Gtcotr/ws070225
The faith-filled matriarchs and patriarchs of the Bible all had one thing in common … they prayed powerful prayers. It has been said that Jesus Himself went from the place of prayer to the place of prayer and in between He did miracles. In the best of times and in the worst of times, we read that King David was always talking to God.
Women like Hannah, Jochebed, Esther, Rahab, Deborah, Martha and even Mary, mother of Jesus, were God-fearing faithful servants who only wanted to know what God wanted them to do. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Noah, Moses, Solomon, Peter, James, and John also experienced the power of prayer.
After watching Jesus heal the sick and cast out demons, the disciples asked Him to teach them to pray like John the Baptist had taught his followers. Jesus gave them a template to use as their guideline to ensure they covered all of the important bases when they came before God in prayer. We all know it as The Model Prayer of Jesus.
“Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen”
This is the perfect model prayer we can use to pray for ourselves. But what about when we want to pray for others?
When God saved Saul of Tarsus, who we know as the Apostle Paul, He called him to be a special messenger to the Gentiles. Much of the New Testament follows the ministry of Paul as he went from city to city preaching and teaching and writing letters under the inspiration and direction of the Holy Spirit, expounding on the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout much of the Gentile world of that day.
We are fortunate that God moved His hand and by His divine grace preserved many of Paul’s writings so that we continue to have access to them today. In fact, the world has more access to the Holy Scriptures today than ever before in history, including the days in which they were written. We live in a marvelous time for the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. The knowledge of the glory of God covers the earth as the waters cover the sea. There is virtually nowhere in the world that can escape the preaching and teaching of God’s Word. People everywhere want to know and can get their hands on the Bible and hear amazing expository preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
One of the reasons why I am writing these notes this evening, just prior to leaving for East Africa in our efforts to expand the Kingdom of God, is so that the thousands of people who search the internet daily will have access to one more opportunity to hear a Word from the Bible. Last month, June 2025, one of our websites where I post a copy of my sermon notes (www.ezsermons.com) was accessed over 33,000 times from countries all around the globe. People are hungry for the Word and for material to share with others.
This evening I want to simply share something I first studied for myself and preached on in 1980. I had initially heard about these prayers from my pastor, Pastor Dale Burris in a little Baptist Church in Albuquerque, NM, on the 10th of January, 1979. I took notes and wrote them in the back of the Bible my mom had given me. I wrote those notes in pencil and they are almost faded now.
Pastor Dale only expounded on one of the prayers, which will be our fourth to mention tonight, but he alluded to there being 5 powerful prayers in all. So, tonight’s message is entitled: The 5 Powerful Prayers of Paul. I hope to share a template, not a formula, but a simple example of how you too might pray for those you love and care about. With that in mind, let’s dig in:
The 5 Powerful Prayers of Paul
- 1. Enlightenment
- · The Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation …
- · To understand the inheritance we have in Christ.
- ·To know and experience power of God in our lives.
Ephesians 1 NKJV
15 ¶ Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,
16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power …
- 2. Supernatural Strength
- · That is rooted and grounded in love.
- · And be filled with all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3 NKJV
14 ¶ For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,
17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height —
19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
- 3. Character
- · Filled With the Fruits of Righteousness
- · So that you may be a person with Character … God’s character
- · And keep on growing, discerning things that are excellent.
- · And be sincere and without offense.
- · Character is who you are when no one is looking
Philippians 1 NKJV
9 ¶ And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment,
10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ,
11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
- 4. Patient – Joyful – Thankful
- · The very reason we are filled with knowledge and wisdom and spiritual understanding …
- · The very reason we are people of character, righteous before God, walking worthy, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in good words …
- · The very reason why we are given supernatural strength and given access to His glorious power …
- · Is so that we can be patient, joyful and thankful for the inheritance we have in Christ.
Colossians 1 NKJV
9 ¶ For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;
12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.
- 5. Glorification
- · According to the grace and the calling of God on your life …
- · May Jesus be glorified in you …
- · And may you be glorified in Him.
2 Thessalonians 1 NKJV
11 ¶ Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power,
12 that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
These prayers represent the heart of God shining through the heart and hopes of the Apostle Paul, a special messenger to the people around him. I pray you too develop a heart of God towards those to whom God has called you. When you pray for others, those in your family, workplace, church, community or those you’ve never yet met around the world in far away places, open your Bible to one or more of these special prayers prayed by Paul and follow along with him and his heart as you pray.
The model prayer Jesus taught is how we pray for ourselves … these prayers of Paul are how we can pray for others. Why not? It’s nothing short of a Holy Spirit template for us to follow.
