lectio divina:: ephesians 6

I always find it interesting that the apostle paul gives prayer requests in his letters- here is a prayer request that got me thinking yesterday:

Ephesians 6:18 “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”

paul ask for prayer for a couple of things here:

1- he asks for prayer that he would have the right words to say when he is sharing the gospel

and
2- he asks for courage when he is sharing the gospel. the word fearlessly is used twice in that passage.

to me this is comforting, because I’m often intimidated to share my faith. I often fear that I won’t know what to say, or how to say it, or that I’ll sound dumb, or closed-minded, or like some kind of religious sales person. I’m afraid that by sharing my faith, I’ll do more damage to this person’s journey toward jesus than good!

I have a friend who shares his faith so fluidly with so many cool people, and it always goes over so smoothly. for me, I get all nervous and end up with regrets over not saying all that I should have when I had an opportunity.

but paul asks his readers to pray that he would have the words, and the courage- because even paul himself struggled with finding the words and the courage! and I think that he is saying that it’s a little normal to struggle with the right words and having the guts to say what is in your heart.

and paul also seems to give the prescription for this fear: prayer.

he’s aware of the problem, and he’s praying about it- and he is asking others to pray about it.

and that’s a good thing for you and me too- to be aware of the fact that God wants us to share with others the wonderful things that He has done for us-

and to understand that its going to be intimidating and maybe a little frustrating to find just the right words- but with God’s help we will have the courage and the words to say.

so my encouragement to you and to me is to pray for your friends and family that are far from God- and pray for yourself, that when the time is right, you will be able to have the words to say, and the courage to say them with love.

so I’m with paul, and I'm asking you: pray for me- that when I get the chance to share my faith, that God would give ME the right words and the courage to speak them with boldness and love.

God is love.
-rev-rob