Pauls Prayer

Paul’s Prayers
Ephesians 3:14-21
March 17, 2019
I. Introduction:
A. Last week, as we looked at the Lord’s Prayer, we were answering the question
I got from two men “What kind of things do we pray for other than God bless
my family and fix these problems?” Today I am continuing to answer that
question by looking at the prayers that the Apostle Paul prayed to see the kind
of things about which he prayed.
B. As I was preparing I did some studying to see just what people do pray about
here in North America. I found two different studies that addressed this. The
Barna Group and Lifeway Research
1. Let me tell you about a few interesting things I found people have prayed
for at some time in their life.
a) 21% - Winning the lottery
b) 13% - Your favorite sports team would win
c) 7% - Good parking spot
d) 7% - Not get caught speeding
e) I have prayed for three of those four, anyone else?
2. Here is a summary of what people pray about most often:
a) Barna group said, “Primarily the immediate needs and concerns of the
individual. Corporate needs are less compelling drivers in people’s
prayer life!”
b) Lifeway Research said – “Most Americans (82%) typically focus on
their friends and family. (74%) on their own problems. (54%) pray
about good things happening in their life. (36%) pray for their future
prosperity.”
C. Tim Keller writing on revival said that while Holy Spirit is the ultimate cause
of revival but He does use “secondary causes.”
1. And he said one of the three primary causes He uses is corporate prayer,
which is focused upon extraordinary, kingdom centered prevailing prayer!
2
2. Sounds like what we learned in the Lord’s Prayer guide last week –
praying with others and praying, first and foremost, for God’s agenda (His
glory, kingdom and will).
3. This is interesting because what Jesus called us to and what Keller tells us
brings about revival are the same ----- corporate kingdom centered
praying! That is just the opposite of what these studies found – only 4%
of the people most often pray with someone else and the majority of our
prayers are for needs and concerns of the individual, and very little
concern for the kingdom needs of the Church of Jesus Christ!
D. And I guess it would be no surprise to find that Paul’s prayers recorded in
Scripture were for the corporate body, the local church and they were
kingdom centered prayers!