Alvin Vandergriend- Ephesians 3:14-19 "For this reason I kneel before the Father, (v. 15) from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. (v. 16) I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being.

(v. 17) so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, (v. 18) may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. (v. 19) and to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of the fullness of God." (Google image, Praying for Others)

Paul's bracing prayer for the family of God gives us an outline of how to pray for others — a prayer ladder to ascend. There are six steps:

1. Pray for inner strength by the power of the Holy Spirit. Proverbs 4:23 calls the heart "the wellspring of life." And Jesus taught that "the good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart" and warned that "the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart" (Luke 6:45) What happens in the inner person is of crucial importance. Our prayers are able to affect what happens in other believers.

2. Pray that believers will be grounded in God's love. Christ desires to live and act on earth today in and through believers. He does so to the degree that they yield to His promptings and have His mind, His will, His vision, His courage, His love and His power. When we pray this way for others, we ask that Christ may more and more live in us and accomplish His will through us.

3. Pray that believers will be grounded in God's love. The people we pray for need to be rooted in love, nourished by God's love as a plant is nourished by its roots. They need to be established in love, to have God's love as the solid foundation of their lives.

4. Pray that believers grasp the scope of Christ's love — that is, to grasp "how wide and long and high and deep" it is. An unknown prisoner reached for the meaning of this phrase when he wrote,

"Could we with ink the oceans fill
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill
And every man a scribe by trade—
To write the love of God above
Would drain the oceans dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole
Though stretched from sky to sky."

5. Pray that believers may experience the love of Christ. It's wonderful if the people we pray for grasp the scope of Christ's love. It's even more important for them to experience it. That's what we ask when we pray for them "to know this love that surpasses knowledge." This it the "knowing" of a personal relationship.

6. Pray that believers may be filled with the very nature of God. In these words Paul's ladder of prayer reaches its highest rung. To pray for a filling "to the measure of all the fulness of God" is to ask God to pour Himself into us, the children of His earthly family, with a spiritual fullness like God Himself possesses.

What more could we ask as we pray for others? Have you asked God for these things for others, and for yourself?

(pp. 72, 73 in Love to Pray- 40 Day Devotional for Deepening Your Prayer Life by Alvin Vandergriend)

Let's pray-

Father, please help us make it a habit to pray for others in the manner described today. Even if we have to make a literal list to train ourselves, help us be more like Paul in our intercessory praying.

We ask that You make a definite difference in our praying by allowing Your power and love win this kind of praying possible; which alone will make a difference. We confess our failure in praying these words, so please make us aware of this better way to pray, and ask that we quickly learn to pray these requests for others.

We thank You for Your willingness to fill us with Your love, and to have it flow through us to others. We pray for You to make a difference in our praying, so pray for this in the name of Jesus, our Savior. Amen.

Today's Bible verses-

Romans 5:3-5 "We also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance [brings about] proven character; and proven character [brings about] hope; and hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us."

2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT) "For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline."

Quote for today-

T. C. Ryle- "What the bridegroom is to the bride, the Lord Jesus is to the souls of all who believe in Him. He loves them with a deep and everlasting love. He takes them into union with Himself. They are 'one with Christ and Christ in them.' He pays all their debts to God. He supplies all their daily need. He sympathizes with them in all their troubles. He bears with all their infirmities, and does not reject them for a few weaknesses. He regards them as part of Himself.

Those that persecute and injure them are persecuting Him. The glory that He has received from His Father they will one day share with Him, and where He is, there shall they be. Such are the privileges of all true Christians. They are the Lamb's wife (Rev. 19:7). Such is the portion to which faith admits us. By it God joins our poor sinful souls to the precious Husband; and those whom God thus joins together, shall never be put asunder. Blessed indeed are those who believe!"

Our Question today-

Does God do what He says He will do?

Whatever He has said throughout His Word, the Bible, has come true. His Word can be counted on to come to pass! When the angel announced to the priest, Zacharias,

that his wife would have a son, he didn't think it could happen, simply because he and Elizabeth had tried for so many long years to have children.

This displeased God, though, so the angel made him mute, and maybe deaf too, for the period of time it took their son, John, to form in Elizabeth's womb. After John was born, Zacharias had plenty of praise for God's following through with what the angel had told him!

There are things that were not normal that came to pass, even though it looked impossible. Elizabeth had been barren and was too old to have children, and the name she gave him was not a family name! This was against the normal way of doing things, but God had said that it would happen! so it did!

This promised son was to become the for-runner of his cousin, Jesus, Who would take away the sins of mankind! That prophesy was the first one in over 400 years for the Israelites! Could this happen as the angel said it would?

Evidently both Mary and Elizabeth had lived obediently to God's laws, as well as Zacharias, and were ready to do whatever God showed them. God was able then to fulfill His Word through them, just as He said!

Our question for us today is, are we living righteous lives, and are we ready and willing to do whatever He has spoken to us about His plan for us as His people? Let's believe in what He Word has said, and expect it to happen for our good and His glory!

Our guest post:

10 Powerful Prayers to Protect Your Children from Satan

~ Beth Ann Baus - "We know the enemy wants our children; he wants to pull them away from us, from their faith, and from the one true God. We also know that Satan is crafty, and he tries to pull our children away in a variety of ways: by temptation, distractions, deception, etc."