4 Daily Prayers Every Christian Should Pray

 What you'll discover in this teaching:

• Ephesians 1 — the prayer for a spirit of wisdom and revelation, and eyes of the heart enlightened • Ephesians 3 — being strengthened with might in the inward man, rooted and grounded in love • Colossians 1 — filled with the epignosis (full, exact knowledge) of God's will • Philippians 4 — the peace that guards your heart, and learning contentment • A guided prayer to pray all four over your own life today

Chapter 1: The challenge of prayer Do you ever wake up in the morning ready to spend time with God only to realize you don't know what to pray? You thank God for another day. You pray for your family. You ask him to protect you. You mention a few needs and within 5 minutes you're out of words. So you begin repeating the same prayers you prayed yesterday, the same requests, the same concerns, the same struggles. If you've ever experienced that, you're not alone. Millions of sincere believers love God, yet they have never been taught what to pray every day. But what if I told you that one man in the New Testament almost never prayed the way we do? The Apostle Paul prayed constantly. He urged believers to pray without ceasing. Yet, when you read his prayers carefully, you'll notice something remarkable. Paul rarely prayed for circumstances to change. Instead, he kept praying the same four prayers over and over again. Why? What did Paul understand about prayer that many Christians have overlooked? I believed these four prayers contain one of the greatest secrets of the Christian life. In fact, after discovering them, they became the pattern of his own prayer life. And I believe that if you begin praying these same prayers, not as empty words, but with understanding, they will completely transform the way you approach God. So today we're going to discover the four prayers Paul prayed, why he prayed them, and why they may be the answer you've been looking for every time you've asked. What should I pray today? Think about it. Paul planted churches.

Chapter 2: The revolutionary prayers Apostle Paul was imprisoned. He was beaten. He faced persecution almost everywhere he went. Churches under his care struggled with false teachers, division, immorality, persecution, and poverty. If anyone had reason to spend all his time praying, "Lord, remove this problem," it was Paul. Yet, when Paul prayed for believers, he almost never prayed about their circumstances. That should stop us.

Instead of praying, "Father, remove their difficulties." Paul prayed, "Open their eyes."

Instead of, "Lord, make life easier for them," he prayed, "strengthen their inner man."

Instead of, "Father, solve every external problem," he prayed, "fill them with revelation."

Why? Because Paul understood something modern Christianity often forgets. A believer who sees what God has already accomplished through Christ can stand victoriously in circumstances that would overwhelm someone who only knows how to ask God for help.

I believed this was one of the greatest secrets hidden in the New Testament. Paul's prayers were not trying to persuade God to become willing. They were asking that believers would finally see what God had already made available through Christ. That changes everything. Imagine inheriting a vast estate. Every legal document has been signed. The inheritance is completely yours. The keys are already in your hand, but no one ever tells you. So every day you stand outside your own house, asking for permission to enter. You beg for what already belongs to you. You plead for access that has already been granted. Would the problem be the generosity of the owner? No. The problem would be ignorance. You simply wouldn't know what had already been given. I saw that this describes countless believers. They love God sincerely, but they spend much of their prayer life asking for things Christ has already purchased through his finished work. Not because they're rebellious, not because they're unbelieving, simply because their eyes have never been opened to their inheritance. That is why Paul's prayers are so revolutionary. He understood that revelation changes everything. When a believer truly sees who they are in Christ, their prayers change, their confidence changes, their expectations change, even the way they approach God changes. These are not religious formulas. They are not magical words to be repeated mechanically. They are inspired prayers given through the Apostle Paul that reveal what the Holy Spirit longs to accomplish inside every believer. If you begin praying these consistently, not mechanically, but with understanding, you'll discover that prayer gradually stops being a daily obligation and becomes the place where God reshapes the way you see yourself, the way you see Him, and the way you face every circumstance.

Chapter 3: First prayer: Enlightenment Let's begin with the prayer I believed every believer should know by heart. It's found in Ephesians 1. The first prayer is found in Ephesians chapter 1. If there is one prayer every believer should memorize, meditate on, and pray consistently, it is this one. Paul begins by saying, "I cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers." That statement alone tells us something remarkable. Paul wasn't casually mentioning these believers now and then. This prayer had become a pattern, a continual intercession. And then he tells us exactly what he prayed. Listen carefully. He doesn't ask God to remove their persecution. He doesn't ask God to prosper their businesses. He doesn't even ask God to solve the many problems the Ephesian church was facing. Instead, he prays that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. That is astonishing.

If most of us had been writing that prayer, we would have filled it with requests about circumstances. Paul fills it with revelation. I paused on one phrase in this prayer for years. A spirit of wisdom. I explained that wisdom and knowledge are not the same thing. Wisdom is the ability to use knowledge. And I was precise about where wisdom actually comes from. It doesn't come from the reasoning faculties. It comes from the human spirit.

You can possess an entire library of biblical knowledge and still live below your inheritance. You can quote scripture, teach Bible studies, even preach sermons, and still fail to walk in what Christ purchased for you. Why? Because information alone does not transform. Revelation does. There is a difference between knowing a verse and suddenly seeing it. Have you ever experienced that? You read a scripture dozens of times. Nothing seemed unusual about it. Then one morning while reading the exact same verse, it suddenly became alive. The verse hadn't changed. Your eyes had. Paul continues, "Having the eyes of your heart enlightened." Notice he doesn't say the eyes of your mind. He says, "The eyes of your heart."

I reminded believers constantly that God's greatest revelations are not received first through the intellect. They are received in the recreated human spirit. The mind analyzes, the spirit perceives, the mind studies, the spirit sees. Then Paul reaches the climax of the prayer. And what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe? I admitted this truth took me years to fully grasp. I wrote that when I finally understood that the same ability which wrought in the dead body of Christ was at work within me in my spirit, my soul, my body, I knew I was fortified. I couldn't fail because I had become the instrument through which that mighty one was working. I connected this directly to Romans 8 11. The same power that raised Christ from the dead now lives inside every child of God. If that is true, why do so many believers still live defeated lives? Because power that is unknown cannot be enjoyed. An inheritance that is never discovered is never possessed.

This is why apostle Paul begins with revelation rather than circumstances. Before your confession changes, your understanding must change. Before your life changes, your heart must first be enlightened.

Paul is not praying that believers would receive something new. He is praying that they would finally see what has already been given. "Father, I decree right now over every person reading and hearing this that the spirit of wisdom and revelation is being released in their life today. I decree that the eyes of their heart are being enlightened, not their mind alone, but their recreated spirit. I decree that the exceeding greatness of Your power, the same power that raised Christ from the dead is becoming known and active in them in the name of Jesus Christ."

That is the first prayer. And I said something remarkable about the second one that once your eyes are open, this next prayer is what strengthens the person who now sees. The second prayer is found in Ephesians 3. If the first prayer opens your eyes, this second prayer strengthens the person who now sees.

Chapter 4: Second prayer: Strength Apostle Paul begins with these words. For this cause, I bow my knees unto the Father. Think about that. Paul is overwhelmed by what God has accomplished through Christ. He isn't praying because he is frightened. He is praying because the greatness of redemption has driven him to his knees. Then he makes an astonishing request that he would grant you according to the riches of His glory to be strengthened with might through His spirit in the inward man. I lingered on that verse longer than almost any other. I wrote, "It doesn't seem to me that we can ever be weak or failures again.

At first, that sounds almost too bold until you remember what apostle Paul is actually praying. He isn't praying that you become mentally stronger. He is praying that the Holy Spirit himself strengthens your inward man with God's own ability. Notice the source. Not according to your discipline, not according to your education, according to the riches of his glory. God is not strengthening you out of limited resources. He is strengthening you out of his limitless supply. I said this divine strengthening strips us of weakness and clothes us with God's own ability. And I added something striking. It puts our heel upon the neck of our enemies. Whether they be spiritual enemies or material, it makes us masters. Then Paul explains why this strengthening matters. That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. The Greek word Paul uses carries the idea of making a permanent home, not visiting occasionally. Making himself completely at home, every room of your heart, your thoughts, your ambitions, your fears, your finances, your relationships, your dreams. Then Paul gives the result that you being rooted and grounded in love. I called this one of the greatest experiences available to a believer. No one admires the roots of a tree. You can't even see them. But everything visible depends on everything hidden. Storms reveal roots, not sunshine. Then Paul says something almost impossible that we may comprehend the breadth and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge. I loved to personalize scripture. He encouraged believers to say, "He loved me. Not merely he loved the world. He loved me. He gave himself for me. Until redemption stops being a doctrine and becomes deeply personal. And then Paul reaches the climax of this prayer that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

I asked, "What does that even mean?" His conclusion was beautiful. It means that God's own life, His nature, His love, His wisdom, His ability becomes the very substance of your inner life.

Finally, Paul ends with one of the greatest promises in all of scripture. Now, unto Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worked in us. Notice where God's power is working, not merely around us, but it is in us. Have you noticed how exhausting it is to live the Christian life in your own strength? You promise yourself you'll be more patient today. Then someone cuts you off in traffic. You determine you'll forgive. Then someone wounds you again. Before long, you're frustrated with yourself because your own strength keeps reaching its limit. Paul's prayer answers that frustration directly. Stop relying on yourself. Allow the Holy Spirit to strengthen your inward man with a strength that does not originate in you.

"Father, I decree right now over every person reading and hearing this that they are being strengthened with might through Your Spirit in their inward man." "I decree that Christ is making himself completely at home in every room of their heart. I decree that they are becoming rooted and grounded in love and filled with all the fullness of God in the name of Jesus Christ." That is the second prayer.

And the third one is perhaps the most practical of all because it answers a question almost every believer has asked at some point.

Chapter 5: Third prayer: Knowing God's will

Lord, what is your will for my life? The third prayer is found in Colossians chapter 1. This may be the most practical of all the Pauline prayers. Why? Because every believer has asked this question at some point. Lord, what is your will for my life?

People spend years searching for God's will. They travel from conference to conference. They read countless books. They're terrified of missing God's plan. Yet, listen to how apostle Paul prays. For this cause, we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you.

Again, this wasn't an occasional prayer. It was continual. And what was Paul praying? That you might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Notice the language, not simply that you would know God's will, that you would be filled with the knowledge of His will. I pointed out that the Greek word translated knowledge here is epicnosis. It means full, complete, exact knowledge, not guesses, not assumptions. A deep intimate knowledge that comes from fellowship with God. How different this is from the way many Christians approach guidance.

Should I take this job?

Should I move?

Should I marry this person?

Those questions matter.

But Paul prays from a much deeper foundation. He prays that the believer would know God so well that wisdom begins to shape every decision naturally.

Then Paul tells us why this matters. That you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing. Notice the order. Knowledge first, walking second.

Many of us reverse it. Paul says, "True Christian living flows from true Christian understanding. You cannot consistently live beyond what you believe."

I loved to remind believers that Christianity is not merely changing behavior. It is living out the reality of a recreated spirit. The new creation naturally desires to please the Father, not to earn his love, but because it already possesses his love.

Then Paul continues, "Strengthened with all might according to his glorious power unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness." That surprises many people.

We expect strength for miracles. But here apostle Paul says, "God's power enables believers to endure with joy. Anyone can rejoice when life is easy. But to remain joyful while waiting, faithful while misunderstood, steadfast when prayers seem delayed, that requires supernatural strength."

Finally, Paul says, "Giving thanks unto the Father who has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light."

Don't miss those words. Who has made us qualified? Not who will, who has. He has delivered us from the authority of darkness and has translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son.

Notice the tense. Delivered, not someday. Already translated. Not waiting. Already accomplished.

I emphasized this repeatedly. The believer is not fighting to enter Christ's kingdom. The believer is already there. We are not praying for a future victory.

We are learning to live from a victory that Christ has already won.

That changes the entire atmosphere of prayer.

Instead of praying from fear, you pray from security.

Instead of praying like a beggar, you pray like a son.

Instead of asking God to remember you, you remember what He has already accomplished through His Son.

Think about a child adopted into a wealthy family. The inheritance doesn't become theirs because they earned it. It becomes theirs because they now belong to the family. That is redemption. You have been brought into God's family and the Father himself has qualified you to share in everything Christ purchased long before you did anything to deserve it. This is why the third Pauline prayer is so transformative. It teaches us that God's will is not merely something we discover through anxious searching. It is something we grow into as we increase in the knowledge of Him.

"Father, I decree right now over every person reading and hearing this that they are being filled with the full exact knowledge of your will. I decree that they are walking worthy of you, becoming fruitful and increasing in the knowledge of God. I decree that they know with total certainty that they have already been qualified, already delivered, already translated into the Kingdom of Your dear Son, in the name of Jesus Christ.

Chapter 6: Fourth prayer: Perfect peace Three prayers down, one remains. And this final one shows us what all three prayers actually produce in the middle of ordinary everyday life.

The fourth and final Pauline prayer is different from the first three. Those three focus on revelation, strength, and knowing God's will, respectively.

This final passage shows us what those prayers produce in everyday life. It is found in Philippians 4. Most believers know this chapter because of one famous verse. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

We quote it before exams, before interviews, before difficult situations. But very few people read the verses that come before it. Paul begins with a command that seems almost impossible. Be anxious for nothing. Think about that. Nothing. What about financial pressure, family problems, health concerns? Paul knew all those struggles personally. When he wrote these words, he wasn't relaxing on a beach. He was writing from prison, waiting to hear whether he would live or die. Yet he writes, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God."

Notice Paul does not say, pretend problems don't exist. He simply refuses to let anxiety become the atmosphere in which he prays. There is a world of difference between praying and praying anxiously. Why thanksgiving? Because thanksgiving is the language of faith. Anyone can give thanks after the miracle. Faith gives thanks before the manifestation. Then Paul gives one of the greatest promises in the New Testament. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding shall guard your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus. Notice what happens. Paul doesn't immediately promise every circumstance will change. He promises that something inside you will. Peace becomes the first miracle before the mountain moves. Your heart becomes steady.

I wrote something striking about this. "You have reached the end of the worry route. Your relatives and loved ones can't understand you. They whisper that mother is beside herself. You are not. You are beside the Master."

Apostle Paul continues, "Whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, think on these things."

I believed that what you continually meditate upon eventually dominates your life. Your mind cannot remain empty. It will always be occupied by something. Fill it with truth. Then Paul reveals the secret that sustained him through every season. I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. Notice the word learned. Contentment is learned. It isn't automatic. That brings us to the famous declaration, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. This is the same divine ability Paul prayed about back in Ephesians 3, the inward strengthening of the Holy Spirit.

Notice Paul is not saying he can accomplish every ambition he imagines. He is saying he can remain faithful in every circumstance because Christ continually strengthens him. It is not a promise about achievement. It is a promise about endurance sustained by a source outside of himself.

This is what separates Paul's confidence from mere positive thinking. Positive thinking looks at a hard circumstance and insists it will somehow work out. Paul looks at the same hard circumstance and declares that regardless of the outcome, he has access to strength sufficient to remain faithful through it. The difference is subtle, but it changes everything about how a believer actually walks through suffering.

Do you see how these four prayers fit together?

The first prayer opens your eyes.

The second prayer strengthens your inward man.

The third prayer fills you with the knowledge of His will.

The fourth prayer shows the result, a life marked by peace, confidence, contentment, and unwavering strength.

Chapter 7: Living out the prayers

This kind of daily transformation, through scripture, meditation, and prayer day by day until these realities become the settled governing pattern of your daily walk. You will read on. Now, let's bring this all together because there is one final thing I did with these four prayers that transformed my entire prayer life. Before we close, I want to do something a little different. I don't just want you to hear these prayers. I want you to begin living them. So, wherever you are, whether you're relaxing, walking, or sitting quietly with your Bible, I encourage you to make this your own prayer.

Let's pray.

"Father, thank you for revealing your heart through the prayers of the Apostle Paul. Today, I ask you for a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of you. Open the eyes of my heart. Help me to know the hope of your calling. Show me the riches of the inheritance you have given me in Christ. Let me truly understand the exceeding greatness of your power that is already at work within me. Strengthen me with might by your Spirit in my inward man. Let Christ be completely at home in every area of my life. Root me deeply in your love. Establish me in your grace. Fill me with all your fullness. Fill me with the knowledge of your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Teach me to walk in a manner worthy of you. Make my life fruitful. Cause me to grow continually in the knowledge of you. Strengthen me with your glorious power so that I may endure every circumstance with joy. Guard my heart from anxiety. Teach me to bring every request before you with thanksgiving. Let your peace rule my heart and my mind. Help me to think on what is true, what is honorable, what is just, what is pure, what is lovely, and what is of good report. Teach me to live from the strength of Christ and not from my own strength. Father, let these prayers become more than words on a page. Let them become the atmosphere of my daily walk with you in Christ Jesus' name. I love you. Thank you for loving me first."

If you prayed that sincerely, I believe the Holy Spirit will begin opening your eyes to truths you've read many times but never truly seen before. Remember, apostle Paul didn't pray these prayers because the churches were perfect. He prayed them because he knew that transformed believers transformed the world. And that same transformation is available to you today.

Notice what just happened in that prayer. You didn't ask God for anything he hasn't already provided. You didn't beg for a new blessing, a new grace, a new measure of His Presence. You simply put words to what has already been made available to you in Christ and asked the Holy Spirit to make it the settled reality of your daily experience rather than information you have merely heard.

This is exactly the shift I spent my life trying to help believers make. Not from unbelief to belief, but from belief as information to belief as revelation, from knowing about your inheritance to actually living inside of it.

Consider praying this same prayer again tomorrow morning. Not because today's prayer failed to work, but because revelation deepens with repetition.

The first time you pray it, you are asking. The 10th time you pray it, you are remembering. the hundredth time you pray it, you are simply declaring what has become so settled in your spirit that it needs no persuading anymore.

Some believers worry that repeating the same prayer daily makes it hollow, mechanical, like vain repetition. But there is a difference between mindless repetition and deliberate meditation.

A husband who tells his wife he loves her everyday is not being repetitive in a hollow sense. He is reinforcing a reality that deserves daily reaffirmation.

These four prayers function the same way in your relationship with the Father.

Father, I decree right now over every person who has prayed this with me that these four prayers are no longer information they have heard but revelation they are living from. I decree that the eyes of their heart are opened, that their inward man is strengthened, that they are filled with the knowledge of your will, and that your peace is guarding their heart and mind in the name of Jesus Christ.

Now, as we close, there is one final thing I want to leave you with. Perhaps this is why apostle Paul's prayers have remained so powerful for nearly 2,000 years. Empires have risen and fallen. Cultures have changed. Technology has transformed the world. But believers still need wisdom. They still need revelation. They still need inner strength. They still need to know God's will. They still need supernatural peace. And the Holy Spirit is still answering these prayers today.

So, let me leave you with a challenge. For the next 30 days, don't merely admire these Pauline prayers.

Pray them every morning, slowly, personaber Open your Bible to Ephesians chapter 1, then Ephesians chapter 3, then Colossians chapter 1, then Philippians 4. Pray them over yourself.

Pray them over your spouse (if you have one).

Pray them over your children (if you have any).

Pray them over your church members. Pray them over those you disciple.

Ask the Holy Spirit to make every phrase a living reality in your heart.

Don't rush through them.

Meditate on them. Personalize them.

Expect the Father to answer them.

Because these are not merely Paul's prayers.

They are Spirit inspired prayers that reveal the Father's own desire for every one of His children.

And I believe that if you make these prayers part of your daily walk with God, you will never again wake up wondering what should I pray today, you'll know exactly where to begin. And from that place of revelation, your entire prayer life will never be the same again. Think back to where we started. A believer running out of words after 5 minutes, repeating yesterday's requests, wondering what else there is to say. That was never a failure of devotion. It was simply a gap in revelation. A gap Paul's own prayers were given to close. You now have four prayers that never run dry because they are not drawing from your own limited understanding of your needs. They are drawing from the inexhaustible riches of what Christ has already accomplished.

Open the eyes of my heart.

Strengthen my inward man.

Fill me with the knowledge of your will. Guard my heart with your peace.

Four requests, a lifetime of depth still waiting to be discovered inside each one.

This is what I meant by saying, "Revelation changes the believer from the inside out. Not a single dramatic encounter that changes everything overnight. A daily patient return to these same four realities until they stop being requests you make and become the settled knowledge your spirit simply stands on.

"Father, I bring a final decree over every person receiving this teaching right now. I decree that the eyes of their heart are opened according to Ephesians 1. I decree that they are strengthened with might in their inward man according to Ephesians 3. I decree that they are filled with the full knowledge of your will according to Colossians 1. I decree that your peace which surpasses understanding guards their heart and mind according to Philippians 4. I decree that these four prayers are becoming the daily pattern of their life in the name of Jesus Christ, to the praise of Godś grace and glory.

Remember apostle Paul didn't pray these prayers because the churches he wrote to were perfect. He prayed them because transformed believers transform the world. And that same transformation is available to you starting today.

The greatest victories are never won by those who merely pray the longest. They are won by those whose eyes have been opened to what Christ has already accomplished.