Episode Six: Ephesians 4:3
Dear friends, welcome to Peace Prayers. My name is Juli, and I would love to be able to spend some time with you today. What I'd like to do is read a from the Bible about peace, and then pray it together over our lives. That way we can have a few minutes to start our day with God's peace. I'm so excited to get started with you. Thank You for joining me today.
Today's verse is Ephesians 4:3.
Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
Let's pray together.
Jesus, I know how hard it is to be unified. There's so much that would divide us. We live in such a diverse world, and that's amazing. You created so many different people, so many different things, and we can enjoy that. And they're all a part of You. They're all a part of Your creation. I'm so glad that I live in a world where nothing is the same. But that's hard, too, because the thing that I love might be the thing that isn't what someone else loves or they're not good at and vice versa. So we can have a lot of division. We don't agree on everything. There's brokenness in this world.
Father, we need Your help. We need You to send Your Spirit to us. Today, I pray that we would focus not on what makes us different. What we would focus on is who You are and who You called us to be and how we can help each other do that.
Paul tells us in Ephesians that there is a bond of peace that would keep us together. We get that through Your Holy Spirit. So, Holy Spirit, come, come and fill us, flood us, comfort us, teach us, remind us who we are, remind us of who we are to each other, remind us that there's nothing that we can’t accomplish together with Your help. It's important that we have Your help, though, because we are broken, sinful people. Forgive us for the times that we hurt each other, and help us to build unity by seeking in ourselves for the truth that You would provide.
Jesus, You are that truth. Only You can help us do this. I don't have the answers. Nobody has the individual answers, and that's why we work together. So today, God, I pray that we would extend our hands out to the people around us. We would say, how can I serve you today? How can I help you today? How can I make you better today? And how can I make things better where I have failed? Forgive me when I messed up, when I hurt you, and help me understand how not to do it.
Help me learn to love the differences between us, to embrace the similarities. Help me learn to truly love through that bond of peace that You have for us, Jesus. And, LORD, there's an effort involved in that. It doesn't come naturally or easy to us, so that's why we need the Spirit. Fill us with the energy and the desire to do that today.
Let nothing stand in our way. Examine our hearts and reveal to us what's holding us back. Moreover, help us to yield to that gentle instruction because we're the ones who need to reach out. We're the ones who are responsible for breaking the bond of peace. I don't want that anymore, Jesus. I don't want that anymore. So I pray that for me. I pray that for everyone who hears the sound of my voice.
In Your name, I pray, Jesus. Amen.
That is it for me today, my friends. I wish you everlasting, perfect peace for the rest of your day, and we will see you again on Friday. Thanks for joining.
