Grace and Peace from God our Father

In 2014 I preached a two part series on the prayers of Paul. I don’t know if I preached it well but it was one of those sermons which had a major impact on my own life and how I pray.

If you look at Paul’s letters, you will find that he followed closely to a specific pattern of prayer. Now let me be clear. Paul’s pattern is not some magic bullet to make sure all our prayers or answered or that it is the only pattern. Paul’s pattern is just a powerful one.

For this post I want to focus on Paul’s prayer greeting.

“Grace to you and peace from our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” – Ephesians 1:2

(Note: Paul starts all of his letters this way. ) This was somewhat of a standard greeting of the day used by the church. However, there is a lot of depth within this short phrase. Just take a moment to think, if you had the grace and peace of God the Father and Jesus the Son, what else would you need? If you could walk in the fullness of grace and peace, the rest of your life would most likely line up where it needs to be.

The Grace of God the Father and His son Jesus Christ

Grace of God is something we can’t work for or earn. It is a freely given gift.

For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. – John 3:16

Jesus the very son of God stepped out of heaven and became a man just like us. He died on the cross to pay for the sins we committed and rose again so we might have eternal life. If we put our trust in him, he promises to forgive our sins and give us eternal life with him. He does not offer us this because we are good or perfect or even that we will be perfect tomorrow. He just showers his grace on us because he loves us. The fact is, I will get it wrong tomorrow and I will sin against a Holy God but his grace will still be there.

The Peace of God the Father and His son Jesus Christ

Many would describe peace as an absence of violence or chaos. And that would be a good definition. However, God’s peace is different. It is knowing my Father God will take care of me and see me through when the world around me is falling apart. Until Jesus returns we live in a broken and fallen world. Even among the most faithful believers times of tragedy and heartache will come. It is in the midst of chaos that we desperately need the peace of God. Not a peace that will change our circumstances (although they may change) but a peace that transcends our circumstances. Living a life of faith can be messy and difficult. A life of faith requires us to live confidently when we can’t see or know everything.

How wonderful it is be able to lay down at night and sleep peacefully knowing Jesus will never leave us nor forsake us. – Now that is peace!

Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? – Matthew 6:26

Of course it is easy to write about the grace and peace of God. It is quite another to live it out. Just about every day I pray for God’s grace and peace over myself and my family. When I pray for others one of the first things I pray over them is that they are engulfed by the grace and peace of Christ. Just think about it, what else do we really need?

The Grace & Peace of God the Father and His son Jesus Christ:

• Calms our fears
• Helps us see our circumstances from God’s perspective
• Grows our faith and trust in God
• Helps us to live a life that is not about us but about bringing glory to God.

At the end of the day I am nothing. I am nothing because God is everything and I desperately need his grace and peace to engulf me and my family. I sincerely pray that even now you will feel that same grace and peace wash over you.

How have you recently experienced the grace and peace of God our Father and Jesus His Son?

Audio Links to my sermon Prayers of Paul: Part I & Part II

A great resource on the Prayers of Paul is the book by D.A. Carson

Since this is Holy Week you may enjoy my Holy Week Posts from last year:

• For Monday
• For Friday
• For Sunday

How can I pray for you this week? – click here to send me your request

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About the Author: Jon Stallings

I am enthusiastic about helping others discover their purpose and grow into a deeper relationship with Jesus. It is great to see their eyes light up at their “Ah Ha!” moment when they discover they were created for something more. My hope is that this blog will help encourage and inspire you along your way. Join the conversation and take the time to share with me your own story. I have been married to my beautiful wife Janice for over 30 years. We currently live in McDonough Georgia with our daughter. Our two boys have left the nest and we have two wonderful grand kids. Of course we cannot forget about our dog Bear.