I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanksfor you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.
(Ephesians 1:15-19)
Do you pray more during in this challenging time? I hope we all do and do it daily, and as Paul said of himself here (v. 16) and for the church in Thessalonica to pray “without ceasing” regardless (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). You probably know that the Cabinet meets once a week for prayer and check-in, and each of our Districts holds prayer time and conversation with all our clergy and laity weekly. And then we also have these written devotions and prayers for everyone. Of course, I have my own time of prayer for the family once a week (by Zoom or Facebook Live), and then the nightly prayer and other prayers during the day.
We pray for our health and well-being, for members of our congregations, friends and loved ones and our leaders and health professionals, and pray for God to lift the pandemic, the list goes on. Thank you for all your prayers. Jesus taught his disciples to pray and so we pray his prayer as our own prayer also. Paul’s prayer, on the other hand, is distinct from the Lord’s prayer and our prayer. His prayers for the Ephesian church and others are more focused on the spiritual side than the physical side of need. His prayer is either a thanksgiving prayer or a prayer for spiritual maturity or both. He gave thanks for the faith and love of the saints, then he prayed for their maturity as in the underlined Scripture above.
As we pray more, pray not only that God will lift the pandemic and for our health or well-being and the economy but also for our maturity in the faith in this time of challenge. Our faith is being tested… daily. Pray that we will grow stronger and more mature in each challenge that comes into our lives.
Praying the Lord’s Prayer: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.
“Tub yog vim le ntawd, txij thaus kuv nov has tas mej muab sab rau ntseeg tug Tswv Yexus hab hlub vaajtswv tsaav tuabneeg txhua tug, mas kuv najnub ua Vaajtswv tsaug tsi tseg tsi tu. Kuv ncu ntsoov thov Vaajtswv paab mej. Kuv thov peb tug Tswv Yexus Khetos tug Vaajtswv, hab tug kws yog peb Leej Txiv tug kws muaj fwjchim ci ntsaa ab, pub Vaajtswv Ntsujplig tug Dlawbhuv rua mej. Tug Ntsujplig ntawd yuav pub tswvyim hab qha Vaajtswv rua mej, kuas mej paub Vaajtswv heev zuj zug ntxiv. Kuv thov Vaajtswv qheb mej lub sab kuas mej totaub zoo, mej txhaj paub has tas mej cov kws Vaajtswv tub hu lug cuag nwg lawm, mej ca sab le caag rua Vaajtswv. Hab txuj koob moov kws Vaajtswv coglug tseg has tas, “Vaajtswv yuav pub rua Vaajtswv tsaav tuabneeg zoo npaum le caag. Hab paub has tas Vaajswv lub fwjchim kws ua num huv peb cov ntseeg lub sab, luj npaum le caag.” (Efexus 1:15-19)
Koj puas thov Vaajtswv ntau tshaaj qub lub sijhwam muaj kev txhawbxeeb ntau yaam nuav? Kuv ca sab tas peb txhua tug thov hab najnub thov tsi tu tsi su, ib yaam le Pauslus has txug nwg tugkheej nuav (nqai 16) hab has rua pawg ntseeg nyob Thexalausnikes kuas puab “thov Vaajtswv tsi tseg tsi tu txhua sijhawm” tsi has yuav muaj kev txhawjxeeb ntxhuv sab dlaabtsi (1 Thex. 5:16-18). Tej zag koj yuav nov lawm tas cov DS and Bishop puab sibntsib txhua asthiv lug koom uake thov Vaajtswv hab sibntsib saib puab ib leeg twg nyob le caag, hab txhua lub District puab nyag kuj muaj nyag kev ntsib nrug cov xwfwb hab txwjlaug lug thov Vaatjswv hab sibthaam uake. Hab tsi taag le, peb kuj muab tsaab ntawv sau ntawm nuav ua kev thov Vaajtswv rua txhua txhua tug. Ntxiv moog, txhua asthiv kuv tseem muaj kev sibntsib uake nrug kuv tsev tuabneeg thov Vaajtswv uake. Tshaaj le ntawd, kuv kuj tseem muaj kev thov Vaajtswv yaav tsausntuj hab lwm lub sijhawm nyob yaav ntsuab nub.
Peb thov Vaatjswv paab kev noj qaab nyob zoo, rua peb cov ntseeg, phoojywg hab tsev tuabneeg, rua peb cov thawjcoj hab tej kws khumob, hab tseem thov Vaajtswv kuas tshem tug kaabmob coronavirus, hab ntau yaam kws tsi sau rua nuav. Ua tsaug rua mej kev thov Vaajtswv paab txhua yaam. Tswv Yexus qha nwg cov thwjtim txug kev thov Vaajtswv hab peb siv nwg zaaj lug thov lug ua peb kev thov Vaajtswv. Tabsi Pauslus nwg kev thov Vaajtswv txawv tsi zoo le Yexus zaaj lug thov hab peb tej kev thov. Nwg tej lug thov rua pawg ntseeg Efexus hab lwm pawg yog thov rua kev lujhlub saab ntsujplig ntau dlua le saab kev noj qaab nyob zoo. Nwg tej lug thov muaj ob yaam, kev ua tsaug rua cov ntseeg kev mob sab rau ntseeg hab kev sibhlub, hab kev lujhlub saab ntsujplig, lossis ob yaam uake, kws zoo le cov lug khij txuj kaab huv qaab ntawv qhov Vaajlugkub nyob sau nuav.
Yog le thaum peb thov Vaajtswv, peb tsi xob thov kuas tshem tub kaab mob coronavirus hab thov txug kev noj qaab nyob zoo hab kev noj kev haus xwb, tabsi yuav tsu thov rau saab kev lujhlub saab kev ntseeg ib yaam nkaus, tshwjxeeb nyob rua lub sijhawm muaj kev txhawjxeeb nuav. Peb txuj kev ntseeg yuav raug siv… najnub. Thov Vaajtswv kuas peb yuav lujhlub zujzug hab kev ntseeg ruaj khov txhua zag kws muaj kev txhawjxeeb ntxuvsab lug raug pe blub neej.
Thov Tswv Yexus Zaaj lug Thov: Peb Leejtxiv tug nyob sau ntuj, thov kuas koj tau koobmeej. Thov koj lug kaav tuabneeg lub sab; thov koj paab kuas peb ua tau le koj lub sab nyam ib yaam le cov kws nyob sau ntuj. Thov koj pub mov rua peb muaj noj nub nua. Thov koj zaam xim rua peb ib yaam le peb tub tau zaam txim rua cov kws ua txhum rua peb lawm. Thov koj tsi xob ca tej kev sim sab ntxag tau peb, tabsis thov koj paab kuas peb dlim ntawm Dlaab Ntxwgnyog txhais teg. Vim koj le yog Ntuj Ceebtsheej, lub Fwjchim hab kev Ci Ntsaa Ab moog ib txhab ib txhis. Amees.