And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” (Ephesians 6:18)

Praying for all the Lord’s people seems like an easy thing to do until you realize who all the Lord’s people are. Maybe this is a stretch, but recall that Jesus also said that a good Shepard would leave the 99 to find the one lost sheep. “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” (Luke 15:7) So if the Lord will rejoice over the one who repents than that must also mean that even the lost sheep, not living for God, is still a sheep and a part of the “Lord’s people.” Now if we take today’s verse to mean, literally all of God’s people, than that would include those in our lives who are going to be hard to pray for. The people who have hurt us, and slandered our names, the people who stir up trouble and cause drama wherever they go. I believe that today’s scripture is asking us to include these people too. Jesus talked about this very issue saying “And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?” (Matthew 5:47) This emphasizes the idea that we coexist with others – some of whom are not believers – and shouldn’t we include them in the normal pleasantries too? Paul asks us to “Pray in the Spirit on all occasions.” Which is my last point to say that “all occasions” includes the bad and rough patches in our lives as well. So the end takeaway message from this verse is don’t sugar coat your prayer life. We’re not going to fool God anyway. So pray fervently, pray honestly, and pray over all in your life –the good and the bad.