Unified Under Christ: Praying for my Family

 

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 3:16-19

 I’ve spent a lot of time lately praying for my family. We’ve had some pretty big upheavals and the ground feels shaky beneath us. Do you know what I’ve been praying for them? It’s very much like what Paul prayed for the Ephesians in today’s passage.

 My first and highest priority prayer for my family is always that they would draw near to God and find their salvation in Him. I pray that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith. I know that even that faith comes from God, and so I ask Him to fill them with that faith, just as Paul asked God to, “strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being.” I can’t do it for them. I can’t choose it for them. But I can pray it for them, and I do, regularly and often. Do I doubt the salvation of my family? This isn’t about that. This prayer is about their ever-deepening relationship with God. I long for each of us to draw closer and closer to Jesus, and I know that as we do, we draw closer to each other as well.

 This love of God is our foundation. It has to be the first thing in my prayers, but I know that there is so much more. That saving knowledge of God’s love for us is how we are “rooted and established,” and from there we go into our lives. We stumble and fall and ask, “God can you love me even here?” The answer is always, “Yes!” The world lets us down. Our loved ones let us down. Will God let us down? The answer is always, “No!” No matter where we are, no matter what we are facing, the love of God is wide enough, long enough, high enough and deep enough to meet us where we are at and fill us with everything we need. We might think we understand this, but I don’t think we ever can. It’s SO VERY BIG! It’s so much we can never comprehend it. Just when we are amazed at the vastness of His love, we see that it is even more. I pray that my family experiences that awesome, amazing love.

Here's the Thing: I can’t fix the problems we’re facing. I can’t understand even the “why” of what they are about. What I can do is what Paul did so faithfully for His spiritual children – I can pray. I pray this for them, and I pray this for You: that you would come to know how wide and how long and how high and how deep is the love of God. He can meet you wherever you are at. He can handle any problem, even ones you can’t begin to comprehend. His love is always enough.

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