Connected In Prayer
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Intro: Last week we looked at “Connected Through Fellowship”. Paul encouraged the church at Ephesus to seek fellowship with the Lord so they could have harmony with one another in the body of Christ. Paul was grateful that Jews and Gentiles were becoming a healthy body of believers, growing and being built up together as the holy people of God.
But Paul also knew the realities of life. That struggles and trials would come their way just as it had to him. Remember that Paul is writing this letter from a Roman jail, and no doubt that his trials weighed heavy upon the hearts of the church.
13 Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
So Paul prays for the church and it becomes an example of how we should all be “Connected In Prayer” to God and one another.
Text; Eph. 3:14-19
14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,
17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—
19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
During Pauls time in prison he wrote what we call the prison epistles [Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon]. In each of these letters he prays for the church and the individual Philemon. But in the letters to the churches Pauls prayers run virtually the same course and that course is for the church to have an upward progression in the power of God in ones life.
1. For this Reason; 14-15
1. For this Reason; 14-15
Prayer is our lifeline to God. For the Christian, praying is supposed to be like breathing, easier to do than to not do.
We pray for a lot of different reasons; forgiveness, needs, with thanksgiving, discernment, wisdom, ministry, others, strength, lost, sick, a harvest, to obey, etc...
Paul prays for all these things as he prays for the church. But this prayer is a prayer of specific urgency for the church not to lose hope or faith in the power of God based on the circumstances of other believers. In this case Paul.
Paul praying on his knees was unusual unless there was great urgency or a desperate need. [Jews normally prayed standing with their palms upward to receive God’s blessings]
But this was an extraordinary situation. [Daniel in the time of the signed decree, Jesus in Gethsemane]
There are extraordinary situations surrounding the church today. Attacks from all the principalities and powers of darkness in the world, and they seem to grow bolder and come more frequently. That’s why Paul prays the way he does.
Let’s look at this prayer.
2. Strengthened In The Spirit; 16
2. Strengthened In The Spirit; 16
Paul wants the church to draw upon the greatest source of power within us, the Holy Spirit of God.
The greatest riches of God’s glory is His constant presence in our lives through His Spirit.
John 14:16–18 (NKJV)
16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—
17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
Circumstances like Paul’s could easily cause us [church] to trust in ourselves, our instincts, emotions, and make bad decisions that would do harm to us and God’s name.
The strength/might of the Holy Spirit enables the inner man to be tough, endure and persevere when the flesh wants to give up and give in.
Acts 1:8 (NKJV)
8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
2 Corinthians 12:9 (NKJV)
9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
3. Dwell in Faith and Be Rooted in Love; 17
3. Dwell in Faith and Be Rooted in Love; 17
Faith- reliance upon and trust in God [3 types of faith]
Saving Faith- trusting in Christ alone for salvation by grace
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
Living Faith- trusting Christ daily
7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.
Dying Faith- trusting Christ’s promise of heaven/eternal life
8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
This type of faith dwells only in the believer that is rooted and grounded in Christs’ love.
Rooted- planted in good soil that bears fruit
Matthew 13:23 (NKJV)
23 But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
Grounded- a firm foundation of a building
Luke 6:48 (NKJV)
48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.
Faith in the storm is true faith! Faith in a calm may be, or may not be, genuine faith.
An Instructive Truth, Volume 50, Sermon #2893 - Jeremiah 10:23
Charles Spurgeon
4. Comprehend Christs’ Love; 18-19a
4. Comprehend Christs’ Love; 18-19a
It is one thing to know that God is love and it is another to comprehend His love.
Comprehend- to grasp, to lay hold of, to get it
Paul expresses God’s love with words that define the dimensions of an object.
Width- God’s love is wide enough to reach around the world and embrace all of mankind. From Nicodemus to Nero, Ananias to adulterer, Paul to Pilate, Saddam Hussain to sinners such as we are. Unconditional!
9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.
Length- The length of His love begins with the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the world and continues forward throughout eternity. Eternal!
1 Praise the Lord! Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
22 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.
Depth- God’s love is so deep that it took Jesus from glory to the Cross!
8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Height- God’s love is so high that it reaches from the grave to His throne!
9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
Summary of His love;
38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Paul wants the church to lay hold of the love of God the way it has laid hold of us so it can work in us in all situations of life! Are you that persuaded?
5. The Fullness of God; 19
5. The Fullness of God; 19
Fullness- lacking nothing. God pours his love and power into believers, making us complete for this life and getting us ready for the life to come. Paul prays that there would be nothing lacking in our relationship with the Father.
What would God look like if he were a boy of 12? Jesus
What would God do if he were tempted as we are? Act like Jesus
What would God do if he were faced with sorrow? Face it like Jesus did
How would God respond to the poor and the sick? Just like Jesus
What would God do with his money? Give like Jesus
How would God act if people betrayed Him? Love like Jesus
What would God do if he were asked to endure pain, suffering and even death for others? Lay down His life like Jesus
9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;
10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
Paul’s prayer for the church is to become Christlike. Practicing His presence and His power through faith and prayer!
Close;
Prayers un-prayed will be prayers unanswered. If Nehemiah would have not prayed the walls of Jerusalem would not have been rebuilt [Neh. 1]. If Daniel would have not prayed he would have been devoured by the lions [Dan. 6:16-22]. If the Syrian woman with the demon-influenced daughter had not prayed to Christ, her daughter would not have been made whole (Mark 7:26–30). If the blind man outside Jericho had not called out to Christ, he would have remained blind (Luke 18:35–43). God has said that we often go without because we do not ask (James 4:2).
Are you Connected to God In Prayer?