One of Terri’s all-time favorite movies is Aladdin. Now, I’m not talking about the live-action remake. If you’re going to watch Aladdin with her, it had better be the original Disney cartoon. The villain of the movie was Jafar, the grand vizier of Agraba. Jafar was the chief advisor, second in command, in a position similar to that of Joseph in Egypt. But that just wasn’t enough. Throughout the movie, we see him chase after more power until it proves to be his demise.
At the beginning of the movie, Jafar is trying to find someone described as the diamond in the rough in order to retrieve the magic lamp from the Cave of Wonders. It turns out that Aladdin fit the bill, but he outwitted Jafar and became the master of the genie.
Towards the end of the movie, Jafar gets his hands on the lamp. For his first wish, he wished to rule on high as sultan. The genie grants the wish, transferring the sultan’s attire to Jafar and then uprooting the entire castle and setting it on top of a nearby mountain so he’d literally be ruling on high.
Jafar demands that the sultan and Princess Jasmine bow before him. When they refuse, he declares, “You won’t bow before a sultan, you’ll cower before a sorcerer!” He then makes his second wish, to be the most powerful sorcerer in the world.
Aladdin tries to get the lamp back, but Jafar seems to be one step ahead of him, thwarting his attempts. But then Aladdin tricks Jafar, telling him, “The genie has more power than you’ll ever have. He gave you your power, he can take it away, you’re STILL just second best!”
Jafar realizes that Aladdin is right and makes his third wish- to be an all-powerful genie. As he is reveling in his newfound power, Aladdin picks up the new magic lamp and reminds him, “Not so fast Jafar, aren’t you forgetting something? You wanted to be a genie, you got it and everything that goes with it. Phenomenal cosmic powers, itty bitty living space!” Jafar is sucked into the lamp.
Some of you may be wondering, “Why would I share this story today?” We’re beginning a new series entitled “Pray Like Paul.” This month, we’re going to look at how Paul prayed for the church and hopefully be inspired to follow his example. Today, we’re going to examine how Paul prayed for spiritual power and as I pondered this concept, it occurred to me how Jafar is the complete antithesis of the kind of attitude we need when seeking God’s spiritual power.
What do I mean? Let’s begin by getting the end of our passage in mind. Paul is praying for the church to gain spiritual strength. This prayer was not to strengthen the church so we can lord our power over others or draw attention to ourselves. Let’s take a sneak peek at Ephesians 3:21 (read). To God be the glory is the result that Paul is seeking as he prays this prayer.
Why pray this prayer, why pray for spiritual power? The verses leading up to the prayer indicate that Paul is writing this letter from prison. He knows the Ephesians are aware of his circumstances and they’re very concerned for him. Things are not looking very good for Paul. But Paul knows the power of prayer, He knows how God can work in circumstances like his.
I wonder if the things that happened to Peter in Acts 12 weren’t on the back of Paul’s mind as he was writing. Seeing how the people responded to the execution of John’s brother James, King Herod arrested Peter. We’re told in verse 5 (read). The following verses go on to tell us that God sent an angel to Peter the night before Herod was going to take action. Peter thought he was having a vision as the angel woke him up and guided him to freedom. When he realized the events were real, he went straight to the house of Mary, where he knew the church had gathered to pray for him.
On a side note, when Peter knocked on the door, they had a hard time believing it was actually him. Now, how often do we go to God in prayer only half-believing He’ll act on it and then are shocked to see the prayer answered? We need to remember that the God to whom we’re praying has the power to answer.
As Paul shares his prayer for the church, he turns their attention away from his circumstance. He tells them he bows his knees before the Father. He humbles himself in the presence of God and he prays, not for himself, not for his situation, but for the strength of the church.
In the first part of his prayer, Paul identifies all three persons of the Trinity. He knows that only God is capable of answering prayers, and he points out the roles that the Father, Son, and Spirit take on so that prayers are answered. He identifies God the Father. When he states that it is from the Father that every family in heaven and on earth is named, He is declaring that God is our creator. He identifies God the Spirit as the one who gives us strength. He identifies God the Christ who will dwell in our hearts.
Having recognized the God who is 3-in-1, Paul begins to pray for strength on behalf of the church. What is this spiritual strength that he’s talking about? When I hear the word strength, my mind immediately goes to physical strength. I try to go to the Y first thing every weekday morning before I head to my office at McDonald’s. There’s also the idea of mental strength. As the man of the house, I try to be the shoulder my family can lean on in times of struggle and, as you know, there have been plenty of opportunities for that lately. Then there’s intellectual strength. I grew up being book smart, but I struggled to be street smart. I had plenty of knowledge, but I struggled with wisdom. My mom would tease me from time to time about being a gifted dummy.
Paul is talking about spiritual strength. (Read 2 Corinthians 12:10) Spiritual strength comes when we recognize that we can’t do it on our own, that we need God to make it through whatever circumstance we may be facing. It’s the concept Jesus taught when He said that we must deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him. Now let’s look at how this spiritual strength works.
Read Ephesians 3:18. Now, I don’t know about you, but every time I read a verse like this, I can’t help but think about the children’s song. Deep and wide, deep and wide, there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide. Paul is praying that the church can comprehend the breadth and length and height and depth. It’s massive. I think David says it best with what he wrote in Psalm 139:7-12 (read). Whether I ascend to heaven or descend to Sheol, God is there. If I take flight into the skies or dive into the depths of the oceans, God is there. Even if I try to take cover in darkness, God still sees me. That is what Paul wants us to comprehend. We are never without God, no matter where we are or what we are doing, God is there. That gives us strength.
Paul continues to pray for strength to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge in verse 18. He prays similar things in (read 2 Corinthians 4:7, Philippians 4:7, 2 Corinthians 9:15). But how does this work? How can one know something that surpasses knowledge? I believe it comes down to experience over rationale. I can talk about the love of Christ all day long until I’m blue in the face. I can tell you how He was willing to leave His place in heaven, suffer at the hands of man, die on the cross and come back to life because of how much He loves each and every one of us. I’m sure many of you can share stories of the times you were desperate and the only thing that got you through was knowing that God loves you. When you’ve experienced that for yourself, when you’ve seen the hand of God at work in your life, I assure you, you have a knowledge that surpasses knowledge. (read Isaiah 55:8-9) It’s like the text acronym- IYKYK- If You Know You Know. I can’t put it into words and make you understand, you’ve just got to experience it for yourself.
Paul then completes verse 19 by praying for strength to be filled with the fullness of God. I’m reminded of the hymn Fill My Cup, Lord. It opens by saying that we are like the woman at the well- thirsting for something more, so Lord, fill my cup and make me whole. How does that work? Read John 4:13-14. Jesus is the source of living water. To be honest, Jesus, back in the soundbooth got this stuck in my mind because he reminds us of our need for living water regularly at youth group. When Jesus is our source, God fills us up, as it says in the Psalm, my cup overflows. That fullness should pour out of us and impact everyone around us that they are forced to consider what role they have given Christ in their lives.
(Read Romans 8:11) You see, it is the same power that rose Jesus from the grave that lives in us today. When you joined Jesus in His death, burial, and resurrection, the Holy Spirit was given to you, to fill you up, to give you power to face whatever may come your way. So Paul prays for the church to have strength to comprehend the breadth and length and height and depth of God, to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, and to be filled with the fullness of God. Why?
Paul prays for these things to point the attention of the church to God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask. Do you hear that? You can’t ask for more than God is able to give, He can exceed your expectations. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we think. Do you hear that? You don’t even have to say your request out loud. God knows your every thought. That’s something to think about, isn’t it?
Let me give you a recent example. I’m pretty excited about this and now you all. As a church, we’ve gone to a couple of Kokomo Jackrabbits games to hang out and simply have some fun together. Last year, we went on superhero night because it was the most positive theme night they held, plus there were fireworks at the end of the game. But I miss the Christian Family Day event held each year by the Cardinals and wondered if there was a way to create something similar here.
Just before Christmas, I received an email from the Jackrabbits announcing that ticket packages were going on sale in time for gift purchases. I thought, here’s my chance. We recently got a new Christian radio station, Shine.FM, and they talk about coming to church events and the like, so let’s see what will happen. I found the contact email for Shine.FM and copied them in a reply to the Jackrabbits, asking if there might be interest in creating a Faith & Family Event at the ball game. Both groups wrote back that they are interested, so let’s get together after the holidays to discuss it. I invited them to come over for our last community lunch. When they arrived, I made the introductions, we got some delicious food, and we went into a classroom to talk.
I explained my interest in seeing this event happen and that I’d love to take a group from our church to something like this and then sat back as they talked. The baseball team was very open to hosting such an event, after all, it could generate ticket sales. The radio station offered to set up a pre-game concert by a national touring group and promoting the game on air. But it didn’t stop there. They began talking about how the team and the radio station could work together in other ways. The team would provide ticket packages the station could use as prizes on air. The radio station is a part of Olivet Nazarene University and the person at the meeting is a professor of radio broadcasting who is always looking for internships for his students, something the baseball team could provide.
I was simply looking for a way to connect faith to an outing to the ball park so that our church family could enjoy an evening together and God took and ran with it, doing so much more than I would have even dreamed to happen.
That’s my recent story of how God did something amazing. I know many of you have even better stories of how God is working in your lives. He’s helped you overcome illnesses like cancer, financial struggles, conflict with loved ones. If we were to pass the microphone around and ask people to testify to how God is at work, we may be here all day. There is testimony after testimony of the goodness of God in our lives.
To Him be the glory. In the church, because we are the hands and feet of Jesus today. In Jesus, because He is the foundation of our faith. For how long will this glory last? Throughout all generations, forever and ever and ever and ever… Now, Greg, how long is forever? It’s forever. Amen! Let’s pray like Paul- not for ourselves, but for each other to receive spiritual strength. (pray)
Did you notice the song that was playing during the countdown this morning? I like picking songs that connect to the sermon topic of the day. In this song, Too Good to Not Believe, the author testifies to seeing God’s hand at work in miraculous ways. The chorus reads like this:
I believe
You're the wonder-working God
You're the wonder-working God
All the miracles I've seen
Too good to not believe
You're the wonder-working God
And You heal because You love
Oh, the miracles we'll see
You're too good to not believe
Maybe today is the day that you’ve finally figured this out. There is a God and He loves you despite your shortcomings. He gave you Jesus to pay your price, but you need to respond. Find the strength that Paul has prayed for on our behalf. Deny yourself, pick up your cross, follow Jesus by joining Him in baptism today.
