THE PRIORITY OF PRAYER
Eph_3:14-21
INTRODUCTION
Be careful what you ask for
What would you ask for if you found a genie-in-a-bottle and were granted three wishes that were bound to come true? If you could have three wishes fulfilled, what would you ask for?
Have you heard the story of a young man who found a genie-in-a-bottle?
Jim is walking down the beach and comes across an old bottle. He picks it up, pulls out the cork and out pops a genie.
The genie says, "Thank you for freeing me from the bottle. In return I will grant you three wishes."
Jim says, "Great! I always dreamed of this and I know exactly what I want. First, I want one billion dollars in a Swiss bank account." Poof! There is a flash of light and a piece of paper with account numbers appears in his hand.
He continues, "Next, I want a brand new red Ferrari right here." Poof! There is a flash of light and a bright red brand-new Ferrari appears right next to him. He continues,
"Finally, I want to be irresistible to women." Poof! There is a flash of light and he turns into a box of chocolates.
(Source: http://www.humorplanet.com/joke.cgi?category=relationships&joke=33 ~Accessed 5-29-03)
Well, we need to be careful for what we ask for, don’t we?
When it comes to prayer, we all know it is essential but next to tithing and reading the Bible prayer is probably one of the most difficult disciplines to practice.
We pray when life’s challenges become overwhelming. We pray when we have a need we wish God to meet. However, we often forget to pray when life is racing along like a chevy at a NASCAR race.
Why is prayer so difficult? ( ask for response)
Success in prayer comes from understanding God's PRIORITY in prayer, not merely stopping at receiving God's PROVISION through prayer.
In other words, we all seek God’s plan, His blessings , His provision, His protection. Then when the answer arrives, or is late in coming we are quick to forget God until the next crisis comes.
Yes God wants to and will meet our needs as He has promised us. But that is only half of what prayer is about.
P.S. Prayer is not only receiving what God does FOR me ( His provision), it is accepting what God wants to do IN me. ( His priority)
This priority of prayer is the focus of this second of Pauls prayers for the Ephesians Christians.Read Ephesians 3:14-21
Before we jump into interpreting this text and looking for some points of application, let’s begin by making a few observations. By the way, one of the best ways to study the Bible is to follow these three steps:
What does it say? That’s observation.
What does it mean? That’s interpretation.
What does it mean to me? That’s application.
Let me make just a few observations that will help us understand this passage better.
First of all, Paul’s mind wandered when He prayed. That’s good news, isn’t it? My mind roams all over the place when I pray! Take a look at 3:1: “For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles…” It sounds like he’s getting ready to pray and then he spends the next 12 verses talking about the beauty and mystery of the church. When we come to 3:14, he finally returns to his prayer.
Secondly, This prayer is Trinitarian. All three members of the Trinity are referred to in Paul’s prayer. Verse 14: “I kneel before the Father…” Verse 16: “I pray that out of His glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through His Spirit…” And in verse 17: “So that Christ may dwell in your hearts…” The most common way to pray in the Bible is to address prayers to the Father, through the Son, and in the Spirit. However, it’s certainly appropriate to address Jesus and the Holy Spirit when we pray.
Then, This prayer is focused on our inner person, not on our bodies. So many of our prayers have to do with our health and physical needs. Paul is concerned more with how we’re doing on the inside. In fact, all of Paul’s prison prayers deal with the believer’s spiritual condition, not the physical. There is certainly nothing wrong with praying for physical health but Paul’s primary concern is internal, not external.
In addition, Paul’s emotions are fully engaged. The Apostle did not try to just pray with his mind he threw his heart into his prayers. He didn’t try the Serenity Prayer or just thoughtlessly repeat God’s name . or glibly offer a bedtime pryare, now I lay me down to sleep…’ I picture Paul praying with fervency and a sense of urgency, much like Daniel did before he was thrown into the lions den.
Last but not least, This prayer is focused on the need for power. The word “power” or “strengthen” is used four different times.
There are three words which describe how we discover the priority of prayer: They are the POSTUR of prayer, The PETETion of prayer and finally the immeasurable POWER of prayer.
The POSTURE of Prayer( 14-15)
Let’s begin by looking at Paul’s call to prayer in verses 14-15.
When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.
The first thing we notice is his posture: “I kneel.” Can you imagine what this must have been like for the Roman soldier who was chained to Paul? The Bible never commands us to pray using a certain position, butdid you know the Bible gives six different “postures of prayer”? Here they are . . .
(1) Lying prostrate (Deut 9:18)
Moses recounts the time when Isreal had turned from the Lord, and had made for themselves an calf idol. God was so incensed that HE would have wiped out the entire nation for this act of blatant rebellion, except that Moses intercede for them. Moses writes,
“Then, as before, I threw myself down before the Lord for forty days and nights. I ate no bread and drank no water because of the great sin you had committed by doing what the Lord hated, provoking him to anger.
Prostrating onself is laying everything you are before the Lord. It is an expression of desperation for God to intervene. Secondly the Bible mentions
(2) Sitting (1 Kgs 19:4)
Then Elijah went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”
Elijah had recently won a great victory over the false prophets and preists of Jezebel. Fourr hundred lost their lives and Jezebel the eveil Queen had put a price on Elijahs head.
Overwhelmed emotionally, and cooked spiritually Elijah runs into the desert. HE finds a lonely tree where he seeks some sort of solace and sits and prays to the Lord unloading his desperate heart.
Sometimes, my heart is so full, I do not have the owrds or strength to pray. All I can do is simply sit in Gods presence and unload my heart.
(3) Bowing (Ps 95:6)
Another popular posture of prayer is bowing before the Lord. The Psalmist writes, ‘Come, let us worship and bow down.
I do remember in Kindergarten and grade one to two we learned about proper courtesy. When you met a person of prominence, or a young lady, or if you were to stand before the Queen the proper way to show respect and honor was to bow or curtsy ( if you are a girl).
In worship we come before the King and Lord of all creation. Our attitude is to be one of giving respect and honor. This is shown by the posture of bowing before the Lord.
The most popular posture mentioned in the Bible is standing in prayer.
(4) Standing (Mk 11:25)
And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
When I was in ISreal three years ago, we went to the wailing wall on Shabat. There were hundreds of men who were praying. Their posture was identical to their forefathers two thousand years ago, as they were both standing and bowing before the Lord.
When I am standing I am saying I am giving my full attention to the Lord and what HE has to tell me.
(5) Lifting Hands (1 Tim 2:8)
The Apostle Paul mentions a fifth common posture of prayer in 1 Tim 2:8, ‘Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing.’
This posture speaks to me about having a sincere heart and attitude when we come to the Lord in prayer. Lifting holy hands, means that I am holding nothing back. I realize the Lord knows my heart, so I cannot hide from him. I give my mind, attention, fears, anger, joys all to Him.
I do not want there to be anything in my life that might short circuit my relationship with the Lord. SO I come with a clean heart.
Finally, Paul mentions the sixth position of prayer in Eph 3:14
(6) Kneeling (Eph 3:14) ; ‘For this reason I kneel before the Father,…’
There are many examples of people praying to the Lord on their knees, suggesting that this was a very common practice. Daniel prayed on his knees three times a day (Dan 6:10), Stephen fell on his knees and talked to the Lord before he died as a martyr (Acts 7:60), and Peter knelt down before the corpse of Tabitha, prayed for her and she came back to life (Acts 9)
When Paul says that he kneels, the direct translation from the Greek is, “I bend my knee before the Father.” This is an act of humble petition. Think about your own posture in prayer for a minute. You may use several different positions. You may sit and pray while you’re reading your Bible. You may stand and pray. But there are times when out of desperation or because of a circumstance, that we feel compelled to fall on our knees in an earnest prayer of intercession. That’s what Paul was doing here.
Success in prayer begins with our approach. Prayer is not a matter of style, volume, length, or how many religious wwords we can use. It is a matter of heart. We approach God with the attitude of humility.
The Bible mentions how prayer and humilty are connected.
2 Chronicles 7:14
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Psalm 51:17
My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.
Isaiah 66:2
These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word
Humility and prayer are irrevocably linked. It is with a spirit of humility that we approach the throne of grace. But notice that along with humility we come to the FATHER in prayer.
Paul refers to God as Father 42 different times in his letters. There is no other description used as frequently. This phrase denotes intimacy, and is the same word used by Jesus most often when He prayed.
Paul says that the “whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name” from God the Father. As Creator, God is the Father of everyone; but as Savior, He is only the Father of those who believe. Here is the point, we come to God not out of duty, fear, compulsion, guilt, but out of RELATIONSHIP.
How does that relationship begin? It starts with a humble heart that acknowledges my sinfulness, and God’s holiness. It is when I say, God forgive me, I turn my life over to you. I believe that Jesus died for my sin and rose from the dead to give me life evermore. I trust in Jesus as my Savior for now and evermore.
And what does the Bible say hapopens when a person makes that commitment? To those who believed on Jesus HE gives them power to become the children of God.
Humility is the door to relationship. Humility is opens the door to prayer, and our relationship with God the Father positions us to make our….
THE PETITION OF PRAYER
16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Verse 16 begins with the phrase, “I pray that…” This now introduces us to the petition part of the prayer, of which there are four specific requests.
Warren Wiersbe suggests that these are not isolated, individual petitions but rather are like four parts to a telescope. One request leads into the next one, and so on. Paul prays that our inner beings may have spiritual strength, which will, in turn, lead to a deeper experience with Christ. This deeper experience will enable us to comprehend God’s great love, which will result in being “filled to the measure of the fullness of God.” So then, Paul is praying for strength, depth, comprehension, and fullness.
Paul makes these requests not according to our ability to receive, but according to God’s ability to give.
In other words, Paul does not want us to experience a portion of God, but to experience the limitless supply of God Himself. Out of God’s “glorious riches,” He will give and give and give. There is more in God’s endowment fund than we can ever use and we are beneficiaries of His riches.
Look at the requests we are called to make of the Father. Paul starts with STRENGTH.
1. Strength. The first request is for God to give power and strength to the very core of our being through the Holy Spirit. The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is evidence that we are saved as Romans 8:9 makes clear: “…If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.”
But the power of the Holy Spirit is what Paul is praying for. Someone has said that if God took the Holy Spirit out of this world, most of what we Christians are doing would go right on and nobody would know the difference!
The word translated, power is the Greek word dunamei, from which we get the words dynamic and dynamite. Do you ever feel spiritually weak? I know I do. Many of us seek strength through friends or family members. We often wait until there is no one left to talk to before we turn to the Lord.
Friends, only the Holy Spirit can strengthen our spirits. He is the one who refreshes, revitalizes and empowers us. And He does it on the inside where God dwells and works. Even though our bodies grow weaker, our inner being can grow stronger. 2 Corinthians 4:16 says, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” As our bodies grow old and frail our spirits can grow strong in the Lord.
2. Depth. As the Holy Spirit empowers us, we are then able to go deeper in our walk with Christ. We see this in verse 17: “So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love…”
Paul uses three pictures to convey the idea of spiritual depth and our fellowship with Christ when he chooses these three verbs: “dwell,” “rooted,” and “established.”
God wants us more than just merely saved. Paul’s prayer is that Christ would dwell in our hearts. This word is a compound form of two Greek words, “kata” (down) and “oikos” (house). It literally means, “to settle down and feel at home.” Jesus wants to be more than just a guest in our lives; He is the owner, or ruler. Christ wants our home to become His home.
Robert Munger wrote a fascinating booklet entitled “My Heart Christ’s Home,” in which he pictures the Christian life as a house. Jesus comes into the house and goes from room to room. He goes into the library of the mind and begins to clean up the trash found there. He replaces it with His Word. He enters the dining room of the appetite and finds many sinful desires listed on a worldly menu. He replaces things like materialism, pride, envy and lust with humility, love and purity.
When he finally comes to the closet, the owner of the house hesitates to open the door to all his dark and secret sins. He can’t bear to have Jesus look inside. But Jesus does come inside only after He’s invited and cleans it up. Jesus then settles down and feels at home.
Do you have some rooms in your life that you haven’t allowed Jesus into? Let Him to come into every area of your life and do some cleaning with his penetrating holiness and matchless grace. Jesus dwells in our hearts through faith. Our faith in Him means that we invite Him to do some housecleaning. We put our faith in Him so that He can do the needed renovations in our life.
The verb rooted is from the plant world. Just as a tree must have roots down deep into the soil if it is to have both nourishment and stability, so too we as believers must have our spiritual roots deep into the love of God. Psalm 1 tells us that we can become like living trees, if our root system is healthy. The word established is an architectural term that is translated “grounded” in some versions. It refers to the foundation of a building. Paul is mixing his metaphors here in order to communicate the importance of going deep with God.
And so, we are to have deep roots and a firm foundation. Are your roots as wide as your branches? Is your foundation as deep as your life is tall? God longs for us to be anchored deeply to His love.
In Paul’s petition, he prays for strength. He prays for depth. His third request is for comprehension. We see this in verse 18 and the first part of verse 19.
3. Comprehension. The NIV uses the word “grasp” which literally means to “be made strong to comprehend.” If we were talking about a joke, we might say, “Do you get it?
Paul prays that believers “get it,” that we comprehend the enormity of Christ’s love. And, he wants “all the saints” to take hold of this divine love. This is not referring to super spiritual people who have died, but to believers who have been set apart for Christ.
Verse 18 continues by laying out four dimensions of God’s love. How do you measure the immeasurable? How wide is it? It’s immense. It reaches to all people, nations, sins, needs, cares, and situations. How long is it? It existed before time; it will never end and is unconditional. How high is God’s love? It’s high enough to take those who are saved to heaven. And, how deep is the love of God? It’s deep enough to rescue the worst sinner from the “uttermost to the guttermost.”
The early Christians spoke of the love of Christ as demonstrated on the Cross. The Cross touched the earth, pointed to heaven, and is stretched out in both directions. How much does He love you? Look at the Cross and you’ll know.
The beginning part of verse 19 seems like a contradiction. How can we know the love of God that is beyond knowing? How do we know the unknowable? Humanly speaking, we can’t. This kind of knowledge is not intellectual, but divine it comes with salvation. Paul is praying not that we know the love we have for Jesus, but that we would know the love of Jesus.
When we contemplate His love, it will overwhelm us and blow us away. The only way to really understand it is by experiencing it for ourselves. If you don’t understand God’s love this morning, it may be because you haven’t personally tasted it yet.
4. Fullness. Paul’s fourth petition is for believers to experience fullness. We see this in the last part of verse 19: “that you may be filled to the measure with all the fullness of God.” How do you contain the uncontainable? This is an amazing thought. As believers we have been created to be the containers of God. He desires to pour His life into ours and fill us until we’re full.
“Filled” comes from a word that means, “to be overflowing, like a cup that is running over.” It means total dominance, to come to the place in your life where you are totally overwhelmed by God’s presence. It means giving everything to God and leaving nothing of your self.
We tend to measure ourselves against other people. Paul tells us that the measure is Christ. When we have reached His fullness, then we will have reached the limit. In one sense, we are already full in Christ. Positionally, we are already complete in Him, but practically, we need to live it out by having strength, depth, and comprehension. The resources are there we just need to start using them.
Do you experience the fullness of God on a regular basis? That’s what Paul prays for believers. If you don’t live with this kind of fullness, try praying this prayer for yourself and for others.
Are you willing to say to the Lord, “Lord, fill me up so that my life is all you and none of me?” I often want some of the Lord and some of me.
Think of an empty cup. How do you get all the air out of it? There’s only one way by filling it with something else. How do we remove the weakness, the sin, and the junk from our lives? By being filled with the fullness of God.
You see God’s priority is YOU and ME. What He is wanting to accomplish in me is of far greater eternal value than what HE will do For me, as great as that is.
If we approach God as our father, and we are confident in His love for us, and His desire to meet our needs, then we need not be afraid to ask Him specifically. And what if HE should say no? Only a father who loves us knows what is best, and he will never deny a request without replacing it with His best for our lives.
THE IMMEASURABLE POWER OF PRAYER
After contemplating the thrill of experiencing God’s power, plumbing the depths of God’s love, trying to grasp all that He has for us, and striving to be filled with the fullness of God Himself, Paul bursts forth into a glorious doxology of praise.
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.
These four petitions can very easily seem beyond our reach. And they are unless God intervenes. In this beautiful benediction, Paul uses every word possible to convey the vastness of God’s power that is available to us today.
Let’s look at what God is able to do in verse 20:
He is able. There is nothing that God cannot do.
He is able to do. God is not idle or asleep, but active in our lives.
He is able to do immeasurably more. His expectations are higher than our requests.
He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask. He listens to our prayers.
He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. God reads our thoughts.
He is able to do this according to His power that is at work within us. God does all this through the power that is already in us.
The phrase translated “immeasurably more” is the same word for the abundant grace of God in Romans 5:20: “…But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” It literally means, “Superabundantly, with more added to that.” That’s like saying more than more than. God has enough power to do immeasurably more than we can ask or think with more added to that.
Verse 21 shows us that the glory of God is displayed in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Paul sees the church as the means by which much glory can be given to God. In other words, as we utilize the power given to us, God receives the glory.
That leads to a question, doesn’t it? Why are we as Christians so often deficient? What is keeping us from experiencing this kind of power? Why do we have so many power outages?
There are really only two answers to that question.
1. Either our theology is wrong and God is not able to do what He says;
2. Or, our theology is right, but we short-circuit the process.
Obviously, the problem is with us, not with God. We are not tapping into the power He has made available to us. We either don’t care or we think we can do it all in our strength.
God’s priority in prayer is that we would worship Him no matter what the circumstances. He does not change like the wind changes. His power, love, and grace remain constant. There is nothing the devil or this world can throw at us, that can ever change Gods attitude anf feelings for you and I. Romans 8:36 reminds us of this fact.
Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”[o]) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[p] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Action Steps : Let me give you three action steps this morning.
1. Pray this prayer for yourself on regular basis. Take this text, insert your name and pray it every day for a week. Ask God to change your inner person, and pray less for your physical needs.
2. Pray this prayer for other people. Put their names in the prayer and ask God to grant them strength, depth, comprehension, and fullness.
3. Think of an impossible situation right now. Is there something you are facing that seems way beyond hope? Make a decision to trust God to do immeasurably more than all you can ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within you.
Closing congregational prayer time
Benediction: Read Ephesians 3:14-21 in New Living Translation.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
