The Jesus Centered Life, pt. 2- A lesson from Paul on prayer

Ephesians 3:14–21 (ESV)

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

This passage where Paul prays serves as an example for how to pray for the Ephesians and for us. So, let’s walk through the passage today as a lesson from Paul on prayer.

A lesson from Paul on prayer

Pray with God’s big picture in mind

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,

You can pray for what God wants…

Praying with God’s big picture in mind means that we pray according to the reason that Paul is referring…

And the reason that Paul is referring to is related to the mystery that has been revealed.

The mystery that has been revealed is the gospel… the revelation that has been made known through Christ is that God is bringing all things together through Him.

And all things, as we have seen, means both Jews and Gentiles… or as Paul prayer here from who every family in heaven and on earth is named… The generations of God’s family are not bound together by Abraham, or even Noah… they are bound up in God himself.

And the reason that Paul is praying about God’s big picture for the Ephesians is one of our points from the sermon last week on Ephesians 3:7-13. 7 Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. 8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. 13 So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. - Ephesians 3:7–13 (ESV)

The reason Paul is praying for them in light of God’s big picture is because God’s plan for revealing his mystery to the world is the church.

And this truth means the Ephesians… and it means us.

As Christians we are to pray for God’s people to fulfill His purpose and plans, which is our second part of the lesson

Pray for God’s people to fulfill His purposes and plans for their lives.

This means that we pray that those who know God will be faithful in carrying out His purpose for the church- revealing the mystery of the gospel to the world. (Peace, unity, sharing the gospel, multiplying, etc)

So what do we pray for… if you look with me at our passage you will see the increasing ways Paul shows us we should pray for one another.

Praying for God’s purpose and plans

Pray with increasing confidence in the God’s ability to supply

“ that according to the riches of his glory”

The gospel informs our prayer… we are saved by God’s power and according to the riches of his grace… therefore we pray for God to answer our prayers according to the riches of His glory.

This means that we pray believing God can answer… but we also pray believing that God will answer. And how can we have that kind of confidence? Our confidence is in God’s ability to supply and His expressed purpose and plans.

Paul teaches us to pray for what God has said will bring Him glory.

Pray for an Increasing strength of faith

“strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith”

To be strengthened means to be fortified or reinforced by the work and power of the Holy Spirit.

Commentary from John Stott- “Charles Hodge rightly comments, ‘The indwelling of Christ is a thing of degrees’. So also is the inward strengthening of the Holy Spirit. What Paul asks for his readers is that they may be ‘fortified, braced, invigorated’, that they may ‘know the strength of the Spirit’s inner reinforcement’ (jbp), and may lay hold ever more firmly ‘by faith’ of this divine strength, this divine indwelling.”

This is not because Jesus has somehow left you… This is to be growing in your faith and to live as one whom Christ has come to dwell.

Increasing over time by the work of the Spirit

Pray that they will be Increasingly rooted and grounded in love

“being rooted and grounded in love,”

God’s love is the soil in which life grows… Love is the foundation on which we build our lives. God’s purpose and plans are deeply connected to His love. Ephesians 1:4 says that God’s love was the source of our adoption to Himself as sons and daughters. 1:5 says that our adoption is according to God’s will.

God doesn’t tell us to root and ground ourselves in his other attributes. He tells us to be rooted and grounded in His love, and this is because it is His love that He presses to the forefront of our salvation and relationship to Him. As John writes in his letter… 1 John 4:7–10 (ESV), 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Commentary from John Stott

These Christians are to be rooted and grounded, or to have ‘deep roots and firm foundations’ (neb). Thus Paul likens them first to a well-rooted tree, and then to a well-built house. In both cases the unseen cause of their stability will be the same: love. Love is to be the soil in which their life is to be rooted; love is to be the foundation on which their life is built. One might say that their love is to be of both a ‘radical’ and a ‘fundamental’ nature in their experience, for these English words refer to our roots and our foundations. (Stott)

Pray for an increasing comprehension of the fullness of God’s love

“may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

Paul writes here in a way similar to what he writes in Romans 8…

Romans 8:37–39 (ESV), 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

It’s Paul’s prayer that they would understand the fullness of God’s love for them.

John Stott- “the love of Christ is ‘broad’ enough to encompass all mankind (especially Jews and Gentiles, the theme of these chapters), ‘long’ enough to last for eternity, ‘deep’ enough to reach the most degraded sinner, and ‘high’ enough to exalt him to heaven.”

Understanding the full scope of God’s love helps us to make sense of God’s love for ourselves and also for the other “worst people” that we know. If God can save Paul, then God saves us all.

Before we move on to the next part… I want to mention that he writes that we will be able to comprehend with all the saints… and this is one more place where the connection of the Christian to the church is seen in this letter (as it is with the rest of the NT.) There is an aspect of the scope of God’s love that cannot be fully comprehended alone.

Jumping back to 1 John 4:11–12 (ESV) we see that Paul’s language is again similar to the other apostles in this regard. John writes, 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

Here we see that the love of God is understood and practiced in the church… in fact it’s how people know that we belong to God. Those who have an increasing strength combined with an increasing understanding of God’s love will show it in the way that they love one another.

But, not only in how they love one another… we also need help in our satisfaction. Paul prays that they will grow and be filled with all the fullness of God.

Pray that they will be increasingly satisfied by God’s love

"and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

Knowing the love of God is relational… and Jesus has made promises to those who are His, and he has promised to fulfill and to satisfy. But, we are sinners and live in a sinful world… as such the world and it’s ways are competing for our minds and our moments. So, Paul prays that they will be filled with all the fullness of God… and this is a lifetime endeavor and comes with an increasing knowledge of God’s love.

The Christian pursuit of knowledge of God is not for the sake of knowing more than others, it’s for the sake of being in a close relationship with the one who made all things and is bringing things together through Christ.

We should pray this prayer, along with the other aspects of Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians for those closes to us and for the church around the world.

Applying this to your life today:

Pray for God’s purposes and plans for your life.

Paul has said already in Ephesians that we are God’s workmanship created before hand for good works that we should walk in them.

When you pray, pray for God’s purpose and plans for your life—- praying for God’s love in your life and your love for Him.

Jesus said that we are to love God and love one another.

Jesus said that if we love Him we will obey His commandments

Jesus said that He loves you… when? How? When he said that there is no greater love than for someone to lay down his life for his friends… and then he laid down his life for the whole world. It’s a little mind blowing that He loves the whole world and demonstrated in the most meaningful possible way.

Pray for God’s help to be strong, rooted, and growing in His love… and that His love will propel you to share the gospel and seek to make disciples of others.

You need to pray for yourself that you will be increasingly satisfied by the love of God… your growth in your love for God is the well you draw from to make it through whatever you are facing.

There is more in God’s supply that you will ever need… do drink deep of his love, grace, and mercy and pray for satisfaction in the middle of your loss, struggle, doubt, fear, joys, blessings, and successes.

Pray for God’s purposes and plans for your family and closest friends

Pray for an ever increasing strength, foundation, understanding, and satisfaction.

This is what we pray for when it comes to our kids… if they know God and grow I their love for God then whatever job they have they will be good.

This is what our friends need the most- to be fully and increasingly satisfied by the love of God. That is the solution to remaining steadfast, growing, and simply making it in the world.

Pray for God’s purposes and plans for your church & missionary partners

Pray for a growing love and satisfaction

Pray for God to supply what is needed for the furthering of His kingdom from His riches… but I have found that when God supplies through His riches he does it through what he has given us to steward.

It’s a healthy way to look at your finances and resources. You have them from the Lord, and he will call for them when He needs it and you need it. You should be giving regularly to the work of the church… it’s his method for reaching the world… and it’s through the church that we fund missionaries… (SBC CP structure, plus our church partners)

Pray not only for God to supply the financial and physical resources… pray that God would call out from us people to go… and also pray that all who say yes will increase in their love for Him and His purposes.

One of the marks of those who are called is their increasing love for God in the midst of education, business meetings, etc. Every Christian is tempted and faces discouragement and distraction… and this is true for those in ministry and missions. Pray for God to give them strength and for their love for Him to grow as they share His love with others.

Pray for God’s purposes and plans for the whole church around the world

Turn this pray in the direction of people and places you will not meet this side of eternity.