For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge —that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:14-19

Dear God, there are about three or four families for whom I wish to pray this passage for this morning. Each is facing its own crisis–one particularly scary and possibly tragic. So please, out of your glorious riches, strengthen them with power through the Holy Spirit. Minister to them. Comfort them. Make this pain count. I’ll confess that my heart is incredibly heavy this morning. Make this count in me as well. And why do I pray all of this? So that Jesus Christ will live in their inner beings. That he will live in my inner being. I pray that all of us would take this knowledge and grasp how wide, high, tall, and deep your love is for each of us and for everyone we each encounter. Stir our hearts for you, oh God. Find each of us where we are, not so that we can be powerful, successful, popular, or anything like that. Only so that we can know you and be a better reflection of you to others.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen