Daily Devotional
By Pastor Jerry Teboe
A Closer Walk with Christ in 2026
The Mystery of the Gospel – Part 2
Ephesians 3:14-16
For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Eph 3:15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, Eph 3:16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
Paul now begins the second of the two special prayers in the book of Ephesians. These prayers form a message to be accepted and then applied in order to become the person that God wants us to be. Warren Wiersbe has stated in his teachings on Ephesians the following truth of these two prayers.
This passage is the second of two prayers recorded in Ephesians, the first one being Eph_1:15-23. In the first prayer, the emphasis is on enlightenment, but in this prayer, the emphasis is on enablement. It is not so much a matter of knowing as being — laying our hands on what God has for us and by faith making it a vital part of our lives. Paul is saying, “I want you to get your hands on your wealth, realize how vast it is, and start to use it.”
It is worth noting that both of these prayers, as well as the other prison prayers (Php_1:9-11; Col_1:9-12), deal with the spiritual condition of the inner man, and not the material needs of the body. Certainly it is not wrong to pray for physical and material needs, but the emphasis in these petitions is on the spiritual. Paul knew that if the inner man is what he ought to be, the outer man will be taken care of in due time. Too many of our prayers focus only on physical and material needs and fail to lay hold of the deeper inner needs of the heart. It would do us good to use these prison prayers as our own, and ask God to help us in our inner person. That is where the greatest needs are. (copied)
The prison prayers of Paul are insights into the soul of a man of God who had suffered many things in the service for his beloved Lord. We can learn much as we study and apply these wonderful truths to our own lives so that we too can live completely for our Master. The apostle Paul was truly one of the great men of the New Testament, and his life and ministry are a pattern for anyone who would be greatly used for the service of the Lord of Glory!
Bible Reading for the Year
August 4th, Psalms 78; Romans 7
Prayer Needs
Please pray for Faye Smith, Jack Gargis’ sister. She is in the hospital in Greenville undergoing tests.
Please be in prayer for Edward Lee. He is in the hospital in Washington and has pneumonia.
Please continue to pray for Shirley Deans. The doctors found that she has Afib which caused low blood pressure. They found she also has pneumonia. As of Friday, her Afib was getting better. She was able to go home on Sunday afternoon.
Continue to pray for Jennifer Teboe Buchamer. Please keep praying for complete healing. She is still having side effects from the cancer. She has a Keytruda treatment next Thursday.
Please pray for Vickie Dalton. Pray for God’s healing. She was in the hospital to have a drainage tube put into her lung. She was able to go home Saturday.
Linda Franks’ surgery has been rescheduled for August 31st.
Please continue to pray for Carolyn Tyson’s sister, Shirley Deal. She has been moved into the River Trace rehab center in Washington. She is not doing well.
Please continue to pray for Dr. Joe Jordan. He is doing physical therapy but still has a long way to go. Pray for him to get stronger!
Please continue to pray for Peggy Warren. She is facing some difficult challenges.
Please continue to pray for Robbie Harvey who has MAC lung disease. He seems some better, and the pain has decreased some.
Please continue to pray for Marvin Silverthorne for his eyesight to improve.
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Pray for our Missionaries!
Sue Singleton and the mission in Cambodia
Dr. Joe Jordan and the CBM (Cross and Bible Ministries)
Travis and Caroline Fennessy – IBM missionaries to Southeast Asia