Live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.Ephesians 5:2 (NIV)

One thing that came to mind when I handed Jesus what was on my heart, was that while I can only hand them over one at a time, God’s hands are big enough to take them all at once. God’s infinite grace and love once again overwhelmed my mind and own heart. While I’ve been known to multitask, when it comes to matter of the heart, multitasking is not option for a finite being such as myself…I know that I need to handle each person on my heart with delicacy, intent and love. I know that if I don’t, I’m just running through tasks, and not focusing on matters of the heart.

God, on the other hand, is infinite in handling matters of the heart. As I’m handing over the matters on my heart, Jesus is not only holding my heart, but also holding everyone else’s heart at the same time (how cool is that?). God is listening to your prayers just as I, like countless others, pray. God is not only holding on to our matters of the heart, but being beyond time and space, is helping us with those things on our heart, too. It just blows my mind when I think about all that God does with us, for us, and to us (transforms our lives) all at the same time…God is beyond our limited concept of time.

Then to take it one step further, God already knows what’s on our heart before we begin talking or handing over our hearts. God’s just waiting for us to hand it over, to entrust him with our heart and with our lives. Prayer is a gift from God…prayer is our gift to God.

I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit. And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God. –Ephesians 3: 16-19, New Living Translation

Be real. Prayer isn’t about eloquent words or lengthy speeches; it’s about sharing your life…regardless of where you happen to be at the time…with The One who cares about you the most. If you’re going through a rough time, talk about it. If you’re angry or frustrated about the circumstances you find yourself in, cry about it. If you’re happy about what’s going on in you’re life or if you’re amazed at how God has pulled you through something, tell God thanks. If you need God’s help in your life, ask him for it. Be real with where you are in your life, and if you need to, ask for God’s help with your motives. God already knows what’s on your mind—God already knows what’s on your heart. With that, you might as well spill your guts and be real.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. –Philippians 4:6-7

Believe. When you pray, believe and have the faith that God will answer your prayer. God won’t let you down. Now having said that, God doesn’t always give you what you want. Instead, God will provide you with what you need. When I ask for God’s help through situations, I pray for the strength to get through whatever I’m going through. In other words, I pray for perseverance, not the outcome; because quite frankly, I don’t always know what’s best for me and I totally believe that God really does know what’s best for me. Often, I have set in my mind what I think is best, and the truth of it is, that if God had answered my prayer in the way I thought I wanted, I would’ve been setting the bar so low–so, I leave the outcome to God with the belief that God’s got my best interests at heart and God’s view sees the bigger picture.

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us– whatever we ask– we know that we have what we asked of him. ~~1 John 5:14-15

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. ~~Mark 11: 24

Be passionate. Pray passionately not only about what’s going on with ourselves, but also what’s going on in the lives of those around us. Pray often. Often I pray when I’m walking down the hall, or driving in the car. When someone comes to mind, what began as a thought transcends into a prayer for that person. I strive to be passionate about incorporating God’s presence in every aspect of my life because I want God with me no matter what I’m doing. In truth, God’s there anyway, it’s just up to me to recognize and be aware of God’s presence. When we’re passionate in our prayers (whether for others or ourselves), we’re passionate with The One who’s most passionate about us.

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge– that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. ~~Ephesians 3:17-19

© 2005 Ginny Rogers

Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope. May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages. Amen. –Ephesians 3:14-21, New Living Translation

My intent was to just focus on the italicized portion of the text, but I just couldn’t stop there. I had to include the verses before and after it. Maybe it was a bit much, but I had to start with…

“When I think of the wisdom and scope of God’s plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.”

What a beautiful way for Paul to begin a prayer for his church in Ephesus…awestruck by how God’s reach and plan is beyond comprehension…so much so that the only response, maybe even reflex action, is for him to fall to his knees. Then he prays for the Holy Spirit to bless them with inner strength. And it doesn’t stop there…the prayer is that Christ will dwell in the hearts of the people.

Okay, so here is Paul, a leader in the early Christian church and he’s telling the community at Ephesus that he’s fallen to his knees in prayer–praying to the Creator–on their behalf. But why fall to his knees? Maybe to communicate to the Ephesians that even as a leader, he falls to his knees willingly in awe of God. How awesome!

Paul goes on to remind the Ephesians of God’s love. He wants them to be deeply rooted in God’s love–love that’s higher than the sky and deeper than the ocean–more vast than we can imagine. Then, it’s his desire that they experience God’s love to the fullest–not understand this amazing love–but EXPERIENCE it!

It’s through Paul’s example, as he reflects the character of Jesus, that we are reminded to lead with humility–to fall to our knees–in awe and wonder of God, to pray out of love and commitment for others, and recognize that God is the source of all love. We, too, are encouraged to experience this powerful love–with depth and breadth, and not necessarily fully understand the mystery of who God is.

It’s through God’s mighty power that we can do so much more than we could ever imagine.