Grace From Ephesians 2

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Ephesians 2, verses 4 through 10. But because of his great love for us, God who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. It is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved through faith. This is not from yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's handiwork created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Oh Father God, we come before you, Lord, today. We come before you praying for those people in our lives, Lord, who are lost. And we're even praying for ourselves, Lord, for those of us who are just not sure as to whether or not we've been saved, as to where whether or not we have been saved by grace, that we're trying to earn salvation, or we think that we need to get ourselves together. We need to clean up our acts before we can come to you, Lord. We're praying for our lost souls, Father. We're praying for those that, Father, are just deaf right now to your love. They're blind, they're blinded by the lies of the enemy, the shiny objects of this world. They are distracted. They are your voice, Lord, is being drowned out by all of the noise of this life and of this world, whether it be the riches of this world, whether it be its, you know, vices, whether it be its concerns, whether it be the shame or the labels that have been placed upon them, or whether they believe themselves too lost, Lord, too dirty, too awful to be able to be saved by you. Father, we're praying for those that are just going through life, just unaware. They may think they're saved. They may not even think about it, Lord, but they do not have a relationship with you. Father, wherever and whoever, wherever they may be, whether wherever we might be in our journeys, Lord, we are pouring our hearts out to you, Lord. And we are naming the names in our lives that we are concerned for, Lord, that we are coming to you, whether it be siblings, Lord, whether it be spouses, whether it be friends or co-workers, or just people that we have met, people that we see on the streets, Lord, that are struggling, Lord, because we know that they don't know you yet. It might be us, Lord, right now. It might be someone that's turned on, that has clicked on this, Lord, and saying, I'm the one. I don't know where I am, I don't know what's going on, but I need you, Lord. We need you, Lord. We need, we need your mercies, Lord. We need your grace, we need your power, Lord. We need your saving grace. We need you, Lord. We need you, Lord Jesus. We're calling, we're calling out to you, and we're saying, our brothers need you, Lord, our sisters need you, Lord. Our mothers need you, our fathers need you. We need you. Our friends need you, Lord. Our colleagues need you, Father. Our nation needs you, Lord. The world needs you, Father. Our society needs you, Lord. Everyone needs you, Lord. We all need you, Father. Your church needs you, Lord. Those that are not saved, they need you, Lord. Father, we know that it is by grace that we are saved. We know that your grace starts to work and starts to bring us closer to you, Father. So we're asking, Lord, like you, like your word says, you will leave the 99 to go find the one lost sheep. Father, we're asking that you leave the rest of us behind, Lord, and you go find our lost ones, our lost loved ones, Lord. We're asking that you go and you get the prodigal daughters and the prodigal sons, Lord, that you bring them back home. Father, that you reconcile them back to you. Father, we're asking for the ones that are not even sure, Lord. We're praying right now. We are on our knees and we are praying to you, Lord, for their salvation. Father, we are trusting, Lord, that you will bring them home. Father, we know that we cannot do it, that we are not the ones to turn hearts around, that we are not the ones to change hearts. We are not the ones who can save souls. Only one can, and that is Jesus Christ. But Father, we know that your word says that you are not slow as some understand, slowness, Lord, that that you are patient, giving time for those of us that are not saved to be saved. So, Father, we're asking. We're asking, Lord, for your mercies, your for your mercies for our loved ones, for the ones that we know, Lord, that are on our hearts, Lord, that we are crying out. And there are names, Lord, that are being just poured out to you today, Lord. Save them, Lord. Save them as you saved us. Save them, Lord, through that they would know how much you love them, that you again, Lord, John 3.17, that you did not send your son, you did not send Christ to condemn them, Lord, but you say you sent your son to die because you love them so much that you wanted to save them. Lord, I pray that they would have an encounter with you, that they would have an encounter with the one who loves them more than they could ever hope or imagine. I pray, Lord, that they would have an encounter with the lover of their souls, with the one who made them, the one who created them, the one who knew them, who knit them together, the one who set them apart long ago, the one who knows every hair on their heads, the one, the one who loves them. Father, we pray for our loved ones. We pray for the ones that are walking, Lord, just blind, the ones whose hearts just don't know you, the ones who may be closed off to you, Lord, the ones who don't want to receive the message of love, Lord, we cry out and we bring them to you. We lift their names up to heaven, and we ask, Lord, for your mercy. We ask for your mercy, Lord, that you would see us, that you would hear our cries, that you would hear their names, Lord, from heaven, that you would hear their names, that you would come down from heaven, O Lord, and that you would heal their hearts, and that you would draw them to you, Lord, and that they would meet their Savior, and they would recognize Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and that they would walk with you all of the rest of their days. Father God, we pray and we ask for your mercies for their salvation, O Lord. Father, we pray that you would give us the strength and the endurance and the focus to continue to pray for the ones we love who do not yet know you, who are not yet saved. We ask, Lord, for those of us who may be unsure right now, who are listening to this prayer, that they would continue to seek, that they would continue to ask, that they would continue to knock. Because Lord, your word says you promise that if we seek you, Lord, with all of our hearts, and if we seek you, Father, that you will be found, that we will find you, Lord, because you are never too far away from us. So, Father, it is in the holy, mighty, matchless name of our Savior, of our Lord Jesus Christ, that we pray. Amen.