Daily Thought

Today’s reading is one of the two prayer sections of this letter that provide examples of Paul’s prayers on behalf of God’s people. How good it is to have specific reasons for prayer. Here, it is to give thanks, one of the primary reasons for prayer. There is always something for which we can give God thanks, even in our darkest hours. Look searchingly and we will find it.

Here, Paul is grateful for their daily faith worked out Godward and their practical living worked out manward. The former always needs to precede the latter. The latter can only be effective if based on the former. Consequently, as he remembers with deep affection these believers, he is able to give God thanks for them in prayer. He had spent two years with them, Acts 19. 10, and in that time a church had been founded in the darkest of circumstances. Wonderful bonds had been forged as these believers were led on to spiritual heights by Paul. Consequently, they had a deep place in his affections. Do I have that close relationship with my fellow believers? If so, then it will draw me to them naturally at the throne of grace. If that relationship is absent, then it gives me another reason to pray for them.

In a very real sense, this little phrase for today is one of the most humbling in Paul’s writings. As busy as he was, as occupied as he was, he was never too busy to pray and to make mention of believers in his prayers. The puzzle in this letter is, that familiar as he would have been with the Ephesians, only the name of Tychicus appears in the letter. Yet his prayers would have been personal for them.

Such a need today should establish such a pattern in my prayers. Do I pray for believers in my assembly by name? Am I aware of their needs and circumstances so that I can pray intelligently? Am I able to give God thanks, or more pertinently, can my fellow believers give thanks for me? If we prayed more for one another, rather than talked about one another, our fellowship would be the sweeter and our testimony the more effective. Let’s go on to make mention of one another in prayer. How often have the words ‘I am praying for you’ been an encouragement to needy believers?