Our identity as a follower of Jesus should result in us praying in light of our identity...

Last week at the church where I serve we launched into a brand new sermon series looking at a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of our Bibles called the book of Ephesians called “Identity”. As we go through this series, our hope and our prayer is that God would enable us to see our true identity, the identity that He designed us to live in, so that we would live our day to day lives in light of our true identity.

This week I would like for us to pick up where we left off last week. And as we jump into the next section of this letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to early followers of Jesus at the church at Ephesus, we are going to discover another timeless truth regarding our identity as a follower of Jesus that has the potential to change how we approach a significant part of our relationship with Jesus. So let’s discover this timeless truth together, beginning in Ephesians 1:15:

For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers;

Paul begins this section of his letter to the members of the church at Ephesus with the phrase “for this reason”. In other words, Paul is saying “In light of all that I have just said. In light of the reality that your identity as a follower of Jesus is the basis of your spiritual blessings. In light of the reality that your identity as a follower of Jesus is the basis of our spiritual blessings because of God the Father choice of you to be His children; In light of the reality that you have been rescued by Jesus Christ from the selfishness and rebellion that separated you from God; In light of the reality that you have obtained an inheritance according to His plan and for His glory; In light of the reality that you have the Holy Spirit’s ongoing activity in our lives; In light of all of that, I have been driven to a response”.

Paul then reveals that the response that he was driven to was to not cease giving thanks for you. Paul would not stop himself for expressing appreciation to God for the members of the church at Ephesus. Paul would not stop himself for expressing appreciation to God for the confident trust that the members of the church at Ephesus had in Jesus. And Paul would not stop himself for expressing appreciation to God for the members of the church at Ephesus for their love for one another.

Paul then explained to the members of the church at Ephesus that his appreciation of God’s activity in their lives led him to pray for the members of the church at Ephesus. And it is here that we see Paul reveal for us a timeless and true principle when it comes to the issue of identity. And that timeless and true principle is that our identity as a follower of Jesus should result in us praying in light of our identity.

Just as it was for the Apostle Paul and the members of the church at Ephesus; just as it has been throughout history; our identity as a follower of Jesus should result in us praying in light of our identity. Now a natural question that arises here is “Well Dave that sounds great, but what does that look like practically? I mean, that just sounds like some church mumbo jumbo talk stuff. And I have a hard enough praying as it is. So how should my prayer life be impacted as a result of my identity as a follower of Jesus?”

If those questions are running through your mind, I just want to let you know that those are great questions to be asking. And in Ephesians 1:15-23, we see the Apostle Paul reveal for us four results that occur when followers of Jesus pray in light of our identity as a follower of Jesus.

First, in verse 16, we see that praying in light of our identity results in us expressing appreciation to God for His activity in the lives of others. Praying in light of our identity as a follower of Jesus will result in us expressing appreciation to God for others who have placed their confident trust in Jesus. Praying in light of our identity as a follower of Jesus will result in us expressing appreciation to God for the love that others have for one another. And, as we spend time expressing our appreciation to God for His activity in the lives of those around us, we will be led by the Holy Spirit to pray for others.

So here is a question to consider: When it comes to the idea of prayer, do you approach prayer in light of your identity in Christ? Do you approach prayer recognizing all that God has done for you through Jesus?

Do you approach prayer recognizing that, as a follower of Jesus, you were chosen by God the Father to be His children, rescued by Jesus Christ from the selfishness and rebellion that separated you from God and have obtained an inheritance according to His plan and for His glory because you have the Holy Spirit’s ongoing activity in our lives?”

 Because praying in light of our identity as a follower of Jesus results in us expressing appreciation to God for His activity in our lives and the lives of others. And that appreciation of God’s activity in our lives and the lives of others will lead us to pray for others.

Tomorrow, we will see Paul reveal for us a second result that occurs when followers of Jesus pray in light of our identity…