Being built up... (13)

Praying for power...

I might be the only one, but I think we take a lot of things for granted.

When I was youth pastoring in Northwestern Ontario, I had taken a group of kids to a youth event to either Ignace or Dryden. As we started the trip home, I noticed that that there was something wrong. It was either the battery or the alternator. It was dark, and I didn’t know how long before the vehicle would shut down.

There are no towns on the Dryden highway. It’s about 2 1/2 hours to Fort Frances from Dryden. It’s not a great feeling wondering if the vehicle could limp home. We had no cellphones, but we weren’t travelling alone. As the voltage lowered, we pulled over to the side of the road, and left the car for the night, and jumped in the other vehicles to get everyone home.

The next morning, I borrowed a battery from a garage and a friend with a vehicle, and made the journey back to the Cutlas Sierra. Even with a new battery, it began to drain, because it wasn’t being charged.

This morning, we’re going to look at Paul’s prayer for power for the believers in Ephesus and how this is applicable to our lives today.

Let’s read our Scripture,

Ephesians 3:14–21 NLT

14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 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. 20 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. 21 Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

Paul starts with,

When I think of all this...

This is the same phrase that he starts the chapter 3:1

Ephesians 3:1 (NLT)

1 When I think of all this, I, Paul…

When Paul thought of God’s mercy that had been poured out on the Gentiles, and how Jesus was building His church stone by stone, it brought Paul to praise.

None of us deserve the grace of God…If we got what we deserved, we would still be in our trespasses and sins. We would deserve the wrath of God.

Ephesians 2:4–5 NIV

4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

Since Jesus has torn down the wall of hostility that separated Jews and Gentiles and given us access into God’s presence by the blood of Jesus,

Paul fell on his knees to God...

Ephesians 3:14–15 NLT

14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.

When we kneel in prayer, this shows earnest and humble submission to God. (LANTC) In Jewish tradition, it was common to pray standing up, but as we look at examples in Scripture, they kneeled at very crucial situations.

Here are three examples:

When

Jesus

was in the Garden of Gethsemane

Luke 22:41–42 NIV

41 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”

Another example was when the crowd was going to kill

Stephen

Acts 7:60 NIV

60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

The third example was when

Peter

prayed to raise the dead.

Acts 9:40 NIV

40 Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up.

Our access to God comes through Jesus Christ, not in the posture in which we pray, but when we kneel, it often shows the posture of our hearts.

What did Paul do?

Ephesians 3:14–15 NLT

14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.

When we come to God in prayer, we are coming to our Heavenly Father. He is the creator of heaven and earth.

Genesis 1:1 NIV

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Is there anything too hard for the Lord?

He is the All-powerful God. He spoke the worlds into existence. Our earth is just a small part of the creation of the universe, but God created each planet, every asteroid, the moons that revolve around the planet. He made the sun, and each and every star, no matter how small or how enormous. Of all the galaxies, He spoke them all into existence.

As we look at the expanse of our universe, it can make us marvel at the immense size of it, and yet we look at the care God took in creating our planet.

Psalm 8:3–9 NLT

3 When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers— the moon and the stars you set in place— 4 what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? 5 Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor. 6 You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority— 7 the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals, 8 the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents. 9 O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!

Let’s never forget to whom we are praying. It reminds me of the hymn Stuart Hamblin wrote,

“How Big is God?”

Here’s what the chorus says,

How big is God? How big and wide his vast domain. To try and tell, these lips can only start. He's big enough, to rule this mighty universe. Yet small enough, to live within my heart.

1 John 5:14–15 NIV

14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

What did Paul pray?

We’ll just break it down into a couple of sections.

He prayed...

That God would strengthen with power...

Ephesians 3:16–17 (NIV)

16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith...

Life Application New Testament Commentary Paul’s Prayer for Spiritual Empowering / 3:14–21

The Greek word for “strength” is the opposite of “despair”

Ephesians 3:13 (NLT)

13 So please don’t lose heart because of my trials here...

Where does our power come from?

From the Holy Spirit.

Acts 1:8 NIV

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The reason for power that Jesus gave was to be His witnesses.

Paul gives another reason, and that is

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith...

The Holy Spirit wasn’t sent to give us warm fuzzy feelings. Sometimes you might feel a tangible moving of the Holy Spirit upon you. These encounters can be very powerful and impactful.

He comes to dwell in our hearts.

Ephesians 1:13–14 NLT

13 And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.

Jesus said this about the Holy Spirit:

John 16:12–14 NLT

12 “There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. 14 He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me.

We mustn’t ignore the Holy Spirit, He is not only God’s representative, but He is God here on earth. We experience God’s presence through the Holy Spirit. May you be strengthened in you inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

Paul goes on to say.

Ephesians 3:17–19 (NIV)

17 ...And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,

18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,

19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

And I pray that

You being rooted and established in love...

This gives the picture of a tree.

Psalm 1:3 NIV

3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.

Have you ever planted trees? When I was in school, each student was given a tree so that we could plant it.

We had to plant it and water it and wait for it to be rooted and established. This takes patience. Have you noticed how long it takes for a tree to grow, but they reach a point that they establish. Their roots go down deep and the trees seem to grow quickly.

My prayer is that you are rooted and established in the love of Christ.

Paul prayed that they

Ephesians 3:18 NIV

18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,

May we be able to take ahold of how great His love is.

The NLT puts it this way,

Ephesians 3:18 NLT

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.

I’m not sure that we will ever begin to understand how vast His agape love is, but may you have the power to understand His love.

Life Application New Testament Commentary Paul’s Prayer for Spiritual Empowering / 3:14–21

This passage shows that even as we seek to grasp an understanding of Christ’s love, we will never understand it completely, for it is beyond our comprehension. It is wide—covering the breadth of our own experience and reaching out to the whole world. It is long—continuing the length of our lives and on into eternity. It is high—rising to the heights of our celebration and elation. His love is deep—reaching to the depths of discouragement, despair, and even death.

Ephesians 3:19 NLT

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.

I find it interesting how Paul prayed that followers of Christ would understand the love of God. As we look at verse 19, he prayed that they would experience the love of Christ. We can’t know the love of God unless we experience it.

I can tell you how good something tastes, but until you have tasted it, you won’t understand what I mean.

Before Donna and I got married, I had never had a Mango. Donna could tell me that a mango was her favorite fruit, but I didn’t know what it tasted like until I had tasted a perfectly ripened mango for myself.

Psalm 34:8 NIV

8 Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

The purpose of experiencing the love of Christ, is so that we will be made complete.

Here’s what the Life Application Commentary says,

Life Application New Testament Commentary Paul’s Prayer for Spiritual Empowering / 3:14–21

God pours his love and power into believers, making us complete for this life and readying us for the life to come.

Life Application New Testament Commentary (Paul’s Prayer for Spiritual Empowering / 3:14–21)

This “fullness” is fully expressed only in Christ... We need not look anywhere else. The ultimate goal is for believers to become Christlike individuals, filled so totally with Christ that he is seen in us.

Paul closes this with a powerful benection:

Ephesians 3:20–21 NLT

20 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. 21 Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

Let’s never forget that God is able to do infinitely more that we can ask or think. Through His power that is at work in us.

Romans 8:11 NIV

11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

Let’s not short change what God can do. The greatest miracle is when God brings us from death to life. There is no problem or situation in your life that God can’t handle.

May you know and experience God’s love in Christ so that you can be complete in Him.

Let’s pray!