Two (2) Important Prayers For Your Church

When people write letters to us or when we are reading random letters, we do not particularly pay attention to the initial greetings. We want to move straight to the meat of the letter. But the greetings of the epistles of the New Testament have some great depth and richness that cannot be avoided when reading and studying them.

In Paul’s letter to the church at Rome, he wrote in Romans 1:7 that,

“To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

It is important to note that this letter is one of Paul’s major works in the Bible. It flows with deep insight on depravity of man, God’s plan of salvation and our response to what He has done for us through daily living.

In Romans 1:1-7, Paul greets the church and is ready to launch out into the depth of his message. From 1:1-6, he identifies himself as the writer and tells us a gist about the gospel of God encompassed in Christ Jesus.

We see right here in 1:7 that Paul clearly identifies his audience and then prays for them which is very customary of him in most of his epistles.

Below are what we can learn from the verse above about the important prayer we can offer for our church:

Who is a Christian?

“To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints…”

Before Paul prays for the church, he tells us few important things we must not miss about who a Christian is:

1. ‘To all who are in Rome’: Paul first mentions that believers are people who are from a specific cultural setting. Here, they are identified as people from Rome. Believers are not from another planet. A local assembly is made of people from the host community.
2. ‘Beloved of God’: A Christian is beloved by God. The Bible says that God so love the world that He sent His only Son to die for us (John 3:16). 
3. ‘Called to be Saints’: The people from the local assembly who God has set His love on them are called to be separated unto Him.

What prayers do they need?

“…Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

The two important prayers Paul asked God for the church in Rome were:

1. Grace

The first prayer point of Paul was for God to grant the church grace. It is the redeemed of God who needs grace from God to fulfill His calling on them. In Romans 1:5, Paul said that “through Him (Christ) received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith…” As the Bible has eloquently said in John 1, grace is s person and He is Jesus Christ.

We need grace to walk with God. When Paul was being buffeted by Satan, he went to God and God said His grace is sufficient for him. Grace is the unmerited favour of God. We all need grace in order to walk before God’s blameless.

You need to continually ask God for grace for your church, members and your pastor.

2. Peace

The next item on Paul’s prayer list was for the church to receive peace from God. The church in Rome needed peace just as our churches now need it. Peace is the tranquility inward that abound towards us in spite of what happens on the outside.

Peace comes to us through multiple ways but through the same source – Father and Son. Firstly, we obtain peace that surpasses all understanding from Jesus Christ. He said in John 14:27 that, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Christ gives us His peace.

Secondly, we obtain peace through the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. In Galatians 5:22, we are told by Paul that, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.” Aside from Christ, granting us His peace, the Holy Spirit works in us to produce peace in our lives. Therefore, we are supposed to be peacemakers. Pray that the Lord will grant our churches and members and Pastors peace that surpasses all understanding.

We see that Paul had a good prayer point. He didn’t ask for material riches for the church at Rome but he requested for grace and peace from “God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

May these be our prayer for our churches.

What have you learnt from this post? Share with us.