As a child, I was taught what you might call “formula prayers” for bedtime and meals — a prayer that was repeated at each meal and another at each nightfall. The same words were given with the same intonation at the same time each day. It was many years before I felt liberated to pray my own words and my own heart desires.
And my guess is that many believers fall into the same trap — for the same kinds of needs, they pray the same kinds of prayers, with little thought to what God might desire them to pray at that time.
As a means of liberating His disciples from the vanity of repetition in prayer, Jesus taught the disciples (and us) how to pray in Matthew 6.
Further, in the Epistles, we find numerous examples of prayers — given not only for the benefit of the recipients of those letters, but also as examples to readers in future generations. And those petitions provide instruction even today on how to pray and how to avoid vain repetition.
In fact, Paul’s two prayers in Ephesians (1:15-23; 3:14-21) serve in just that way — they not only were prayers for the Ephesians, but they serve as appropriate models for how believers today might themselves pray for other believers.
What is particularly noticeable about these prayers both in Ephesians, and in the rest of the Epistles, is that they follow very similar patterns. Rarely are tangible needs brought before the Lord (though with His words, “give us this day our daily bread,” Jesus instructed all His disciples that petitions for simple needs is appropriate and welcome). And almost always the requests seek the spiritual maturity of the ones prayed for. Notice the examples of the Ephesian prayers. In Ephesians 1, Paul prays for the Ephesians:
- to have a spirit of wisdom as they know the Father
- that their hearts would be enlightened to know the hope, riches, and power of God which He had given to them
In Ephesians 3, Paul prays for the Ephesians:
- to be strengthened by the power of the Holy Spirit
- to know and experience the love of Christ
- to be filled and controlled (transformed) by the fullness of God
If we were to read other of Paul’s prayers, we would find similar requests. The priority of these prayers is the spiritual maturation of those for whom Paul prays. Is it appropriate to pray for healing and provision of food and finances? Certainly. But even better to pray that whether the Lord grants health and another meal, that He would grant spiritual progress and spiritual strength.
We will always do well to always pray for the spiritual wisdom, courage, and maturity of others (and ourselves). Pray with these kinds of requests in mind, and you will find your prayers to be new — freed from the staleness of vainly repeated offerings.
Words of Grace 