1. The first requirement of a working man’s prayer is the right posture. (3:14-15)
2. The second requirement of a working man’s prayer is the right petition. (3:16-19)
3. The third requirement of a working man’s prayer is the right power. (3:20-21)
Our study in the Book of Ephesians has brought us to a transition. The first part of most of Paul’s letters begins with theology. They cover some of the great doctrines of the church. They talk about Who God is and Who Christ is. They talk about salvation and what that means. Here in the first part of Ephesians, he spends a great deal of time talking about the church and what that means. But in almost every one of his letters, Paul moves from that kind of doctrinal talk to more practical talk. Now, don’t get me wrong, doctrine is extremely important. We can only know how to live right when we know how to think right. Jesus said in Matthew 12:34 that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Right living only comes from right thinking. But right thinking doesn’t always result in right living. Sometimes your theology can be right on, but it doesn’t translate over to the way you live your life. Somebody put it like this—your theology can be as straight as a gun barrel and just as empty. That’s why we can’t just focus on the theology. If we just focus on the lifestyle and forget the theology, we’ll become legalists. But on the other hand if we just focus on the theology and forget the lifestyle, we’ll become liberals. Paul included both in this letter to the Ephesian Christians. And what’s interesting is that he began each section with a prayer. If you remember back to our second sermon in Ephesians. We were in chapter 1:15-23 and we covered Paul’s first prayer in Ephesians. That was a prayer that their eyes might be opened to the theological truths God wanted to show them. That they might have wisdom. That they might be enlightened. That they might have revelation in the knowledge of Who Christ is and what He did for them. After he prayed that prayer, Paul went on to show them those truths. He prayed that their eyes would be opened and then he taught them the truth. In our passage this morning, Paul prays a second prayer. This one is quite a bit different. This time, instead of praying that they would understand the theology he was teaching, he prays they would have the strength to follow through with Christ’s commands. His prayer opens this new section of practical day-to-day living by asking for the strength to do it. This morning, I want each of us to see that the ability to do the works God requires of us isn’t something we can do on our own. And when we understand that, I don’t want any of us to leave this place until we have asked God for the ability to do His works that only He can give us. To show us how to ask for that ability, we’re going to look at three requirements of a working man’s prayer. The first requirement is the right posture. Look with me in verses 14-15:
EPHESIANS 3:14-15
A working man’s prayer must include the right posture. We just finished with Valentines Day, but I’ll tell this story anyway. I’m always late with Valentines anyway. There was a teen-age boy who went into CVS to buy three boxes of chocolate. He picked out a small box, a medium-sized box, and a really large box. Well, that got the man behind the counter curious, so he asked the boy—“Why three different sized boxes?” The boy answered him—“this really hot girl and I have been talking for a few weeks. She’s invited me over to dinner tonight to meet her parents. After dinner, we’re going out. Here’s the plan: if she lets me hold her hand, she gets the small box of candy. If she lets me kiss her on the cheek, she gets the medium-sized box. But, if she lets me kiss her on the lips, she gets the big box.” Then he bought the candy and left. Later that evening, as he sat down to dinner with his girlfriend and her parents, he asked if he could say the blessing. He prayed and he prayed and he prayed. It was the longest blessing ever. Finally, his girlfriend leaned over and said, “You never told me you were such a religious person.” He leaned back and said, “You never told me your father works at CVS.” That boy might have had the right physical posture in his prayer, but he certainly didn’t have the right mental posture. Paul on the other hand had both of them right. In verse 14, we see what his physical posture was—he bowed his knees. Now, does that mean that the only way we can pray is if we’re kneeling? No. God doesn’t require a particular physical position for us to approach His throne in prayer. We can be standing up, sitting down, kneeling, or laying prostrate before Him. Our eyes can be open or closed. We can pray out loud or silently. Our physical posture isn’t nearly as important as our mental posture. But sometimes, our physical posture can help us get in the right mental posture. Kneeling like Paul was doing or falling on our face before God in prayer can remind us of who is serving Who. Sometimes it helps, but it’s not a requirement. But having the right mental posture is. That boy had his head bowed and his eyes closed. He probably had his hands folded and was using the best King’s English in his prayer. But he had the wrong mental posture. He was praying to keep from having to face his girlfriend’s angry father. But look at what Paul’s mental posture was. He recognized Who it was he was praying to. He acknowledged that he was addressing the creator of the universe. The Lord God Almighty. God the Father. God the Son. By calling on God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Paul recognized his heavenly Father. He recognized His savior. And he recognized the Lord of his life. When we pray, are we always casual about it? Are we always nonchalant? Or do we ever have concentrated times of intimate conversation with the Father? What an awesome privilege God gives us to enter His very presence in prayer. Do we abuse that privilege? Or do we treat it with awe and reverence? I’m not saying that we always have to fall prostrate before the Lord when we pray. There are times of quick prayers. There are times of very informal prayers. The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing, so of course we aren’t always formal in our prayers. But the quick prayers and the conversational prayers and the “without ceasing” prayers are set up and made meaningful by the more intimate and formal seasons of prayer. When we start the day with a quiet time of prayer alone with God and His Word, it sets the stage for all the other communications with Him throughout the day. By starting off our day with the right physical posture of prayer and the right mental posture of prayer, God gives us the strength we need to live for Him the rest of the day. He gives us the strength to do the works He wants us to do. He gives us the strength to work. The first requirement of a working man’s prayer is the right posture. The second requirement of a working man’s prayer is the right petition. Look with me in verses 16-19
EPHESIANS 3:16-19
A working man’s prayer must include the right petition. What was Paul praying for here? He’s basically praying that they might have two things. He’s praying that God might give them strength and love. What does it sound like when we pray for people? First off, probably the only reason we’re praying for them is because they’re sick or in trouble. And since that’s the only time we pray for most folks, that’s what we pray about. Lord, be with them in their time of sickness. Be with them in their time of need. But what about before they got into that mess? Did we pray for them then? Paul prayed for these people. Not because they were sick. Not because they were going through trials, although I’m sure many of them were. He prayed for the big stuff. His petitions in both prayers in Ephesians were for their bigger issues. Now, don’t pull your wagon out of the ditch on one side of the road just to end up in the one on the other side. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t pray for those who are sick and afflicted. The Bible clearly tells us we are supposed to. But that shouldn’t be the only time we pray for each other. It shouldn’t even be the main reason we pray for each other. Besides praying for people when they’re sick and afflicted, we should pray for each other like Paul did. In his first prayer in Ephesians, he prayed that their eyes would be opened to the truth. In this prayer, he asked that God would grant them strength. He prays that they might be strengthened with might. That sounds like a double dose of strength to me, doesn’t it to you? Paul knows the consequences of the gospel he’s been writing about. He knows the cost of following Jesus. If anybody tells you that living the Christian life is the easy way to go, they’re lying to you. It’s the only way to go, but it isn’t easy. What did Jesus say? “Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in there-at. Because strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” How’s that old song go? “I never promised you a rose garden.” That’s why Paul prays that they will be strengthened with might. He knows that the kind of strength to endure and live the Christian life can only come from the Holy Spirit. It’s not an outward strength. It’s a strength in your inmost being. A strength that only God can provide. A strength that He will grant you according to the riches of His glory. But not only did he petition God for strength, he prayed for love. He prayed that they would be rooted and grounded in love. Rooted is an agricultural term that means just what it sounds like. The very root structure of your life.—the source of your strength, stability, and sustenance should be love. Grounded is a masonry term that refers to digging a footer for a brick wall. The footer provides the stability and strength of the wall that is built on it. That’s what kind of love Paul is praying for. Foundational love. Love that feeds and stabilizes everything we do. Love that everything in our lives are built on. And it’s a love that we are to share with each other—the people Paul calls “all the saints.” Our love for each other should be such that it provides a picture of the breadth and length and depth and height of Christ’s love for us. Otherwise, how can we explain the love of Jesus? Paul says it’s beyond knowledge. It’s beyond comprehension. It is equally beyond comprehension how a group of saved sinners can love each other. But when we show that kind of love for each other, we show the world an example of Christ’s love which passes understanding. We can’t have that kind of love on our own. We can’t have that kind of strength on our own. That’s why Paul bowed his knees in prayer. That’s why each of us need to bow our knees in prayer for one another. We need to pray for each other’s strength. When we do, look at the results. When God gives us that strength, look what that strength is in the first part of verse 17: “that Christ may dwell in you hearts by faith.” That’s our strength. The indwelling Christ is our strength. We also need to pray for each other’s love. When we do that, look at the results. When God gives us that love, look what happens in the last part of verse 19: “that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.” Jesus living in us and filled with God’s complete fullness. That’s what Paul wanted for these Ephesian Christians. That’s what he wanted because that’s the only way they would be able to do the works they needed to do. That’s the only way they could truly do Christian works. I want the same thing for us here at Brushfork that Paul wanted. I want us to be ready for the works God has for us to do. But first thing’s first. First we have to pray. Our prayer must include the right posture, and it must include the right petition. But it must include something else. The third requirement of a working man’s prayer is the right power. Look with me in verses 20-21:
EPHESIANS 3:20-21
A working man’s prayer must look to the right power. Prayer is not a unique thing in our society. I saw a survey by Christian pollster George Barna this week. He showed that in 2004, only 43% of the population attended church. While only 43% attended church, over 83% of the population said they had prayed in the past week. I thought one of the most interesting statistics was that 39% of the people who call themselves atheists or agnostics said they prayed to God during the past week. So, prayer isn’t unique. Apparently, God hard-wired human beings to pray. Everybody prays. We just don’t know who they’re praying to. I can tell you this—if 83% of the people in America were praying to the God of the Bible, we wouldn’t be in nearly the mess we’re in. Here in these two verses, Paul is cluing us in to the God he’s praying to. Now, keep in mind that he’s just spent the first couple of chapters explaining Who God is and what He’s done for us. Now he’s reminding us that’s the God he’s praying to. First, the God Paul is praying to is a supernal power source. He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. I can ask for a lot. And I can even think of more than that to ask. I love it when Paul gets excited. You can always tell when he does because he does one of two things. He either goes off on a praise tangent, or he makes up new words. That’s what he did here. The word that’s translated “exceedingly abundantly above” is a word that Paul just made up. Have you ever been around kids when they get really excited? They try to squeeze as many words into one breath as possible. And when they do that, they tend to make up new words. Well, that’s what Paul did here. He got so excited talking about God’s goodness that he squished three words together to make one word. He took the word that means “giving abundantly” or “abounding in giving” and he put the word for “over and above” in front of it. But that still wasn’t descriptive enough for Paul. He had to add one more word. It’s the word that we get the prefix “hyper” from. So, basically, Paul is stringing a whole bunch of words together to try and describe the indescribable. All the things we can possibly conceive of God doing—He can do more. So much more that it’ll blow your mind. So, if He can do all that, don’t you think He can give us the strength to obey Him? Don’t you think He can give us true love for one another? So, God has the ability. That’s beyond question. He has more ability than we can ever imagine. The God Paul is praying to is a supernal power source. But He’s also an internal power source. In the last half of verse 20, Paul says that all that power that God has is available to be working in us. In us. Not in front of us dragging us along. Not behind us pushing us. Not carrying us or helping us. But He is in us. He gives us the strength. He gives us the love. He changes our will. He works in us, not for us. A working man’s prayer looks to a supernal power, an internal power, and finally an eternal power. Paul closes his prayer by acknowledging the eternal nature of God. So often, we pray with a very short time line in mind. God help me now. Lord be with them now. That’s fine, but how often do we step back and catch a glimpse of the timeline God looks at. The King James uses the words, “throughout all ages, world without end.” That’s not saying just until the end of this world. Because this world will end some day. It literally says, “to all the total generations, to a universe worth of time plus multiple universes worth of time.” Paul is getting excited again and piling words together. He’s reminding us that God is eternal. His Son Jesus Christ is eternal. Time and space does not restrict Him because He created them. Paul is telling us that the God we’re praying to is that powerful. He isn’t limited in any way. And He is eternally glorified by answering our prayers. Yes, by answering our prayers for the sick and afflicted. But even more so by answering our working man’s prayers. Our prayers that come from the right posture. A physical posture that is not always casual and nonchalant with God. A mental posture that recognizes Him for who He is and sees the awesome privilege of approaching His throne of grace. He is eternally glorified by answering our prayers that come with the right petition. A petition for strength to obey Him in the way He calls us to. A petition to have love for Him and love for each other. And He is eternally glorified by answering our prayers that see Him as the right power. That praise Him for who He is. That thank Him for living in us. And that worship Him for His eternal glory. That is the kind of prayer that will cause a man to work. That’s the kind of prayer that will give us the strength to do what God wants us to do. That’ll give us the power to be who He wants us to be. To be the working people He would have us to be. So, how is your prayer life? Is it what it ought to be? Do you have the right posture in your prayer? Do you ask for the right petition? Do you seek the right power? Is your prayer life all about you? Or do you spend time focusing on God’s glory? Is your prayer life preparing you for the work that God will lay before you?
