Ephesians 3.14c-Paul Worshipped the Father While Interceding in Prayer for the Recipients of the Epistle
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Saturday August 10, 2024
Ephesians Series: Ephesians 3:14c-Paul Worshipped the Father While Interceding in Prayer for the Recipients of the Epistle
Lesson # 169
Ephesians 3:14 For this reason, I make it my habit of bending my knees in the presence of the Father. (Lecturer’s translation)
The reference to Paul’s kneeling in the presence of the Father is not only speaking of his posture in prayer to the Father on behalf of the recipients of this epistle, but also is alluding to worshipping the Father in that prayer.
The worship and reverence of God is an essential part to an effective, productive, and joyful prayer (Phi 4:6).
Prayer is a means by which the believer can worship, adore, and revere God.
To worship is to adore God, as the Holy Spirit reveals Him in the Scriptures and through the person of Christ.
It is the act of paying honor and reverence to God, and it derives from love.
Where there is little love, there is little worship.
Warren Wiersbe defines worship, “Worship is the believer’s response of all that they are –mind, emotions, will and body-to what God is and says and does. This response has its mystical side in subjective experience and its practical side in objective obedience to God’s revealed will. Worship is a loving response that’s balanced by the fear of the Lord, and it is a deepening response as the believer comes to know God better.”
Worship is adoring contemplation of the Father and is the act of paying honor and reverence to Him and affection for Him and flows from love and where there is little love, there is little worship.
It is the loving ascription of praise to the Father in gratitude and appreciation for who and what He is, both in Himself and in His ways and in His work in eternity past and what He has done in the past, is doing in the present and will do in the future through both His Son and the Spirit.
It is the bowing of the soul and spirit in deep humility and reverence before the Lord (Psalm 2:11-12; 29:2; 95:6-7).
Worship of the Lord involves “reverence” for Him, which is an attitude of deep respect and awe for Him.
Therefore, as was the case in his first intercessory prayer, when Paul interceded in prayer for the recipients of the Ephesian epistle in this second intercessory prayer to the Father, he was entering into this prayer with the Father with an attitude deep respect and awe for the Father for who and what He is and what He has done for him and for the recipients of the Ephesian epistle in the past (election and predestination).
He possessed an attitude deep respect and awe for the Father in prayer for what He had done for him and for the recipients of the Ephesian epistle in the past through both His Son (crucifixion, death, resurrection and session of Christ) and the Spirit (baptism, indwelling, sealing regeneration, adoption).
Paul possessed an attitude deep respect and awe for the Father in prayer for what He was doing for him and for the recipients of the Ephesian epistle in the present through both His Son (His Word, indwelling, intercessory prayer at the right hand of the Father) and the Spirit (filling of the Spirit, fruit of the Spirit).
He possessed an attitude of deep respect and awe for the Father in prayer for what He would do for him and for the recipients of the Ephesian epistle in the future (resurrection body and rewards for faithfulness, experiencing the millennial reign of Christ as well as the new heavens and new earth).
Worship of the Lord also involves “respect” for Him, which is to esteem the excellence of His Person as manifested through His attributes such as love, faithfulness, mercy, compassion, justice, righteousness, truth, omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience, immutability, and sovereignty.
Therefore, when Paul interceded in prayer for the recipients of the Ephesian epistle, he esteemed the excellence of the person of the Father as manifested through these attributes which compose His divine essence.
Worship of the Lord involves “awe” of Him, which means we are to possess an overwhelming feeling of reverence and admiration for Him.
Therefore, in both intercessory prayers, Paul possessed an overwhelming feeling of reverence and admiration for who and what the Father is and what He has done for them in the past (election and predestination) when he went to intercede in prayer to the Father for the recipients of the Ephesian epistle.
He possessed an overwhelming feeling of reverence and admiration for what the Father had done for him and the recipients of the Ephesian epistle in the past through both His Son and the Spirit as well as what He was doing for him and the recipients of the Ephesian epistle in the present through both His Son and the Spirit.
He possessed an overwhelming feeling of reverence and admiration in prayer for what the Father would do for him in the future (resurrection body and rewards for faithfulness, experiencing the millennial reign of Christ as well as the new heavens and new earth).
Warren Wiersbe writes, “True wonder reaches right into your heart and mind and shakes you up. It not only has depth, it has value; it enriches your life. Wonder is not cheap amusement that brings a smile to your face. It is an encounter with reality, with God, which brings awe to your heart. You’re overwhelmed with an emotion that is a mixture of gratitude, adoration, reverence, fear-and love. You’re not looking for explanations; you’re lost in the wonder of God.”
Worship of the Lord also involves “wonder” towards Him, which refers to being filled with admiration, amazement and awe of Him and reaches right into our hearts and shakes us up and enriches our lives and overwhelms us with an emotion that is a mixture of gratitude, adoration, reverence, fear and love for Him.
Therefore, in both intercessory prayers, Paul was filled with admiration, amazement and awe for the Father in prayer for who and what He is and what He has done for him and the recipients of the Ephesian epistle in the past (election and predestination).
He was filled with admiration, amazement and awe for what He did for him and the recipients of the Ephesian epistle in the past at justification and is doing for them the present through both His Son and the Spirit.
He was filled with admiration, amazement and awe for what He would do for him and the recipients of the Ephesian epistle in the future.
All of these things reached right into his heart and shook him up.
They enriched his life and overwhelmed him with an emotion which was a mixture of gratitude, adoration, reverence and fear and love for the Father and he wanted these things to do the same for the recipients of the Ephesian epistle.
Worship is the loving ascription of praise to God for whom and what He is.
It is the bowing of the soul and spirit in deep humility and admiration before Him (Psalm 2:11-12).
The believer is to worship the Father spiritually by means of truth, i.e., the Word of God (John 4:23-24).
The church ’s destiny is to worship the Lord, as revealed in Revelation 4-5.
The Lord Jesus Christ taught His disciples to worship, reverence, honor, and respect the Father.
Luke 11:1 It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.” 2 And He said to them, “When you pray [proseuchomai], say ‘Father, hallowed [hagiazo: to revere, honor and respect] be Your name [onoma: the person and character of God]. Your kingdom come.’” (NASB95)
“Hallowed” is the verb hagiazo and literally means, “may your person be revered, honored, and respected.”
To hallow God’s name means to worship His person.
Hagiazo is also used in Luke 11:2.
To revere God entails opening up our lives so that the Holy Spirit may work in making us more like His Son.
Surely, this is to be a prayer of surrender and commitment, for God’s name is never hallowed, at least not by us, as long as we are walking in rebellion and self-dependence.
Psalm 145 is a perfect example of how we should worship God in prayer.
