TWO ~ Ephesians 1:15-23 ~ August 17, 2026

Prayer is one of those Sunday School answers. We kind of treat it like Jesus and going to church. It’s vitally necessary to being a Christian. Of course, we pray.

But do we think about it? We have our prayer lists and notebooks. We diligently write down the requests people have. We note when God answers. But do we think about it? Do we come to prayer intentionally? Do we require anything of ourselves when we pray?

Paul invites us to come into his prayers for his friends in Ephesus and the surrounding region. We looked at Paul’s process fairly well this past Sunday. One of the questions was, “How do we match up to Paul’s prayer when we’re praying for our friends?” The point of that question is not to make any of us feel bad about how we’re praying. The point isn’t simply to change how we’re praying. The point is to make us think about why we’re praying.

Paul’s entire prayer flows out of his desire, his plea, that the believers in Asia Minor would know God better. He isn’t praying that they would know more about God. He is praying that his friends would truly, deeply, completely know God.

Is that how we pray for each other? No lists. No requests. Just that they know God.

When I pray, am I willing to pray that my friends will know God deeply?
Prayer begins with what God has already done and ends with a life lived through the power of our resurrected Savior.