Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14
Prayer is a conversation that leads to an encounter with God.
“How sweet your words taste to me; they are sweeter than honey.” Psalms 119:103 NLT
But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. James 1:6-8 NLT
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:16-19 NLT
Paul has 3 desires for them…
1. That Christ would dwell in their hearts through faith
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1 NLT
2. That they would be established in the love of Christ.
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:13 NLT
But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. Romans 5:8 NLT
3. That they would be filled with all the fullness of God.
The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. John 10:10 NLT
…to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ… Ephesians 3:18 NLT
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. Ephesians 1:18-19 NLT
may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. Ephesians 3:18 NLT
- How wide is the love of God…
“Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow.” Isaiah 1:18 NLT
He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. Psalms 103:12 NLT
- How long is the love of God?
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. Psalms 139:13-16 NLT
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me. John 10:28 NLT
- How deep is the love of God?
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form. Philippians 2:7 NLT
My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Matthew 26:38-39 NLT
“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” 1 Peter 2:24 NLT
Jesus cried out in a loud voice,…“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46 NLT
- How high is the love of God?
Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began! John 17:24 NLT
‘It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies. 1 Corinthians 15:42-44 NLT