If you’re new here, Hello! Welcome to this week’s Prayer of the Week (POW). You can find all POW’s under the category POW! on this blog.
To fully understand what POW is read Introducing POW or for a quick summery you can read the First POW.
This POW is extra special to me as it is the scripture I have for my precious baby girl, Grace Elizabeth (Divine Gift, God’s Promise). So I never forget God’s goodness and lavish grace, I have her handprint in my bible over this verse. Oh my heart sings when I read this! He is so SO good! You can read about our adoption story here.
PREPARE
Quiet your heart. Play a worship song or two and surrender yourself fully to Him.
Spirit Lead Me and Goodness of God stuck out to me this week if you’re looking for suggestions. These clickable links are videos that have lyrics so you can worship along.
When you are finished pray a simple prayer asking God to silence all voices that are not His. You want this to be a time for just the two of you. Here’s an example:
Dear God,
I come to You today fully seeking You. Silence all distractions around me. Quiet all voices that are not of You. I desire connection. Protect our time in Jesus’ name, Amen.
SWORD
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. 11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
Ephesians 1:3-14
Read this a few times. Listen. Write down anything that comes to mind or heart as you read. Underline any words that stand out to you. Write down any questions.
FIGHT
Taking the scripture, pray and insert yourself or whoever in the blanks.
There are 2 ways to pray this scripture depending on whether the person you are praying for has already accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior or not. To make it more user friendly, I’ve broken it down with 2 different prayer groups: For the Believer & For the Non-Believer. If you are not sure which to pray, ask God to lead you. His Spirit will guide you… He knows.
You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.
Psalm 139: 1-4
For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
1 Corinthians 2:11
For the Believer
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed (name) in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For You, God, chose ________ in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in Your sight. In love You predestined _________ for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with Your pleasure and will— to the praise of Your glorious grace, which You have freely given _________ in the One You love. In him _________ has redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of Your grace that You lavished on him/her/me. With all wisdom and understanding, You made known to _______ the mystery of Your will according to Your good pleasure, which You purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. In him _________ was also chosen, having been predestined according to Your plan who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And ________ also was included in Christ when he/she/I heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When ________ believed, he/she/I was marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Ephesians 1: 3-14
For the Non-Believer
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. I pray, Father, with all Your wisdom and understanding, that You make known to ________ the mystery of Your will according to Your good pleasure, which You purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. In You we were also chosen, including _________, having been predestined according to Your plan. You work out everything in conformity with the purpose of Your perfect will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And ________ also is included in Christ when _________ hears the message of truth, the gospel of his/her/my salvation. When _______ believes, you will mark ________ with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing _________’s inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. I pray all this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Ephesians 1: 3-14
DECLARE
Another weapon is the power of DECLARING God’s word over yourself. This is clothing yourself in TRUTH and living out of your true identity. Standing in truth and clothing yourself in this way is a powerful weapon. The enemy of your soul fights that you would just nibble at his lies. He hopes you will disrobe yourself by choice and put on what he offers.
DO NOT believe anything that does not line up with scripture. God says He is your Father, He will defend you, He will place you in a family, He will lead you out of bondage and into joy!
Knowing your Father in heaven has adopted you out of his great pleasure and love through His lavish grace, we are declaring WHO we are because of Him.
Dress yourself in the following by declaring:
Pray with emphasis where He lays emphasis on your heart. Insert whoever He brings to mind… and keep praying. Don’t stop! Whatever and whoever He lays on your heart, go after it!
Ask questions. Wait, listen. Pray. Pray for wisdom, discernment… just pray and lean into Him.
He may lead you to other scriptures or boldly highlight a person to lift up. He may allow you to feel what someone else is feeling. There is no limit to what God will do when you give Him your heart and time.
REST
Hold Onto Hope + Rest in This Truth…
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
Psalm 139:7-12
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but I sense an extra shower of hope is needed. Whether you are praying for a loved one that is far from God or if you’ve been praying for someone and it just feels hopeless…
Hold onto hope and press on!
I like to say, “As long as there is God, there is hope.” God’s not going anywhere and neither should your hope! So another way to say the above is: Hold onto God and press on!
God IS in control and He is moving through your heart and prayers. What we see in the natural is nothing compared to what God is working out in the spiritual.
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Colossians 3:1-2
Rest in hope and walk confidently knowing God is with you, He is for you and you have given the fight to Him.
In you, Lord my God, I put my trust. I trust in you… No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame… Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long… My eyes are ever on the Lord… Relieve the troubles of my heart and free me from my anguish… for I take refuge in you. May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope, Lord, is in you.
Taken from Psalm 25
As Scripture says,
“Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”
Romans 10:11
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
Hebrews 11:1
