The Letter of St. Paul
to
the
Ephesians
Chapter 4
¹ I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, ² with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, ³ making every effort to maintain the unity in the bond of peace.
(The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians Chapter 4 verses 1 to 3)
Oh God my beloved Father these first few verses are daggers that pierce my heart, for in my marriage Ifeel and You know that together we did all we can to try and save this marriage, however there is no grounds for reconciliation between me and my wife. I am still open to Your intervention and may Your will be done. Amen.
⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
(The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians Chapter 4 verses 4 to 6)
Oh God my Father there is one God and I believe in You. I believe that every thing is under your control and that You can change any situation Amen.
⁷ But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift. ⁸ Therefore it is said,
"When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people."
(The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians Chapter 4 verses 7 to 8)
Oh God my Father I thank You for the greatest gifts of all that are Your love, Faith, Mercy and the opportunity of forgiveness, that grants me reconciliation with You even though I am a sinner. I also thank You for destroying the power of death by making it a gateway to Heaven Amen.
⁹ When it says, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰ He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things,)
(The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians Chapter 4 verses 9 to 10)
Oh God my beloved Father, the same Father who was in the heavens, permitted us to crucify Him in the human form of His Son, who was the Same person who rose again and by means of the Holy Spirit comes into the Eucharist at the time of consecration on the Altars. That same majestic presence that dwells in me and other human beings who are Your creation my God and Father Amen.
¹¹ The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets; some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, ¹³ until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.
(The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians Chapter 4 verses 11 to 13)
Oh God my beloved Father I thank You for all the gifts that You have given me, especially for this opportunity to communicate with You in prayer and at the same time share the Word with others. I also thank You for the Community that You have permited me to join, for even there I can continue to spread the message of Your love and our relationship. I pray that You keep on providing me with opportunities of spreading the message of the Good News and of being of help, care and support to others Amen.
¹⁴ We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. ¹⁵ But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head into Christ ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body's growth in building itself up in love.
(The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians Chapter 4 verses 14 to 16)
Oh God my beloved Father, I pray that become more mature in my relationships at large, especially in Your relationship with me. I pray that I am cleansed from all traces of negativity and that I will reflect the truth and nothing but the truth. I also pray for my community and for Society at large, that we admit that we are sinners, and that You love us even though we are sinners, and that as You forgive and accept us as we are, we are to imitate You in a spirit of love.
Let us join together in this song and prayer by clicking on the following link that its content is credit to Sherin Sophia
Bind us together with love
¹⁷ Now this I affirm and insist on in the Lord; you must no longer live as the Gentiles live, in the futility of their minds. ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart.
(The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians Chapter 4 verses 17 to 18)
Oh God my beloved Father, I thank You for this wise counsel and instruction. Even though I am compelled to live in this world, I am to be different in my belief and in my thoughts and behaviour Amen.
¹⁹ They have lost all sensitivity and have abandoned themselves to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.
(The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians Chapter 4 verses 19)
Oh God my beloved Father, once we have closed the door on our relationship with You we start a slow but sure death on many levels such as spiritual and even psychological, nothing would start having to mean in life and we become bitter to everything and everyone. I pray that You save us from such a depressing and negative state of being Amen.
²⁰ That is not the way you learned Christ!
(The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians Chapter 4 verse 20)
Oh God my beloved Father, on becoming part or members of the Church we start receiving the pure knowledge that sets us on our feet in our relationship with You, however along the way we may start formulating our own theories about who You really are, as based on our experiences of life, which may be both positive and negative. However we might end up holding untrue theories about who You are in our lives, and if not enlightened we may end up living up to these life scripts for a very long time. Moreover, such life scripts or beliefs may both help and hinder in Your relationship with us. Therefore, I pray that You purge our minds from any false beliefs that we have made and bring us back on track Amen.
²¹ For surely you have heard about him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus. ²² You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, ²³ and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴ and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
(The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians Chapter 4 verses 21 to 24)
Oh God my Father, this is my daily struggle that of going against my natural nature and put on my spiritual clothing that of the Holy Spirit as I received at the time of my baptism Amen.
²⁵ So then putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another.
(The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians Chapter 4 verse 25)
Oh God my Father, brothers and sisters, the truth sets us free. Moreover, we are sons and daughters of the truth and not of evil. Even though our sinful nature compels us to say untruths, I pray for the strength to overcome our sinful nature Amen.
²⁶ Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷ and do not make room for the devil.
(The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians Chapter 4 verses 26 to 27)
For all married couples or for those who are in some form of relationship resolve your differences before the end of the day with your husband or partner, before the devil sows seeds of more anger discontent, depression and other forms that may hinder the growth of your relationships, everybody makes mistakes, we are all fragile and prone to sin, even without having a bad intention, therefore always be ready to forgive and forget, for today it is your partner who has grieved you, and tomorrow it may be you Amen.
²⁸ Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy.
(The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians Chapter 4 verses 28)
Oh God almighty how loving it would be of us if our focus would not be only to the contributing to our own wants and needs but also to those of others Amen.
²⁹ Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.
(The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians Chapter 4 verses 29)
Oh God my beloved Father, I pray that You make of me a positive person, one that no negativity comes from my heart, my lips or my mind. Even though the circumstances that I find myself in may not always be positive, I pray that You give me a positive spirit that will be good for me and even for others Amen.
³⁰ And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. ³¹ Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, ³² and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you."
(The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians Chapter 4 verses 30 to 32)
Oh God my beloved Father, I pray that You help me to forgive, as You forgive me, for this is a delicate area for me. I have been grieved and hurt many times so much that I have an open wound that You are treating and healing every day of my life. As my therapist and Counsellor, I pray that You continue guiding me through this process of healing Amen
In order to bring this prayer and reflection on the fourth chapter of the letter of st. Paul to the Ephesians to an end I would like to do so by means of the following prayer:
Oh God my beloved Father I pray that we go back to our roots and evaluate the state of our faith. We must question if we are living our baptism as based on the Word of God, or if we have created our own personal version of the word of God that we have tailored to suit our needs and values. I pray that You anoint us with the power of the Holy Spirit Amen
⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
(The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians Chapter 4 verses 4 to 6)
Oh God my Father there is one God and I believe in You. I believe that every thing is under your control and that You can change any situation Amen.
⁷ But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift. ⁸ Therefore it is said,
"When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people."
(The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians Chapter 4 verses 7 to 8)
Oh God my Father I thank You for the greatest gifts of all that are Your love, Faith, Mercy and the opportunity of forgiveness, that grants me reconciliation with You even though I am a sinner. I also thank You for destroying the power of death by making it a gateway to Heaven Amen.
⁹ When it says, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰ He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things,)
(The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians Chapter 4 verses 9 to 10)
Oh God my beloved Father, the same Father who was in the heavens, permitted us to crucify Him in the human form of His Son, who was the Same person who rose again and by means of the Holy Spirit comes into the Eucharist at the time of consecration on the Altars. That same majestic presence that dwells in me and other human beings who are Your creation my God and Father Amen.
¹¹ The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets; some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, ¹³ until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.
(The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians Chapter 4 verses 11 to 13)
Oh God my beloved Father I thank You for all the gifts that You have given me, especially for this opportunity to communicate with You in prayer and at the same time share the Word with others. I also thank You for the Community that You have permited me to join, for even there I can continue to spread the message of Your love and our relationship. I pray that You keep on providing me with opportunities of spreading the message of the Good News and of being of help, care and support to others Amen.
¹⁴ We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. ¹⁵ But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head into Christ ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body's growth in building itself up in love.
(The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians Chapter 4 verses 14 to 16)
Oh God my beloved Father, I pray that become more mature in my relationships at large, especially in Your relationship with me. I pray that I am cleansed from all traces of negativity and that I will reflect the truth and nothing but the truth. I also pray for my community and for Society at large, that we admit that we are sinners, and that You love us even though we are sinners, and that as You forgive and accept us as we are, we are to imitate You in a spirit of love.
Let us join together in this song and prayer by clicking on the following link that its content is credit to Sherin Sophia
Bind us together with love
¹⁷ Now this I affirm and insist on in the Lord; you must no longer live as the Gentiles live, in the futility of their minds. ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart.
(The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians Chapter 4 verses 17 to 18)
Oh God my beloved Father, I thank You for this wise counsel and instruction. Even though I am compelled to live in this world, I am to be different in my belief and in my thoughts and behaviour Amen.
¹⁹ They have lost all sensitivity and have abandoned themselves to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.
(The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians Chapter 4 verses 19)
Oh God my beloved Father, once we have closed the door on our relationship with You we start a slow but sure death on many levels such as spiritual and even psychological, nothing would start having to mean in life and we become bitter to everything and everyone. I pray that You save us from such a depressing and negative state of being Amen.
²⁰ That is not the way you learned Christ!
(The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians Chapter 4 verse 20)
Oh God my beloved Father, on becoming part or members of the Church we start receiving the pure knowledge that sets us on our feet in our relationship with You, however along the way we may start formulating our own theories about who You really are, as based on our experiences of life, which may be both positive and negative. However we might end up holding untrue theories about who You are in our lives, and if not enlightened we may end up living up to these life scripts for a very long time. Moreover, such life scripts or beliefs may both help and hinder in Your relationship with us. Therefore, I pray that You purge our minds from any false beliefs that we have made and bring us back on track Amen.
²¹ For surely you have heard about him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus. ²² You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, ²³ and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴ and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
(The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians Chapter 4 verses 21 to 24)
Oh God my Father, this is my daily struggle that of going against my natural nature and put on my spiritual clothing that of the Holy Spirit as I received at the time of my baptism Amen.
²⁵ So then putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another.
(The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians Chapter 4 verse 25)
Oh God my Father, brothers and sisters, the truth sets us free. Moreover, we are sons and daughters of the truth and not of evil. Even though our sinful nature compels us to say untruths, I pray for the strength to overcome our sinful nature Amen.
²⁶ Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷ and do not make room for the devil.
(The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians Chapter 4 verses 26 to 27)
For all married couples or for those who are in some form of relationship resolve your differences before the end of the day with your husband or partner, before the devil sows seeds of more anger discontent, depression and other forms that may hinder the growth of your relationships, everybody makes mistakes, we are all fragile and prone to sin, even without having a bad intention, therefore always be ready to forgive and forget, for today it is your partner who has grieved you, and tomorrow it may be you Amen.
²⁸ Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy.
(The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians Chapter 4 verses 28)
Oh God almighty how loving it would be of us if our focus would not be only to the contributing to our own wants and needs but also to those of others Amen.
²⁹ Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.
(The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians Chapter 4 verses 29)
Oh God my beloved Father, I pray that You make of me a positive person, one that no negativity comes from my heart, my lips or my mind. Even though the circumstances that I find myself in may not always be positive, I pray that You give me a positive spirit that will be good for me and even for others Amen.
³⁰ And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. ³¹ Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, ³² and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you."
(The Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians Chapter 4 verses 30 to 32)
Oh God my beloved Father, I pray that You help me to forgive, as You forgive me, for this is a delicate area for me. I have been grieved and hurt many times so much that I have an open wound that You are treating and healing every day of my life. As my therapist and Counsellor, I pray that You continue guiding me through this process of healing Amen
In order to bring this prayer and reflection on the fourth chapter of the letter of st. Paul to the Ephesians to an end I would like to do so by means of the following prayer:
Oh God my beloved Father I pray that we go back to our roots and evaluate the state of our faith. We must question if we are living our baptism as based on the Word of God, or if we have created our own personal version of the word of God that we have tailored to suit our needs and values. I pray that You anoint us with the power of the Holy Spirit Amen
