Category Archives: Ephesians

²⁵ For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her ²⁶ to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. ²⁷ He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. ²⁸ In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. ²⁹ No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church. ³⁰ And we are members of his body.

Ephesians 5:25-30

Dear God, I was talking with a friend the other day who was telling me about some issues he is having with his wife. She is experiencing a lot of anxiety and anger over the current societal issues (politics, pandemic, and social unrest), and it is spilling out into how she responds to him. At the same time, he is incredibly stressed at work. He feels overloaded and burned out. Unfortunately, because I had to push our meeting about 30 minutes later than we originally scheduled it, we didn’t get as long as I would have liked to visit with him more about his situation. But I’ve thought about it a lot over the last two days.

One of the things I’ve considered is how my favorite marriage book, Sacred Marriage would address his issue. Starting with the premise of its subtitle, “What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy,” I found myself wondering how you might be working on my friend’s faith through this situation and through his wife. What are you teaching him in this that he apparently wouldn’t learn any other way? While I don’t know the answer for him, it would probably be a good question to ask him.

I picked these scriptures this morning because they are our command as husbands. Love your wives. Cherish them. Cleanse them. Present them as holy. Give yourselves up for them. It’s not about them taking care of us. It is about us taking care of them. If you inspire them to care for us then great, but we need to learn to go into our marriages as your servants. You came as our servant even when we didn’t deserve it and your love guides us into being whole. If his wife isn’t whole right now, your love, through him, can get her there.

Father, help me to know how to help my friends. And help me to be the husband and father you are calling me to be. Do it all for your glory and so that you might use my marriage to make me holy more than to make me happy.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

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

God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ—which is to fulfill his own good plan. And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan. God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. And now you Gentiles have also 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 the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.
Ephesians 1:9-14

Dear God, context is so important. Some would take verse 10 out of context and say that “everything” refers to the second coming and that you never did this. But I read the verse in context and see that everything simply refers to adding the Gentiles (me) to the Jews. The new covenant is more than grace over works. It’s also about uniting us all as your children. We are all part of your kingdom now. Theologically, I’m not sure how you handled all of that (Gentiles) under the old covenant, but I’m grateful to be counted as your child now.

But Satan doesn’t want us united. I’ve said many times before that dividing us from each other is his Plan A, and it’s so effective that he rarely needs a Plan B. There’s something about the sin in our hearts, even among the holiest of us, that has a need to put ourselves above others and be convinced that we are better than them, “righter” than them, etc. I suppose that’s why your two greatest commandments are the antidote to this plan: Love the Lord your God with all your strength, heart, and soul and love your neighbor as yourself. Your command unites us. Satan’s plan divides us.

Father, be glorified in me. Forgive me of my sin and my desire (need) to be better than others. Replace my insecurity with love for others. Replace the shame I have with acceptance of grace. And help me to joyfully extend that grace to others and unite with them.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.
Ephesians 1:18

Dear God, is my heart flooded with light? Is that what people see in me? Is that what I seek from you? Do I have the confident hope you have tried to give to me?

Holy Spirit, I assume this is you. This is your role. You are what makes that difference. You are the one that baptizes me. You counsel me. You comfort me. You anoint me. You do that for others as well. I always pray that you do it for my children. Right now, I’m thinking of a friend who texted me yesterday and is in a lot of pain. She just went through a horrible parting from a longtime employer that didn’t end well. She has an elderly parent who is experiencing physical difficulty. She has a lot of stress in her life. What is the answer for her? In my mind, it is time and you counseling and comforting her. Providing for her. GIving her a straight path to follow. Leading her to a new Temple (I’ll need to tell her about that lesson you taught me).

Father, I submit myself to all of this. I need this. I need your Holy Spirit. Bathe me in it. As my high school youth minister used to say, help me to “bask” in it. Help this friend too. Help my children. My siblings. My parents. My in-laws. My nieces and nephews. My friends an coworkers. I also want to take a moment to pray for all of the people involved in this thing in Washington. On all sides, and from all angles. From the powers that be, to the investigators, to the witnesses, to the investigated, please be with everyone. Let your truth be told, and let your path be followed whether those who are on your servants know they are following the path or not.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9

Dear God, I wonder how much time James (brother of Jesus) and Paul spent together. It seems they might have had interesting conversations around the fire on this topic. Where does your grace end and our responsibility to perform works begin? Is there an unholiness line I can cross with you? Are there still places of service to others that I am not willing to go? Is that a problem for you?

I was at an event last night, and I talked with a man who has spent a lot of time trying to help people at the Texas/Mexico border. I literally found myself wanting to get out of the conversation because it was so hard to hear. He told me about people from Venezuela who wanted to go to university but couldn’t because if you go to university in Venezuela you are committing to go into the military, and they didn’t want to fight to support the existing regime. He told me about a woman in this situation who had smuggled herself out of Venezuela and now she is on the Mexico side of the border awaiting her asylum hearing. If it fails, she will be shipped back to Venezuela. And hers isn’t that bad of a story. No rape. No threats of physical harm. I would imagine her asylum request will be denied. I know there are worse stories out there. They are hard for me to hear and I would rather just not think about it.

Will you hold that against me? I think James would say I’m failing you. What would Paul say? Will you still save me, but be disappointed in me? Does your grace even cover up that disappointment? What would I have to say if I were part of that fireside chat between Paul and James? What do I think?

Father, I suppose that my mantra in serving you is that I should be adequately grateful for the grace you give that Paul describes in this passage. Forget how you respond to my actions. Forget if you reward or punish me based on my works or my level of gratitude. My conscience tells me that I need to be grateful to you, worship you, and then do whatever I feel like you are asking me to do. In fact, I’m glad that I’m thinking about last night’s conversation this morning because it has encouraged me to meet with this man and learn more. I want to hear if there is some way, maybe even a small way, in which I might be able to help. Almost 17 years ago I told you that I want to be willing to touch other people’s pain. I confess to you that I have still put limitations on that willingness. Lead me where you want me to go.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 5:17-20

Dear God, I wouldn’t have thought of linking the concept of doing your will (verse 17) with being in joyful, worshipful community with others (verses 19 and 20), but it’s all part of the same paragraph.

One of the things I miss about going to a more contemporary church is that feeling (for me) like I’m joining my heart with others in worship of you. My wife is Catholic so I go to church with her. And there are people who get a lot out of that style because it is what fits their personality. When they read the liturgy with everyone there as well as with Catholics around the world, it creates a type of community for them. Because I grew up in a different type of church, I think my perspective on it is different. I miss singing songs that stir me alongside others. I miss being in small groups with challenging theological discussions. I miss vulnerably sharing with others.

Yes, I can see where good community is an important part of my ability to hear the Spirit and live in your wisdom and guidance. Father, help me to create that kind of community around me. Help me to do it at work. Help me to do it with friends. And help me to figure it out at church. I want it so that I can create good soil in my heart for your Holy Spirit to grow fruit that will glorify you.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.
Ephesians 4:29

Dear God, this is one of those great reminder verses. It’s a verse I’ve read many times before. And this is a prayer I’ve prayed many times before. I need to be nothing but uplifting in my words, and when criticism must be delivered it needs to be loving and constructive and not biting and mean.

Why? Because I hurt you, your creation, and myself when I allow myself to sink into the cesspool of making me feel better about myself through the putting down of others. When I stop to think about the insecure part of me that is fed when I choose to not be generous with someone else, I get creeped out. To know that my natural state needs someone else to decrease so that my own ego can increase is disturbing. But you have released my ego from that need to increase. Your sacrifice says I’m good enough and, in fact, I have some room to give if that’s what it takes to build up my sisters and my brothers around me.

Father, it would be nice to have people at my funeral be able to say, “I never heard him say a negative word against anyone.” Of course that would never be said now, and it will take years to change the memories of those who know me, but let this be day one. Let this be the first day of the rest of my life, when my words were good, helpful, and encouraging.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.
Ephesians 4:31-5:2

Dear God, yesterday at Rotary one of our members gave a great invocation. He talked about civility and disagreeing with respect. He talked about our current national discourse on politics. He prayed that you would teach us to love each other.

I’m having to go to some meetings of different political parties during this 10-day stretch, and I’ve decided what I dread most about it isn’t what they say about their own beliefs, but how they insult people from the other side. And it goes beyond them thinking that they other person is wrong or even stupid. They start to claim that they aren’t patriotic and don’t love our country. They claim that the other side wants us to become fascists or socialists (depending on which group I’m visiting). The hate is real, and I don’t like being around it.

Father, I’ve been thinking about writing an editorial or letter to the editor about how we need each other. It starts with us needing you, moves to us needing our spouses, and then beyond that into our friends and community. As far as Republicans and Democrats go, the need each other too. They need each other for balance. If either one were in control, not balanced by the other, our country would either run into a ditch on the left of a ditch on the right. But with both sides holding onto the wheel, the car stays down the road. The same is true in my marriage, at work, in the boardroom where I work, and in our community. You made us all part of one body. Help me to me part of uniting it.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen