Folks have some strange ideas about prayer. Some folks do not have the slightest idea of what prayer is.
Illus: This reminds me of Karin Wotten of Ocala, Florida who tells about the opening exercises of their Vacation Bible School, when they asked for volunteers to pray. One morning, a first grader enthusiastically waved his hand. Running to the front, he took a big breath as everyone bowed their heads and closed their eyes, quietly waiting before his voice boomed through the microphone. He said, "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America ..." (Karin C. Wooten, Ocala, Florida. Christian Reader, "Kids of the Kingdom.")
Some children probably have a better concept of prayer than most adults.
Illus: The Vacation Bible School teacher, surrounded by her group of first graders, proposed a letter-writing project. Each child was asked to write to a friend. Six-year-old Lance produced the following letter in his childish print:
“Dear Jesus,
I like to go to Bible School. I like to play with the kids. I am a good boy.
P.S. Tell the angels hello.”
( Beverly A. Flaten, Williston, ND. Christian Reader, "Lite Fare.)
Many times we use prayer as a substitute for doing good.
Illus: C.S. Lewis said this about prayer; “I am often, I believe, praying for others when I should be doing things for them. It's so much easier to pray for a bore than to go and see him.” (C. S. Lewis in Letters to Malcolm. Christianity Today, Vol. 37, no. 10.)
You can measure the spirituality of an individual or a church when you consider what part prayer has in their life.
Illus: Before the term “mega church” was ever conceived, C. H. Spurgeon was pastor of one in the heart of London, England.
When he was just twenty years of age, the New Park Street Church in London called him to be their pastor. God began to move in the midst of that church, and soon people were coming in such large numbers that the church building couldn’t hold them.
In fact, Spurgeon did something that probably no other pastor has ever done, that is, he asked his saved church members if they would stay home to make room for the many sinners that were coming.
They later constructed a new building — the Metropolitan Tabernacle — which seated 6,000 people, which was unheard of in that day, and they filled it twice every Sunday.
For thirty-one years, he filled the Metropolitan Tabernacle twice on Sunday and hundreds and hundreds of people came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ each year and were baptized.
Charles Spurgeon, who is referred to by many as the prince of preachers, would have been the first to tell you that the source of the churches strength and success wasn’t in any special program or new idea, nor was it in the words that he preached.
There was a greater source of strength. So what was it that gave this church its power?
Illus: Five young college students who were preparing for the pastoral ministry, visited the Metropolitan Tabernacle to hear Charles Spurgeon speak. While waiting for the church doors to open, Charles Spurgeon himself approached them and asked if they would like to see the powerhouse of this great church.
The soon to be preachers were delighted to see the secret to the power of this church.
Spurgeon led them through a long hallway, down a stairway, and cautiously opened a door at the bottom.
What the five young men saw astonished them. Looking through this open doorway, they saw about 700 church members bowed in prayer asking God for His blessing on the upcoming service. “That,” said Spurgeon “is our powerhouse!”
That is the powerhouse of the church today. When God’s people began to pray, the hand of God began to move among the believers. But what made this prayer so great is that you can see that Paul had a desire for this church.
If you found a “genie” in a bottle and were granted three wishes that were bound to come true, what would you ask for?
Illus: Have you heard the story of a young man who found a “genie” in a bottle? This young adult 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." The man 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.
Let me show you THREE THINGS that Paul desired for the church of Ephesus. First, let’s look at -
I. THE INVOCATION
Let’s begin by looking at Paul’s invocation in verses 14-15. He said, “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.”
Notice, Paul spoke of the position of his prayer. The normal prayer posture for the Jew was standing.
• Abraham STOOD before the Lord
• Jesus told about the Pharisee and the Publican - they STOOD before the Lord
• Today, Jews at the Wailing Wall stand, rocking back and forth
I do not know about you, but I find myself on my knees before God when something is urgent.
This posture demonstrates the great extent of Paul’s concern that this prayer be answered by God. When Paul said that he knelt in prayer, the translation from the Greek is, “I bend my knee before the Father.”
Some say position in prayer is not that important! Paul must have thought it mattered because he wanted them to know he was on his knees before God.
Illus: “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me, seemed insufficient for the day.” (Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
Illus: William Cowper said, “Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees.”
We have looked at THE INVOCATION, but now let’s look at-
II. THE PETITION
There are four specific requests that Paul had in this prayer. Wiersbe suggests that these four petitions should not be considered to be separate, but instead they are like a telescope, one leads to the other.
Paul prays that our inner being may:
• Have spiritual strength, which will
• Lead to a deeper experience with Christ
• This deeper experience will enable us to comprehend God’s great love
• This will result in being “filled to the measure of the fullness of God.”
Let’s look at these more closely.
A. FIRST PETITION - STRENGTH
How does GOD give us SPIRITUAL STRENGTH? Through the Holy Spirit.
So much of church worship today is done through the STRENGTH OF MAN.
• Many singers sing, never praying for God to enable them to be effective.
• Many teach, never praying for God to enable them to teach the Word of God.
• Many preach, never praying for GOD to enable them to preach the word.
The reason we are getting the results that we are getting is because they are done in the strength of mortal man.
Illus: 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!
God said, in Zechariah 4:6, “…Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.”
The word translated “power” is the Greek word “dunamei”, from which we get the words dynamic and dynamite.
Paul recognized that the church then and the church now must have THE POWER OF GOD AVAILABLE UNTO THEM, and he is praying that they might discover that power.
Only the Holy Spirit can enable us and strengthen our spirits. He is the one:
• Who refreshes us
• Who revitalizes us
• Who empowers us
Paul is praying for the church in Ephesus to be STRENGTHENED FROM WITHIN. He is praying for STRENGTH, but also -
B. SECOND PETITION - DEPTH
When the Holy Spirit begins to empower us, we then can have a deeper walk with the Lord. The church is filled with Christians who have a shallow relationship with the Lord.
Look at what Paul is praying for in verse 17, we read, “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love.”
Paul uses three pictures to convey the idea of spiritual depth in our Christian life. Look at three verbs he uses:
• Dwell
• Rooted
• Established
Let’s look at these three:
(1) THE WORD DWELL
This word is a compound form of two Greek words,
•“kata” (down)
•“oikos” (house)
It literally means, “to settle down and feel at home.”
When the Lord saved us, He wanted to DWELL IN US in such a way that He could “Settle down and feel at home within us.”
Have you ever gone to someone’s home and they invited you in, but they made it obvious that their home was not really your home. There were places in that home that were off limits.
Illus: Robert Munger wrote a fascinating booklet entitled “My Heart Christ’s Home.” He pictured the Christian life as a house. He pictured Jesus coming into the house and going 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 the Lord is not going to force Himself into our life, we have to tell Him, OUR HOME IS HIS HOME and He has full access to everything that is ours.
Many have rooms in their life that they haven’t allowed Jesus into. Paul is praying that these Christians will not restrain Him in their lives.
(2) THE WORD ROOTED
For a tree to survive in the storms of life, it must have some deep roots. These roots STABILIZE THE TREE, and also provide NOURISHMENT.
Psalm 1 tells us that we can become like living trees, if our root system is healthy.
Look at Psalm 1:1-4, we read, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.”
(3) THE WORD ESTABLISHED
The word established is an architectural term that refers to the foundation of a building. Any contractor will tell you that the foundation is what determines the size of a building. If you and I do not have a good strong foundation, we are not going to go very far in this spiritual life.
Paul is using all three of these words, DWELL, ROOTED, and ESTABLISHED to show them he is praying for them to have a greater DEPTH spiritually.
In Paul’s petition, he prays for STRENGTH, he prays for DEPTH, and -
(C) THIRD PETITION - COMPREHENSION
Look at verses 18-19, we read, “May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”
Illus: When Louis Armstrong was asked to explain jazz, he said, “Man if I’ve got to explain it, you ain’t got it!”
Paul is praying that the believers “get it.” GET WHAT?
We can break down what Paul says into three distinct petitions. As we go through this passage, you will see that Paul prays that we are able to:
• Measure the immeasurable
• Know the unknowable
• Contain the “uncontainable”
No one can say they have learned everything there is to know about God. As Christians, the more we learn about Him, the more we realize that there is much more to know about Him.
The beginning part of verse 19 seems like a contradiction. We read, “And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”
• How can we know the love of God that is beyond knowing?
• How can we know the unknowable?
Humanly speaking, we can’t. This kind of knowledge is not intellectual, but divine it comes with salvation.
Paul is not praying 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. The only way to really understand it is by experiencing it for ourselves.
Paul’s petition is for God to DWELL in them, and for them to go DEEPER spiritually, and COMPREHEND His great love.
D. FOURTH PETITION - FULLNESS
Look at the last part of verse 19, we read, “…that ye might be filled with all the fulness 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. That is, He desires to pour His life into ours and fill us until we’re full.
Illus: Have you ever taken an empty glass and filled it until it was overflowing?
• In one sense, we are already full in Christ. That is, 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.
Are you willing to say to the Lord, “Lord, fill me up so that my life is all you and none of me?”
We have looked at THE INVOCATION and THE PETITION, now let’s look at-
III. THE BENEDICTION
Look at verses 20-21, we read, “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”
In this beautiful benediction, Paul uses every word possible to convey the vastness of God’s power that is available to us.
Conclusion:
Have you ever been to a July 4th fireworks display? If you have, you watched the fireworks light the sky, but finally the grand finale comes, and while all that you have been watching is amazing, now it becomes unbelievable.
This is how Paul closes this prayer in verses 20 and 21. He is about to explode with excitement.
We have looked at this prayer in three ways:
I. THE INVOCATION
II. THE PETITIONS
III. THE BENEDICTION
Note: You can hear Dr Odell Belger preach some of these sermons on Youtube. Type Youtube and the word Lykesland
