02: Grace and Peace – Prayers of Paul Part 1

In the second episode of the Hanging Out with Pastor Jon Podcast, I begin a series exploring the Prayers of Paul. There are times when our prayers might be long; however, the Bible is full of very short but powerful prayers. We can find several of these in the writings of Paul

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. – Ephesians 1:2 (CSB)

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In the first part of this episode I lay a foundation defining prayer

We also learn that Paul uses a basic format for each of his letters

• Prayer
• Teach
• Prayer
• Correction
• Prayer

As a pastor there have been a handful of sermons that have preached that have transformed my life. The series I did a couple years back on the prayers of Paul is one of those. You can read my original blog post from 2016 here: Grace and Peace from the Father

Grace and Peace

I also want to be clear that I am not trying to indicate some magic prayer formula. I just find this to be a helpful prayer.

If we have God’s grace and peace, what else do we need?

God’s grace is a gift to us. Even in prayer we come before God 100% dependent on the grace of God. Unbelief is a problem but I don’t think God sits in heaven with a faith measuring stick. As long as we live in this fallen world we will struggle with doubt. Thank you God for your grace.

Then there is peace. When our life is in chaos we find the comfort of our Father. A Father who we can trust in all things.

If I ever have the opportunity to pray for you, I will almost always start by praying you are covered by the grace and peace of God our Father and of his son Jesus. His grace and peace will answer a lot of our prayers no matter what we need.

In a couple of weeks I will post part 2 on Ephesians 1:17

I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. 

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Photo is my own: Vaughters’ Farm, Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area

Music by DanoSongs

Recorded and Edited with Audacity

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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.