Praying for the Church

So often, when we pray for our church, we focus on physical needs. We pray for those who are sick.  We pray for those looking for work.  We pray for safety for those who are taking a trip.  There is certainly nothing wrong with such prayers.  The Bible invites them.  But our prayer can't focus on just physical things.  We need to pray for the spiritual health and prosperity of our church as well. 

I love how the Apostle Paul prays for the Ephesians in Ephesians 3:16-19.  Paul writes: " I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge —that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God" (NIV, 1984).

This is the type of prayer we would do well to pray for our congregation.  We should pray that God would strengthen the inner selves of our church family through the Spirit so that we might stand firm in faith and obedience.  We should pray that we as a church would grasp and experience how high and wide and deep the love of Christ is.  We should pray not only for the physical needs of our FBC family.  We should pray for our spiritual depth as well.