As Christians, we should know what we owe to our fellow Jesus followers — “one another” as the Bible calls us.
Before we can effectively love our neighbor — “neighbor” in this context meaning those not yet a part of the family of God — we need to understand the importance of how we interact with our brethren in Christ.
Paul’s prayers center on one thing: that believers may become more and more like Christ, growing into spiritual powerhouses.
Obviously, we are to love one another. We are to model the early church as it is described to us in Acts. We are to mindfully learn and apply all the “one anothers” the Bible gives us. We are to speak truth in love to one another (and others, as well).
One of the most powerful ways to love one another is to diligently pray for one another (James 5:16). And one of the most powerful ways to accomplish that is to pray scripture for them.
This is nothing new. After all, many of us have been praying the Lord’s Prayer, which is straight out of scripture, for much of our lives. Many psalms also lend themselves to prayer and worship. Much scripture has been set to music so that we can pray in song, as well.
But when it comes to powerfully praying for our brethren, the apostle Paul was a master. In God-breathed letters to at least three churches — the Colossians, the Philippians, and the Ephesians — he tells his flock exactly how he’s praying for them.
Paul’s prayer for the Colossians
Colossians 1:9-12:
For this reason also, since the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the full knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and multiplying in the full knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
What a magnificent prayer! In a few short lines, Paul asked God that the Colossians might:
Be filled with the knowledge of God’s will, in all spiritual wisdom and understanding: This is a wonderful starting place for praying for your fellow believers — that they understand and wisely follow God’s will for their lives.Walk worthy of God, pleasing Him in every way
And then he prayed specifically for how they could do that:
Bear fruit in every good work and increase in the knowledge of God: These two categories are what should comprise our day-to-day existence! Knowing Him and making Him known. Sitting at His feet daily, and serving Him wholeheartedly.Be strengthened with all power, according to God’s glorious might, to attain perseverance and patience: Paul recognized that persevering and being patient only come through the mighty power of the Holy Spirit within us and are important enough to merit their own mention in his prayer.Joyously thank the Father, who has qualified us to share in His inheritance of our fellow saints in light: Here, he prays for his fellow believers to be filled with joy and gratitude, looking up to what lies ahead.
If you’re praying for the believers in your life to understand God’s will, walk worthy and please Him, bear fruit and know Him better, be strengthened In God’s power, and joyously give thanks — you’re on target.
Again, this was a prayer for a specific group of people from Paul. But because it is recorded in holy scripture, we know this prayer is God-breathed. What a privilege to be able to pray this exact prayer for our brothers and sisters in Christ. We can do that in general, praying for all our fellow disciples this way.
But it is perhaps more meaningful to actually write out this prayer for a specific brother or sister, by name.
For example:
Lord, I continually ask You to fill Anna with the knowledge of Your will in spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that she will walk worthy of You and please You in every way — bearing fruit in every good work and growing in her knowledge of You. Please strengthen her with all power, according to Your glorious might, so she may obtain great perseverance and patience. And help her joyfully thank You, who has qualified us both to share in the inheritance of Your saints in the kingdom of light.
Praying this way ignites my spirit. We know that when we pray in alignment with God’s will, He acts. How amazing that He’s given us scripture like this that demonstrates, in a very practical way, how He would have us pray for the “one anothers” with whom He has blessed us.
Bonus question: How might you adapt this prayer for your unbelieving friends?
Paul’s prayer for the Philippians
Another rich prayer is recorded for us in Philippians 1:3-6:
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work among you will complete it by the day of Christ Jesus.
This is a good reminder to thank God for the Jesus followers He’s brought into our lives — and to start any prayer for them by expressing our gratitude for the blessings they bring to us.
Note also the attitude he brings to his prayer time for them. He is mindful of their “participation in the gospel” — he is mindful that they are walking the same path as he is — and this brings him joy.
His next thought is a verse we often quote as a reminder that “God isn’t finished with us yet.” Isn’t it interesting that he put it right here in a prayer for them? Almost like he wanted to remind himself that no matter what mistakes and stumbles he might have to address, these beloved friends were a work in progress, in the process of being sanctified.
In other words, they were people deserving of his grace, too. Another good reminder.
But the real meat of his prayer for them is found in verses 9-11:
And this I pray, that your love may overflow still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may discover the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and blameless for the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, for the glory and praise of God.
That our love may overflow … in real knowledge and discernment. What do those two things have to do with love?
As for knowledge: Our agape love for our brothers and sisters does not spring from some sort of flowery sentimentality. It springs from scriptural truth. Scripture is what defines love, so we can’t love well without that knowledge. Again, we speak the truth in love and love others well with truth — always.
As for discernment: It turns out love is not blind, after all. The Greek word used here for “discernment” is where we get our English word “aesthetic,” which as John MacArthur notes, speaks of moral perception, insight, and practical application of knowledge. “Love is not blind,” he says, “but perceptive, and it carefully scrutinizes to distinguish between right and wrong.”
That biblical, perceptive love is what Paul wants overflowing in believers. Why?
So that we can discover what things are excellent. This is about developing keen perception, distinguishing between which things are worthy of our time and which are hindrances. And what does this pursuit of excellent things net us?
It means we are sincere and blameless as we transition out of this world and into our heavenly reward in glory with Jesus. It means that in this life, we are filled with the fruit of righteousness, again as a result of Jesus’ work. And what is the purpose of those results? The glory and praise of God.
Don’t we all want someone praying these things for us? So let us pray them for one another — wholeheartedly and personally.
Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians
Ephesians 1 is a magnificent chapter, and I encourage you to read it right now. Paul’s first prayer for the Ephesians comes toward the end of that chapter:
Ephesians 1:15-19a:
For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the boundless greatness of His power toward us who believe.
This is such a rich passage. Paul is telling the Ephesians that when he mentions them in his prayers, he does so with continuous gratitude for them — due to their exemplary faith, evidenced by their love for one another.
And then he goes on to tell them what he asks God for, on their behalf:
Wisdom: The ability to take knowledge and put it into action, or in other words, how to live well in God’s world. This is an attribute we should diligently seek always. The first nine chapters of Proverbs make a powerful argument for this pursuit.Revelation in the knowledge of Him: This is the continuing learning process (“revelation”) that we undergo as we learn more about God through immersion in His Word.Enlightened “eyes of the heart”
That last one means seeing God clearly with a spiritually enlightened mind, which results in knowledge of three life-changing truths:
The truth of the hope of His calling: a confident understanding of the hope He provides His children, and a grasp of what awaits us.The truth of the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints: again, starting to grasp the immense and glorious riches that are ours as His saints.The truth of the boundless power of His greatness toward us who believe.
I love what John MacArthur says about this last point:
God’s great power, that very power which raised Jesus from the dead and lifted Him by ascension back to glory to take His seat at God’s right hand, is given to every believer at the time of salvation and is always available. Paul therefore did not pray that God’s power be given to believers, but that they be aware of the power they already possessed in Christ and use it. — MacArthur Study Bible (notes)
That’s really the point of Paul’s prayer for enlightened eyes of the heart: that we be aware of what God in Christ has already given us — and then we use it.
This is indeed an immensely powerful prayer that we can personalize for our brothers and sisters. And there’s nothing wrong with asking our brothers and sisters to pray this for us, too.
But Paul had one more spectacular prayer for his beloved Ephesian church. It is one of the most beautiful passages in all his letters (and there are a lot of beautiful passages, to be sure):
Ephesians 3:14-19:
For this reason I bend my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner self, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to all the fullness of God.
Praying this sublime language is an act of worship in itself, since it includes such a marvelous depiction of God’s unquestioned authority.
But let’s look at what Paul is asking God to grant the Ephesians here “according to the riches of His glory,” which again are available to every Christ-follower:
That God would grant them strength, derived from the power of the Holy Spirit within each individual, so that Christ dwells in their hearts through faith. In other words, that we would please Him by keeping our hearts clean through the power of His Spirit as we submit to His lordship.That God would grant them the state of being rooted and grounded in love — the self-sacrificial agape love given for us by Him, that we are to freely share.That God would grant them comprehension (awareness and understanding), along with all the other saints, of the vast immensity of the love of Christ, which surpasses simple head knowledge. We can’t know this kind of love without being His children.
Knowing all of this leads to being filled with the fullness of God. It leads to spiritual strength as we discipline our minds and spirits to study, understand, and live by God’s word through His Spirit’s power — increasingly, as we mature in Him.
Quoting my friend Dr. MacArthur one more time:
Although the outer, physical person becomes weaker with age, the inner, spiritual person should grow stronger through the Holy Spirit, who will energize, revitalize, and empower the obedient, committed Christian.
But wait — there’s more
Here are a few more of Paul’s prayers that you can personalize for those you are bringing to God’s throne room:
1 Corinthians 4:1-91 Thessalonians 1:2-31 Thessalonians 5:23 (brief but such a good one)2 Thessalonians 1:11-12Philemon 4–7
Paul’s prayers center on one thing: that believers may become more and more like Christ, growing into spiritual powerhouses. That is why these passages are so powerful when we pray them for each other, by name, specifically.
Let’s love one another by praying this way.
This article was adapted from an essay originally published on Diane Schrader’s Substack, She Speaks Truth.
Apostle paul, Christianity, Christians, Prayer, God, Jesus, Faith
