A Faithful and Loving Church

Ephesians 1:15-16

In these two verses that we look at today we will see Paul address the Ephesians directly. It gives us an insight into how they are growing and where they may lack as well. Verses fifteen and sixteen say, “Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers.” Based off of this verse we can see that the testimony of the Ephesians was positive and one Paul delighted to here.

These verses don’t make it clear who told Paul about the Ephesians faith, or if it was more the one person. What we do know is that he was told that they were faithful to the Lord and that they loved fellow believers. That may sound obvious. After all, shouldn’t every church trust God and love fellow believers? Of course! But I think you would agree with me when I say that is not always the case. In fact, more often than not it does not seem to be the case.

Paul commends them and praises the church for their faithfulness. He tells the church that he does not cease to give thanks for them. This surely would have been a great encouragement to the Ephesians, to hear that one of the men who God used to help get this church set up was thankful for their faith would have given the church a great lift.

On the other side, hearing that a church you helped to start was going strong in their faith and showing love towards each other would have been a great encouragement to Paul as well. Paul didn’t get to spend too much time at this church, but he built a strong bond with them. We see this in Acts 20:36-38 when he says his final goodbye to them. The Bible says the Ephesians “wept freely” and were sorrowful because they would never get to see him again. The bond between Paul and the Ephesians was strong!

It is also commendable that Paul prayers for and give thanks for the Ephesians daily. Paul planted a lot of churches. He was often busy preaching in the synagogues while also working as a tent maker (Acts 18:3). Yet Paul always found the time to pray for the Ephesians. Since this is the Word of God we know that Paul is not just saying this because it sounds nice; he truly did spend time in prayer for the Ephesians, giving thanks constantly for them.

The temptation is to claim that we don’t have time to pray. We are busy, some of us extremely busy, but we are never to busy to talk to Him. If we don’t spend time in prayer with God then we are essentially saying that we are too busy for Him. Shame on us for not recognizing the incredible gift that prayer is and utilizing this gift on a constant, daily basis!

In the next article we will begin to look at what specifically Paul prayed for. For now, let us remember to be like the Ephesians, putting our faith in God and loving fellow believers. Let us also be like Paul, being thankful for the growth and faithfulness of our fellow believers, and praying for others regularly.

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