“Praying with Power”
Ephesians 3: 14-21
May 23, 2010
Intro: A horrible flood struck a Midwestern town. The waters were rising so quickly the people were warned to leave their homes immediately. As the police came around making sure everyone was leaving, they came to Bill’s house. Bill was still sitting at home. He told the police, “I’m alright. I’m waiting on God to deliver me.”
-An hour later the waters had risen to several feet deep. The police came around the neighborhoods by boat trying to save people who were stranded on top of their cars. Once again they came to Bill’s house. He was sitting on top of his car and he told the police, “Keep on going. I’m waiting on God to deliver me. He promised He’d provide a way for me to reach safety.”
-The waters continued to rise and after a couple of hours the waters had totally engulfed the entire town. Everyone had left except for Bill. The police decided to make one more run to rescue him. They had to send a helicopter b/c the water was so high. They flew over town and saw Bill sitting on top of his roof b/c the rest of it was under water. W/their megaphones they asked Bill if they could get him. Again he said, “That’s alright. I’m going to wait on God to deliver me.”
-They didn’t know what else to do other than leave and leave Bill to his fate. The next time they came around they saw a hat floating in the water where his house had been. Obviously that’s the story of an ignorant man. God provided him w/several avenues of rescue but Bill turned them all down. He didn’t take advantage of what he already had.
-In many ways, we’re a lot like Bill. We have great wealth that lies before us that we don’t take advantage of. W/God we have a million dollar account and we’re living off spiritual food stamps.
-Now you might be thinking, “What in the world are you talking @?” Today I’m talking @ prayer. It’s a life preserver that God has thrown out to us and many of us continually avoid using it. My hope is as we continue our series “iPrayer” that we’ll learn how to use this powerful tool God has given us.
Sermon Idea: Today in our passage of Scripture we’re going to see that for us to reach our greatest potential as people and as a church is going to take us utilizing our prayer life. The Apostle Paul knew this and in our text we’re going to see him sharing w/the Xians in Ephesus some basic prayer requests he had for them to see them become powerful in their relationship w/God.
TEXT: EPHESIANS 3: 14-21
Bckgrd: Ephesus (which is in modern day Turkey) was a town that was situated between 2 major rivers and it became a great commercial seaport. It was one of the largest and most impressive cities in the ancient world. The town had great potential to be used greatly by God to spread the good news of Jesus; but I don’t know if the people had quite grasped this concept when Paul wrote them.
-VillageChurch, I have no doubt we’ve been divinely situated in this place to impact northeast Columbia. We’re in one of the fastest growing areas of Columbia. I’m amazed at the change I’ve seen in this area in the 8 years I’ve lived here! But if we’re going to make a major spiritual impact in our community, it begins w/us becoming a people, a church that’s committed to prayer!
-That’s why I have 3 basic prayers requests I want us to incorporate into our prayer lives. And as we do this, we will be a group of people that will be praying w/power. The 1st prayer request I want to challenge you to pray is:
DIV. 1: A PRAYER FOR STRENGTH (vv. 16-17)
Exp: What we’re going to notice today is that sincere, faithful prayer brings results. Paul let the Ephesian Xians know that he was praying for them. And he was praying that God would give them strength. The word “strength” means “to brace, to fortify.” He was praying the Ephesians would be fortified w/power so they could live for Christ.
A. The word “power” is from the Greek word “dunamis.” It’s where we get our word “dynamite.” So the power Paul wanted the Ephesian Xians to be strengthened with was dynamic. Now where would a strength and power like this come from? It would come from God. At the beginning of v. 16 it stat4es that the power came from God’s abundant riches.
1. Let me tell you something. It’s God’s desire for us to be a church that lives for Him and reaches our community w/the good news of Jesus. It’s God’s desire for us to reach our potential that He has in store for us.
a. But that can’t happen unless we’re infused w/the strength and power of God. So the question is, “How do we get that strength and power that we need to be all we can for Jesus?” Well, I look at Paul and see he prayed on behalf of the Ephesians to have that kind of strength.
b. How can we receive strength to live for Jesus? We pray for it. Jesus said in Matt. 7: 7-8, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
ILLUS: This year we had one of the biggest snow falls in South Carolina history. Suppose you were driving in the middle of that snow storm when your car broke down in the middle of the night. You’re out in the middle of nowhere where there are only a few houses. You know you can’t stay in your car all night or you’ll freeze, so you get out of you car, walk to the front door of someone’s house. You know they’re home b/c you can see smoke coming out of their chimney.
-That’s a good sign that it’s nice and warm in their home. But instead of knocking on the door you just stand there looking up at their chimney. You keep thinking @ how you need to hurry up and get warm or you’re going to freeze to death. After an hour passes, you’re still freezing wishing they’d open the door so that you could come in and get warm.
-So how’s that going to happen? Well, the 1st step is to KNOCK on the door and then ask if you can come in!
2. The same thing’s true w/receiving strength from the Lord. We aren’t going to receive it until we go to Him in prayer and ASK for it. We can sit out in the world and notice all the problems w/it; we can sit around and gripe @ how the crime rate continually gets worse; and we can sit and wonder why in the world our children don’t have better role models.
a. But you know what? Nothing’s going to get any better unless the people of God get on their knees and begin to petition God for strength to go out and live like Jesus! You might think, “I’d love to do that but how do I know that my life or my church can really make a difference?”
b. B/c the strength and power come from God! You know how powerful God is? Phil. 4: 13, “I can do all things thru Him who strengthens me.” According to that verse, what can you do? You can do ALL things. You see, the power of God is unstoppable once it’s released. And when you’re united w/Christ then you can stand up for godly morals when no one else will.
B. You can give a helping hand to a person when no one else will. But it all begins w/prayer. You see, prayer is where we’ll find our strength in Christ. Christ was an excellent example to us at this point. Christ loved the world w/all His heart and that’s why He came to this world.
1. He came here to pay our debt of death for us b/c of our sinfulness. And as that moment of death approached, what did Christ do? He went to God in prayer seeking strength to stand tall and make a difference. Did He? 2,000 years later lives are still being transformed by the power of Christ.
a. I’ve seen marriages that seemed to be broken beyond repair restored. I’ve seen people w/terminal illnesses confound the doctors as they continue to live. I’ve seen this church start w/a handful of people just 8 years ago, be filled w/people all over this community!
b. Don’t you desire to see God move in your midst? Don’t you desire to see this church be a vessel God uses to bring hope and life to this community? It can happen! And it will start w/prayer.
Reit: The 1st prayer request I want to challenge you to pray is a prayer for strength. The 2nd prayer request I want to challenge you to pray is:
DIV. 2: A PRAYER FOR UNITY (vv. 17-19)
Exp: Paul’s prayer to the Ephesian Xians was to be rooted and established in love so that they could understand the love that Christ had for them. Why did he pray for this? B/c if the believers could understand the love Christ had for them then they’d be united in purpose. They would want to serve Christ w/all their hearts knowing what He’d done for them.
A. Paul prayed for them to be rooted in love. Why would it be important for Xians to be rooted in love? Whenever we think of roots we think of these long spindly stems that go deep into the ground. Now think @ the plant world for a moment. Why is it important for a tree to have roots?
1. Well, a tree must get its roots deep into the soil if it’s going to have both stability and nourishment. If a tree has no roots it’s going to starve to death and it’ll also fall over. Likewise, a Xian must have deep roots in the soil. Now a Xian’s soil is the love of God and it’s from this soil that a Xian receives his nourishment and balance. W/it, he too will fall over.
a. Ps. 1: 1-3, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does he prospers.”
b. As a church, if our roots are deep in the Lord then we will stand firm in the trials that come our way. And we’ll be a church that’s productive! We’ll be a spiritually productive church. What does that mean? It means we’ll see people giving their lives to Christ. We’ll see people serving others. We’ll see reconciliation in marriages.
2. Paul also prayed that believers would be established in love. The word “established” is an architectural term and it refers to the foundations on which we build. It’s a great temptation to skimp on a foundation so that we can get to the building part. I’m sure some of you were wondering when we were ever going to move out of the school and actually have our own structure.
a. When we finally started building after 7 years as a church, I was getting frustrated that the building wasn’t coming along faster! I was in a hurry! But the fact of the matter is if a proper foundation hadn’t been laid then the building would’ve been useless!
b. The same thing’s true spiritually. If our foundation in Christ isn’t solid, then we’re going to be all show as Xians w/no substance. And when the winds of life blow we’re going to come tumbling down.
B. Now why did Paul pray that the Xians be rooted and established? So that they’d be unified in their understanding of Christ’s love for them. And if they were unified in this understanding, then Paul knew that they would be unified in a common cause.
ILLUS: Unity is an extremely powerful force. Unity can take the tiniest thing and turn it into a winner. A Maryland newspaper had this headline a number of years ago: “Pennies block traffic.” The article said that a truck carrying 4.3 million pennies turned over on an exit ramp to a highway, dumping copper-filled canvas sacks all over the highway.
-Cars came to a screeching halt as the pennies blanketed the highway. Traffic had to be held up for several hours while the police had to pick up the pennies to clear the road.
-Now that’s an excellent example of what unity can do. What would’ve happened had only one penny fallen out of the truck? Would traffic have stopped? Of course not! It wouldn’t have held up anything. Things would’ve just gone on like normal. But when all of those pennies were brought together, they could stop traffic.
1. I believe the same principle works w/prayer. Paul prayed for unity among the Xians b/c he knew what they could do together. He knew they could make an impact in the city in which they were living.
a. And the same idea is true for us at VillageChurch. Understanding the immense love that Christ has for us that v. 1 speaks about, should drop us to our knees in prayer, praying that others eyes will be opened to the love God has for them. Prayer demands unity.
Reit: The 1st prayer request I want to challenge you to pray is a prayer for strength. The 2nd request is a prayer for unity. And the final request I want to challenge you to pray is:
DIV. 3: A PRAYER FOR GOD TO DO GREAT THINGS (vv. 20-21)
Exp: When we come to God in prayer Paul says He’s able to do more than we could ever dream of! Paul said, “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.” The word “immeasurably” means “superabundantly, quite beyond all measure.”
A. Why should VillageChurch be a praying church? B/c our prayers are a tool in which we can see God perform a mighty work in this place. Prayer is a tool we can use to see lives changed.
1. It’s amazing to me that we have such an awesome power at our fingertips that is so seldom used. Many of us limit the power of prayer by focusing our prayers only on ourselves. But we have a world out there that needs to hear @ the love and salvation of Christ and I believe it’s time we ask God use us, to use our church to reach those people for Him.
a. You might say, “There are other churches that have more $ and prestige to reach those people and get their attention.” But I don’t buy that argument for a second. I don’t think God placed our church right in the middle of all this growth for nothing! Most of us are amazed at the growth that’s happened out here in the last 10 years.
b. Those of you who’ve been here the past 5 or so years have diligently prayed for God to bless VillageChurch. And God has blessed those prayers superabundantly by giving us numerous opportunities to minister in this community. Paul was sure to share w/the believers that the power of God was available to them.
2. And he wanted them to take advantage of it. Think @ it for a second. Unlimited potential in prayer. Things coming @ that we never even dreamed of! The power of God igniting our prayers for people to know Jesus.
ILLUS: You might be surprised to know that Xians have this type of power at their fingertips. It’s kind of like the power a car has. When it’s sitting in your garage it doesn’t look all that powerful. But if you were to lift up the hood you could see a battery that has the capability of getting that car moving again. But that car isn’t going to move until the battery is cranked.
-When I was a Senior in high school I drove a cool looking champagne colored 1984 Firebird. I thought that car impressed everyone who saw it. But I remember shortly after we moved to South Carolina I took a girl to play tennis.
-After we’d played for a short while we got back into my car to go home. When I tried to crank the car there was an awful sound. The car wasn’t turning over at all. I got out and looked under my car and noticed my starter was on the ground. Needless to say I was embarrassed. But it was frustrating b/c the car had a good battery. I knew what it could do. But it didn’t matter b/c a connection to the battery wasn’t being made.
a. For many of us the same thing is true spiritually. Many of us have been cut off from our source of power. Unbelief, unconfessed sin, a worldly attitude—all these things can rob us of power. And a Xian robbed of power can’t be used by God. Jesus said in John 15: 5, “Apart from Me, you can do nothing.” But w/Him, we can do ALL things.
Conclusion: VillageChurch can be a difference maker, a transformational church, if we become a church rooted in prayer. B/c of this there are a few prayer requests I want you to add to your list. Pray for strength. Pray for unity. And finally, pray for God to do great things.
-So how can YOU become a vessel of prayer? The 1st thing that must be done is to get your heart right w/God. Come before Him and repent of any sins that you haven’t confessed to Him. Ps. 66: 18, “If I have sin in my heart, God will not hear me.”
-Those of you who are believers, take time to talk to God right now and ask for forgiveness. Tell Him you want to turn away from those sins and you want His ways to become your ways. Then begin the process of praying that VillageChurch will be a source of power for God in this community.
-I also want to speak to those of you who might be here who’ve never given Christ control of your life. You may be searching for something that will make your life whole, to make your life have meaning. If that’s you, pray this prayer after me: Dear Jesus, I know I’ve sinned against you. Forgive me of my sins. Today I surrender my life to you and ask you to be my Lord and Savior.
-If you prayed that prayer, open your bulletin, fill out the section on the right side then place it in the offering basket. That will enable us to get you some information in the mail on how to grow in your walk w/Christ.
