Prayer for Life Effectiveness

Prayer for Life Effectiveness (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.

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.

Most people want to be successful in life. Have you met a person who said, “Oh I just want to be a failure?” But unfortunately for some that is the outcome even when they try their best to succeed. Or they may succeed in one area of life but fail in another. I am going to speak about the only area in life that really matters—your spiritual effectiveness. Spiritual effectiveness will affect every other area of life. Spiritually effectiveness might well put you at odds with the world. Jesus said that in . We see this more and more as our world /nation enacts sinful laws. This is not a new reality. In 1536 William Tyndale was executed for translating the Bible into English. Paul wrote Ephesians while imprison in Rome. Some might see that as failure, but under the sovereign hand of the Lord, the Holy Spirit spoke through Paul some amazing prison letters. Just consider this one? David Powlison, Director of CCEF said in Seeing With New Eyes “Ephesians is the door to the rest of Scripture”. I think I heard someone say that Ephesians is the “Basic Training Manual for Christians” Paul’s effectiveness was because he was an instrument that God had shaped by His workmanship for His service. His ability to be effective in that capacity came from the Lord, verse 7. “I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power.” Paul was an instrument in the Redeemer’s hands to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. I took that expression from Paul Tripp’s book Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands. An instrument is only as effective as the skill of the person who is using it. I am going to talk about what makes us effective and usable. In verse 14, Paul begins praying that they/ we would put into practice the basic truths of the Christian life put forth in chapters 1-3:13 and thereby become effective instruments in the Lord’s hands. As Paul knew, there is a world of difference between knowledge and practice. How much of what you know of Bible truth do you put into practice? For most of us the answer to that question explains our inconsistencies hindering our effectiveness. Paul prayed that they would be effective instruments. There are three principles in His prayer when put into practice will lead us to be effective instruments in the Lord's hands. The first principle in being effective instruments is…

I. The internal power. “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,” Before he fleshes this out the he reflects back on what he had said.

A. The influence of the preceding. Vs. 14 He begins verse 14 with "For this reason" the very words that he used to introduce verse 1. The first "For this reason:" he was reaching back to what he set out in chapter 2. Five key truths that we need to be reminded of: (a) we who were dead in our sin have been given life in Christ (Vs. 5); (b) we are His workmanship in progress (Vs. 10); (c)we, very diverse in back ground are now made one in the body of Christ (Vs. 16,19); (d) we are "‎built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets:”the Word of God (v. 20); and (e) we are being built into a "dwelling of God by the Spirit” “the church”(v. 22). (2) The second “For this reason”: he didn’t want them to be discouraged by his imprisonment. He is reaching back to 3:13. “ So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.” He was the instrument that God used to draw these Gentiles to Himself. He had spent great deal of time with them. will tell you the depth of the relationship he had with them. They needed to be reminded that God was in control of every circumstance. We need that reminder today . With everything going wrong in our world we need be reminded that God is control, because we have a propensity of throwing up our hands and quite.

B. The inspiration to praise. Vs. 14b-15 When Paul reflected on what God did for us in Christ, he worshiped Him. I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, This is an awesome work of God, the reality that by God's grace we are a transformed people with new identities, moves Paul to worship and prayer. When we reflect on what God has done for us in Christ, can we not like Paul, just worship and praise God for His mercy and grace? When Paul says, “every family in heaven and on the earth derives its name” this is not universalism because he has said prior that it is “by grace you have been saved through faith.” That doesn’t include everyone.

C. The intensity of His program. Vs. 16 “that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,” I think of all the places where most of us fall short in our practice of our faith it is at this point. We try to do it our way in our strength. God gives us the instruction book “the Bible,” and He also gives the Holy Spirit to provide the power live the truths. The Puritan John Owen in The Glory of Christ wrote about trying to make spiritual changes in our own effort and I quote: “Let them take heed that they attempt not these things in their own strength...Hereby Christ is left out of the whole design, who, when all is done, is the Lord that heals us.” This explains why our human effort fails us and we don’t change because the Lord is left out of the picture. The second principle in being effective instruments is...

II. The indwelling presence. Vs. 17-19a “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge,” What makes a believer a believer is their having Christ within. If He is not a part of them through faith, they are not Christians. But, of course, Paul means more than this. His indwelling presence means that Christ will have…

A. The increasing persuasion. Vs.17a “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith” and He will have greater influence over our lives. It is true that all who are truly Christians are indwelt by Christ, but it is also true, but we grow in that relationship to Him as His word influences every aspect of our lives. This we call progressive sanctification. The clue to Paul’s meaning is found in his choice of the two Greek words translated “dwell”. The word, Paul didn’t use, means to dwell in a place as a stranger. It would be used of a foreigner. When we lived in Australia we had temporary visas, we were foreigners just there for a few years. We weren’t permanent residents, (like Abraham) dwelling in a land not actually his own. The word Paul did use, means to dwell in the sense of settling down in a place and making it a permanent residence. The prayer is that Christ might settle down in our hearts influencing all aspects of them as the rightful owner. This reality is the key factor why a believer perseveres in the faith. His indwelling presence means that Christ will have…

B. The influencing place. Vs. 17b-19a so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, We love God “because He first loved us.” When we become strong inwardly because Christ is at home in our hearts, He influences all aspects of our lives. When Christ settles down in our lives, He begins to display His love in us and through us. When His residency influences our hearts, we become “rooted and grounded in love. That is the strong foundation of love. Paul uses two metaphors. The first metaphor is botanical; it compares the believer to a plant rooted in the love of God. The second metaphor is architectural; it compares the believer to a building established on love as a foundation. In the first case, love is pictured as something that nourishes us (which it obviously does), and, in the second case, it is pictured as a solid foundation. The most powerful force in our lives is the realization that God loves us and Christ died for all our sins. 19a and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, Nothing can change that truth. (ESV) “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died.” This is a powerful reality for us. The third principle in being effective instruments is...

III. The impact potential. Vs. 19b–21 “that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” The first aspect of Paul’s petition is… A. The inclusive power. Vs. 19b To “be filled up to all the fullness of God.” As over- whelming as the petition may be, Paul seems to be praying that we (and all other Christians) may be filled up to or unto all the fullness that is in God himself. A person who “has Christ has everything necessary for ‘the fullness of God’. We are to be filled with all God’s fullness, an infinite thing. He is speaking of progressive sanctification as we are changed by His word into the likeness of Christ. This will be completed when we are called to be at home with the Lord. He isn’t saying as some false religions teach that we will be gods. In the first chapter Paul has said 10x we are in Christ and now here he says He dwells in us. I quote from Powlison again and his comments on this verse. “You are in Christ. He is in you. Christ in us fills us up to the fullness of God. We in Christ are the fullness of him who fills all in all. This is too good to be anything but true. No one could make it up. It is too astonishing. And though the church often appears disheveled, and though our lives often become dilapidated, bank on it that Christ is both in you and in us together. You will witness Christ’s glory in individual lives and in the church! Anyone who looks at present experience compared with and (our text) can’t help but see a staggering gap. Some people conclude that the Bible sounds nice in theory, but that Paul was a bit of a dreamer. They become skeptical. But they do not see what is really going down,” The Lord in (ESV) clearly addressed the answer to this real gap. Turn to those verses. I believe the power to bridge the gap is the Word of God abiding in our hearts. (ESV) His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. Further on in Eph., Paul describes the process. As (ESV) states that we are to put off the old nature (the gap) and “to put on the new self created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

B. The immeasurable possibility. Vs. 20-21 “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” We cannot fully understand or even imagine all that God is going to do for us. But Paul does know that God can do it. And not only is God able to do it, he is able to do it “immeasurably,” which means indefinitely. This is where our faith is to take us. Don’t try to wrap your thoughts around this it will blow the fuse. This where we as (ESV) says, “we walk by faith, not by sight.” As we read, study, meditate, memorize, and do the Word of God we will grow into the likeness of Christ. (ESV) “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” clearly defines that purpose. you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world My thoughts cannot contain that, and I believe that is where Paul’s was at also. How can anyone grasp that? My mind stops. This is infinity. It remains only to say, as Paul does, “to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever! Amen” (v. 21).