What Foundation Are You Building On?

We often forget to pray for others, but when we do, we often resort to shallow prayers: “I pray they have a good day.” “I pray for health.” “I pray for safety.” “I pray for happiness.” “I pray for success.” But when Jesus prayed for us, he prayed boldly for unity. He prayed that we would reflect the glory of God to the world. He was more concerned with what impacts eternity than what impacts the finite. This is why, in the most difficult seasons, Jesus models a heart of prayer for others. He doesn’t just show us the importance of praying for one another in times of difficultly, he shows us how to pray for them. Jesus prayed bold, God-centered prayers for his disciples and his followers. It’s not that the trivial matters his followers dealt with weren’t worth praying for, it’s that Jesus knew that his bold prayers would encompass all of the trivial matters. As he prayed for unity, he knew that this would affect their finances, health, physical needs, and relationships with one another. He knew that the believers would share their possessions and give to each other when they were in need. He knew that they would come together to take care of each other and build strong relationships with one another. Ultimately, he knew that the unity of believers would reflect the love of God to all people—and this was the most important thing to pray. Jesus knew that life wasn’t about health, happiness, and worldly success. He was and is more concerned with our eternity than worldly matters. We will reveal what we believe to be most important by our prayers for other people.  Reflection/Discussion Question: How and when do you pray for others?

Imagine a soldier heading into a battlefield to fight an entire army by himself. It would be ridiculous. A suicide mission. Yet, many of us head into a spiritual battlefield every day, completely alone.  Ephesians 6:12 says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (NIV). This is why Paul tells us to put on the armor of God. In order to fight a spiritual battle, we need spiritual armor. In order to win a spiritual battle, we need each other.  When we surround ourselves with a community of believers who love and serve one another, we can be sure we will win the battle. We can help each other put on the armor of God. We surround ourselves with people who speak truth and remind us of truth when we fall prey to the lies of the enemy. We walk in righteousness together and hold each other accountable to staying obedient. We link arms and carry the gospel of peace to those who are far from God. We walk in faith together. We read the Word together to use it as a weapon against the enemy’s lies. And we continually pray for one another. When God asks us to obey his commands, he does so knowing that he is asking us to do it together. When we invest in real community with other believers, we experience God’s love, joy, and peace through those people. Our community becomes a tangible expression of Christ because of the Holy Spirit in each of us. We don’t have to battle Satan, the world, or our own flesh by ourselves. In fact, to do so would be to disobey Jesus’s command to love one another as he loved us (John 13:34-35). Instead of submitting to our pride and trying to do life on our own, we can submit to Christ and head into the spiritual battle with an unbeatable army. Reflection/Discussion Questions: Are you heading into the spiritual battle alone? If not, who is with you?