Praying Powerful Prayers for People in Need (Part 3)

Dear Visionary Leader:

Early Sunday morning on September 2, 1945, aboard the new 45,000-ton battleship U.S.S. Missouri and before representatives of nine Allied nations, the Japanese signed their surrender. At the ceremonies, General MacArthur stated that the Japanese and their conquerors did not meet “in a spirit of mistrust, malice or hatred but rather, it is for us, both victors and vanquished, to rise to that higher dignity which alone benefits the sacred purposes we are about to serve.”
The USS Missouri has been described as the most famous battleship ever built. Before finally being decommissioned in 1992, the Mighty Mo received three battle stars for its service in World War II, five for the Korean War, as well as two Combat Action Ribbons and several commendations and medals for the Gulf War.

In total, the USS Missouri, “Big Mo” and “Mighty Mo,” earned 11 Battle Stars for her service in World War 2, the Korean War and the Gulf War. She is one of the most decorated US Navy ships in history, having earned over fifteen ribbons during her tenure.

Even though Mighty Mo had sailed the seven seas and fought historic battles, on one occasion, she got stuck in the mud, while sailing out of the Chesapeake Bay area. Even though no one was hurt, the battleship remained stuck for two weeks. After a period of time, the tide came in deep enough to lift the ship and set her free!
So far, the Apostle Paul has taught us how to pray for wealth for needfulness and strength for weakness.  Now, we are going to learn how to pray for people regarding their spiritual depth for their shallowness. I teach this valuable lesson in the Visionary Coaching section below.

In Ephesians 3:17-18, we read, “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge.”
Spiritual Depth for Their Shallowness
Paul said, I don’t want you to be shallow Christians. I want you to be rooted, I want you to be solid, he says, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.The word “dwelt,” is a Greek word which means to be at home, to settle down, to be welcome.
Dwell is a domestic term. Then, he says “rooted.” This is a horticultural term. What is he saying? He is saying, I want the root to be deep. The root is the part of the tree that only God sees. Sometimes we see our young people go off to college and get into drugs or fornication. What went wrong? They weren’t rooted.
Paul says, that Jesus might dwell in their hearts; that they might be rooted. Dwell: that’s a domestic term. Rooted: that’s an agricultural term. Then Paul talks about “grounded”. Ground: that’s an architectural term. We are to have a foundation or something that we can stand on.

During my teenage years, my Dad launched a family business called Davis Brothers Nursery and Grandma’s Garden Shop. We grew more than 30,000 hanging baskets, along with tens of thousands of shrubberies. I learned so much about life and leadership during my teenage years.
With our family business came the responsibility of designing and constructing our greenhouses across our acreage. When building strong greenhouses, it is critical to learn how to dig deep post holes for the greenhouses. It takes a lot of hard, tenacious work to build a strong foundation. Once the all of the postholes are dug deep and the 4X4 posts are placed and secured in the holes, the roof can be solidity placed and secured on the posts and the greenhouse built. The key is, the foundation must be laid as strong as possible.

So, what do we pray? We pray for spiritual wealth for their needfulness, for spiritual strength for their weakness, and for spiritual depth for their shallowness. Don’t let them just be shallow. We want them to be grounded and rooted for the tests of life that will come in the future.
Until The Last Person Has Heard,

Dr. James. O. Davis
Founder/President
Global Church Network
Cochair / Global Networking