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Paul's Prayer Series
Contributed by Ben Thomas on Apr 29, 2008 (message contributor)
Summary: Paul prayed in the prison, Knelt down in front of God, the them of his prayer not about him but about the saints inner growth. read on...
Prayer of Paul eph.3.14-21
I. Paul RECOGNIZED who God Is - Eph 3:14
He is Our Father
Father of the Savior
Related to us- whole family in heaven and earth is
named
When you realize who our God is we will come to our knee.
In the Bible many people prayed on their knee. Here are some:
1.Solomon (1 Kings 8:54; 2 Chron. 6:13)
54 When Solomon finished offering all this prayer and supplication to the Lord, he arose from before the Lord’s altar, where he had knelt with hands stretched toward heaven. Dedication of the Temple – Work is done but now God, You need to show up.
2.Elijah (1 Kings 18:42)- 42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he bowed himself down upon the earth and put his face between his knees.
I got the word and I can hear the thunder but I can not see the promise.
3.Ezra (Ezra 9:5)
4.Daniel (Daniel 6:10) 10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house, and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he got down upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously. - I will be in the lion’s den tomorrow this might be the last time I get this opportunity to worship you in this earth like this.
5.Jesus (Luke 22:41)
6.Stephen (Acts 7:60 60 And falling on his knees, he cried out loudly, Lord, fix not this sin upon them [lay it not to their charge]! And when he had said this, he fell asleep [in death]. - I do not see the stones, I do not see the bleeding, what I see is the open heaven and my Lord is standing up. So let me kneel down to Him.
7.Peter (Acts 9:40)
8.Paul (Acts 20:36; Acts 21:5; Ephes. 3:14) Acts 20:36 36 Having spoken thus, he knelt down with them all and prayed.
- I am going to Jerusalem, please do not stop me from fulfilling the plan of God in my life, I might die there it is a privilege to do that.
3. Paul says I am Praying for you – for a Specific purpose.
A. Strength and power in the inner man,
-For the strength and power of God’s Spirit, for His presence and power in our lives
Man is three in one – Body, Mind, and Spirit.
Body -work with senses. Five senses – that you need to touch feel and outward reaction need to make any decision. This body is from this world and always there is a war against the body in our life.
Mind – is the battleground. Where all the decisions are made. Where the thought takes place. Where the decisions are made. Even this moment there is a battle in your life when the messages comes from the pulpit you are thinking about the lies devil brought to you through believers and non believers are roaring. You wanted praise God but not, you wanted to sing but not, you wanted to pray but not. That battle taking place in the mind.
Spirit. This is the third part of you Bible says that came from God. Spirit think heavenly things. Spirit wanted to pray, Sprit wanted to sing, Spirit wanted to hear the word, Spirit wanted to do the right thing, Spirit wanted to go to the you fellow brother and pray, spirit wanted to forgive, spirit wanted to reconcile.
This battle is going on every single moment of our life. This battle goes on every day for your life. Until the redemption of the body takes place when our body will replace with the heavenly bodies this battle will continue.
Paul in the prisoner not thinking about the chain, suffering or agony or any of the Roman governmental debates. He is not speaking abut another project or his own personal things.. He knows this battle very well, so he is praying a prayer of faith for the people in Ephesus. My prayer is not for another church building, another project another marriage, another job another, car, another house, another promotion. My prayer is that your inner man in strengthens so the power of God will give you strength
q Life of Adam – Vs life of two witness in the revelation chapter 11
Adam is walking but dead in side – can not hear the voice of God (hearing is not just hearing- hearing means obeying. )
But this witness are dead outside – the devil can only kill your outside- but they heard the voice of the Lord because their inner man was not dead.
4. The second request is for Christ to dwell, that is, rule and reign, in our hearts—by faith. The word "dwell" (katoikēsai ) means a permanent not a temporary dwelling. It means to take up permanent residence; to live in a home; to enter, settle down, and be at home. When a person believes in Jesus Christ for the first time, Christ enters his life. Therefore, the believer is not praying for