Sermon – Paul’s Prayer For Grace-filled Believers
Scripture - Ephesians 1:15-23 “Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, 16 I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, 17 asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. 18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. 19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. 21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. 22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. 23 And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.”
Introduction – Paul began with a beautiful introduction of how we as grace-filled believers have received every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus. We have been adopted to sonship, we have been chosen, forgiven, and redeemed. We have been marked with a seal and given the Holy Spirit as a down payment of our inheritance. Then Paul prays that we will have the revelation of Christ so we can know the hope and power we have been called to as grace-filled believers. We are the Body of Christ, the Church with Jesus Christ as its head. Let’s examine Paul’s prayer for these grace-filled believers at Ephesus. Paul's prayers for the Ephesian believers is really a prayer for all believers. In this Roman occupied territory, Christian believers were in the minority. They were experiencing hardships, economic woes, and the same difficulties as the general population. Paul does not dwell on their lack; he places his attention on what they have.
Notice Paul prays for their spiritual insight, inner strength, and the discovery of God’s endless supply of power. Paul wants God to help the believers discover their purpose and to understand God’s truth, so they can know God better, and be filled to overflowing with God’s power.
1. Grace-filled Believers Need to Grow in the Wisdom and Knowledge of God. Ephesians 1:15-17 “Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, 16 I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, 17 asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.
How commendable it is for any believer to have strong faith in God and fervent love for one another. God is glorify as we display our faith and love. There is a tendency for believers to become complacent and satisfied to be saved. 2 Peter 3:18, encourages believers by saying, “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever. Amen.”
Paul was asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give the believers spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. Spiritual wisdom can be defined as the understanding and knowledge that comes from a deep connection to God and one's inner self. It is the ability to see beyond the material world and to understand the interconnectedness of all things working together for good. Believers must deal with four classes of wisdom, according to James 3:15-17: earthly wisdom, intellectual wisdom, devilish wisdom, and the wisdom from above. With wisdom from above, believers can overcome every trial, and trust God through every difficulty. Paul knew every believer would need to keep growing. Wisdom is more than knowledge; it is sound judgment and discernment. It is knowing what to pursue and what to let go, what to long for and what to flee. Where does wisdom come from? “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding” (Psalm 111:10). “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you” (James 1:5). Grace-filled Believers Need to Grow in the Wisdom and Knowledge of God.
2. Grace-filled Believers Need to Grow in the Confident Hope God Gives. Ephesians 1:18 “I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.”
Confident hope is based on the full assurance that God is trustworthy, reliable, and able to fulfill His promises. That He will keep His word. Romans 12:11-13, says, “Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble and keep on praying. When God's people are in need, be ready to help them.”
Paul prays that God would keep their hearts flooded with confident hope. It is our best defense against discouragement. During seasons of trial, Believers become prime candidates for discouragement. Satan bombard their minds with thoughts that question the trustworthiness of God and his word. Is God reliable? Will God answer in time? Does God cares about my situation. When those thoughts come, we are tempted to be lazy, to slack off, to lose our enthusiasm and have a pity party. But that’s the time to “Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble and keep on praying as we look for opportunities to help others. Confident hope is God’s gift to keep us doing tough seasons of life. Hope given by God works in us, giving us confidence, joy, peace, power, and love to keep going. That is a true gift! “And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” Romans 5:5. Grace-filled Believers Need to Grow in the Wisdom and Knowledge of God; Need to Grow in the Confident Hope God Gives and Grace-filled Believers Need to Grow in understanding the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him.
3. Grace-filled Believers Need to Grow in Understanding the Incredible Greatness of God’s power for Us who Believe him.
Ephesians 1:19-23 "I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. 21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. 22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. 23 And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.”
God want believers to have a full supply of wisdom and knowledge of God for graceful living; to be flooded with confident hope for every discouragement of life and to all the power needed for victorious living. Paul prays that every believer will experience the incredible greatness of God’s power available for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead, dethroned the power of darkness and seated Jesus Christ in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. The Believer’s best defense against deception is Spiritual wisdom and understanding. The Believer’s best defense against discouragement is confident hope. The Believer’s best defense against attack is our spiritual authority in Christ Jesus. Believers have been empowered by the Holy Spirit. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead. The word power occurs fifty-seven times in the New Testament. It is used to describe the most powerful event that ever happened, an event that separated AD from BC — the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And that resurrection power is available to change our life! For Paul, the most important thing in life is knowing Christ and experiencing the power of His resurrection.
First, resurrection power is the power to cancel our past — our failures, mistakes, sins, and regrets. When I say “cancel,” I’m not talking about denying the past as if it never happened. Cancel means to eliminate, to neutralize, give you a clean slate! In Jeremiah 31:34 God says to the Israelites that He “will remember their sins no more.” This has to be one of the most amazing statements in the Bible — that the God who made the world “forgets.” When we come to Him, admit our sins, and ask Him to forgive us, He cancels our past. God chooses to forget our wrongs, our mistakes, our failures. That’s good news! Even if we were to die tonight and stand before God in heaven, we could ask Him about some sin we committed yesterday, and He would say, “What sin?” He has canceled our past and set us free to get on with the present. How do I activate resurrection power? When you believe that resurrection power is residing in you, you begin to activate it through your words. You speak faith-filled words that agree with what God says about you. The power of God is released in faith-filled words. If the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he will make alive your mortal flesh. (Romans 8:11)
Satan attempts to defeat us with fearful words and feelings of powerlessness. We must combat his words with God’s word.
1 John 4:4, ”4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”
Romans 8:31-39 “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
1. Grace-filled Believers Need to Grow in the Wisdom and Knowledge of God. 2. Grace-filled Believers Need to Grow in the Confident Hope God Gives. 3. Grace-filled Believers Need to Grow in Understanding the Incredible Greatness of God’s power for Us who Believe him. Amen.
