“Perspectives on Prayer - 9”

How did we learn how to pray? Some 10 years ago I took my youth group here in Denver to San Francisco to do some inner city missions work in the red light district in downtown San Francisco. We worked with a youth ministry organization team who I wont mention to protect the innocent. The group name rhymes with Zicam. Anyway, one of the most interesting things I remember is how they all prayed. Uh I dunno. And what they asked for was always the same. They all did it. The same way asking for the same things. Now its not just the youth. I remember when I was younger, the church I grew up in, many of them prayed in king james...“We thank Thee, heavenly Father, that in Thy grace Thou hast condescendeth to visit Thine peoples who beceech Thee to smotheth the uncircumcised.” The thing is that they all prayed this way asking for essentially the same things. The same way asking for the same things. So why do I tell you this… because Christians learn to pray by listening to those around them. So if that is the case, then one of the best ways to reform our prayers, is to turn to the prayers of the Bible and make sure we are learning to pray by hearing the prayers of scripture. When we study the prayers of scripture then we will pray the same way asking for the same things. This is why we study the prayers of Paul.

When we learn to pray our primary source should be the scriptures. When we struggle with prayer, the best answer is to turn again to the prayers of the Bible. Then we shall learn afresh what to pray for, what arguments to use, what themes on which to focus, what passion is right, how these prayers fit into a larger Christian vision, how to maintain the centrality of God himself in our praying. Lets look at another prayer of the Apostle.

Ephesians 3:14–21 NLT

When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 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. 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. 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. 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. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.

The thing is that they all prayed this way asking for essentially the same things.

Carson, D. A.. Praying with Paul (pp. 160-161). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Carson, D. A.. Praying with Paul (p. 160). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

So why do I tell you this… because Christians learn to pray by listening to those around them.

Strengthened with Power

Power to Grasp

Carson, D. A.. Praying with Paul (p. 160). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Power to Praise

The first thing we will look at is that Paul prays for power so that Christ will truly make us his home. Second, we will see that Paul prays for power so that we can understand the love of Christ bringing us to maturity. Finally, we will see how this power also leads us to praise the one who is able to do more than we could ask or imagine seen clearly in the gospel of Jesus.

Thesis: Though the pattern of this world and the deceptions of the flesh cause us to become misguided and disillusioned with prayer, it is the truth of the scriptures and the power of the Holy Spirit that will cause us to pray in truth, in the light of the love of Christ and to continue to pray for power for change and transformation in our lives and the lives of others.

I. Strengthened with Power

- Strengthened with power through the Spirit.

A. The Apostle is praying for power, but you know this is not an unusual thing for him to do. But for what reason? Simply, Paul’s concern is to pray for a display of God’s mighty power in our being that controls our character and prepares us for heaven. The Lords power for sanctification.

B. Let’s flush it out more. Many people today pursue power. Many people desire to receive power from the Spirit like Paul just asked for.

Carson, D. A.. Praying with Paul (p. 163). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Acts 8:18–19 NLT

When Simon saw that the Spirit was given when the apostles laid their hands on people, he offered them money to buy this power. “Let me have this power, too,” he exclaimed, “so that when I lay my hands on people, they will receive the Holy Spirit!”

C. Some of us might notice some desiring the power of God in their lives for self centered reasons. To win the game of one up man ship. To look and appear better than others. To be able to get control of things in our lives. To get ourselves out of bad situations that we got ourselves into. To get more profit, pleasure, power, or popularity in our lives. But these reason are far away from what Paul is asking for.

D.

Ephesians 3:16–17 NLT

I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 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.

D. As we are constantly concerned about what is happening to us, it seems that Paul is more concerned with whats happening in us. Power so that Christ may dwell in us. But is not Christ already dwelling in us? We need to take a better look at Katoikeisai ton Christon. “To dwell” is a strong one. Better pictured by the NLT will make his home.

E. DA Carson gives us a great analogy. Picture a couple carefully marshaling enough resources to put together a down payment. They buy their house, recognizing full well that it needs a fair bit of work. They can’t stand the black and silver wallpaper in the master bedroom. There are mounds of trash in the basement. The kitchen was designed for the convenience of the plumber, not the cook. The roof leaks in a couple of places, and the insulation barely meets minimum standards. The electrical box is too small, the lighting in the bathroom is poor, the heat exchanger in the furnace is corroded. But still, it is this young couple’s first home, and they are grateful. The months slip past, then the years. The black and silver wallpaper has been replaced with tasteful pastel patterns. The couple has remodeled their kitchen, doing much of the work themselves. The roof no longer leaks, and the furnace has been replaced with a more powerful unit that also includes a central air conditioner. Better yet, as the family grows, this couple completes a couple of extra rooms in the basement and adds a small wing to serve as a study and sewing room. The grounds are neatly trimmed and boast a dazzling rock garden. Twenty-five years after the purchase, the husband one day remarks to his wife, “You know, I really like it here. This place suits us. Everywhere we look we see the results of our own labor. This house has been shaped to our needs and taste, and I really feel comfortable.”

Carson, D. A.. Praying with Paul (p. 164). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

F. When Christ by his Spirit takes up residence within us, he finds the moral equivalent of mounds of trash, black and silver wallpaper, and a leaking roof. He sets out turning this residence into a place appropriate for him, a home in which he is comfortable. There will be a lot of cleaning to do, quite a few repairs, and some much-needed expansion. But his aim is clear: he wants to take up residence in our hearts, as we exercise faith in him.

G. Make no mistake: when Christ first moves into our lives, he finds us in very bad need for repair. It takes a great deal of power to change us, and that is why Paul prays for power. He asks that God may so strengthen us by his power in our inner being that Christ may genuinely take up residence within us, transforming us into a house that pervasively reflects his own character.

Carson, D. A.. Praying with Paul (p. 164). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Carson, D. A.. Praying with Paul (pp. 163-164). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

H. This first petition, then, is a plea for power—power to be holy, power to think, act, and talk in ways utterly pleasing to Christ, power to strengthen moral resolve, power to walk in transparent gratitude to God, power to be humble, power to be discerning, power to be obedient and trusting, power to grow in conformity to Jesus Christ.

I.

Carson, D. A.. Praying with Paul (p. 167). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Carson, D. A.. Praying with Paul (p. 164). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Carson, D. A.. Praying with Paul (p. 164). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Carson, D. A.. Praying with Paul (p. 164). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

II. Power to Grasp

Carson, D. A.. Praying with Paul (p. 165). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

- The power to understand the limitless love of Christ.

A. A petition because he wants them to have the power to grasp just how great the love of Christ is. Attention… this is not a prayer that we might love Christ more but rather, a prayer that we might better understand his love for us.

Ephesians 3:18

Ephesians 3:18 NLT

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.

Carson, D. A.. Praying with Paul (p. 168). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

B. Now this cannot simply be an intellectual exercise. He is not praying that we only grasp it with the mind. Intellectual reflection is a part of it, but it cannot be reduced to that alone. We do need to make room for experience. He is asking God that they might have the power to grasp the dimensions of that love in their experience. Many times we get into trouble when we appeal to one over the other. Neglect the intellect for experience, or neglect experience for the intellect. Paul desires that we get it all because the love of Christ is so much more than we know.

Carson, D. A.. Praying with Paul (p. 168). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

C. So when Paul asks God that Christians might have the power to grasp the limitless dimensions of Christ’s love, he does not use the language of simple intellectual comprehension. How do we appreciate love? How do we measure it? Can we speak of forty buckets of love? Of three-and-a-half acres of love? Paul resorts to metaphor and then to paradox. His metaphor is linear measure: “to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” (). His paradox is more stunning yet: “and to know this love that surpasses knowledge” (v. 19)—that is, to know what is beyond mere knowledge.

D. What is even more stunning is what he presupposes... apart from the power of God Christians will have too little appreciation for the love of Christ. It is so much and so great that they need the power of God to appreciate the limitless dimensions of that love. And so Paul prays for power.

Carson, D. A.. Praying with Paul (p. 168). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

E. It is said that R. A. Torrey earnestly sought God’s face, and one day while he was reading the Scriptures and praying, he was so overwhelmed with a profound consciousness of God’s love for him that he began to weep and weep. Eventually he asked God to show him no more: he could not bear it.

Carson, D. A.. Praying with Paul (pp. 169-170). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Carson, D. A.. Praying with Paul (pp. 169-170). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Carson, D. A.. Praying with Paul (p. 170). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

F. And he continues to tell us why… Paul wants us to have the power to grasp the love of God in Christ Jesus, to the end that we might be mature.

Ephesians 3:19 NLT

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.

Carson, D. A.. Praying with Paul (p. 171). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Ephesians 3:

Ephesians 3:20 NLT

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.

G. He prays for power so that they could understand the great love of Christ so that we can be all that God wants us to be. Do you see the stunning implication? Paul assumes that we cannot be as spiritually mature as we ought to be unless we receive power from God to enable us to grasp the limitless dimensions of the love of Christ.

Carson, D. A.. Praying with Paul (p. 172). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

H. We need only read our newspapers to be reminded that, all things being equal, unless a child is reared in a home where love and discipline surround every step, that child will not attain emotional maturity. Countless studies have shown, for instance, that a girl reared without a strong and loving father rarely learns how to give and receive love. Inevitably, that will breed trouble in her own marriage.

Carson, D. A.. Praying with Paul (p. 173). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

I. But all things being equal, apart from the intervention of the grace of God, all of us know that for a human being to grow to full emotional and interpersonal maturity, the stability of a loving and disciplined home is an indispensable ingredient. The same thing is true in the spiritual arena. Just as a human being cannot enjoy normal maturation and develop into a mature person without the structure of disciplined love in the home, so also a Christian who does not grow in the experience of the love of God in Christ does not grow to full maturity. That is what Paul presupposes in his prayer. He prays that Christians might have power to grasp the limitless dimensions of the love of God, so that they will be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

J. We should see the beauty of it. It takes nothing less than the power of God for us to truly understand the awesome love of Christ. But our flesh and our sinful desire to be independent from God we do not want to get too close to God. Just like many today who will flee relationships because it is just too intimate seeing it all as a kind of invasion of privacy. Our problem is that we do want to experience power so that we can be in control, but Paul desires us to experience power so that we can be controlled by the Spirit.

Carson, D. A.. Praying with Paul (pp. 173-174). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Carson, D. A.. Praying with Paul (p. 173). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

K. This kind of thinking is exactly why we need the power of God to help us. To transform us. To bring us to maturity. It is wonderful to revel in the love of God. Truly to experience that love, to live in the warmth of its glow, invests all of life with new meaning and purpose. The brotherhood of the saints takes on new depth; “fellowship” becomes precious, not the artificially arranged shaking of hands in a service or the shared pot of tea or coffee. Forgiving others becomes almost natural because we ourselves, thanks to God’s immeasurably rich love, have been forgiven so much. Others may despise us, but that makes little difference if God loves us. How shall trouble or sorrow or bereavement drive us into macabre despair, when we can say, with Paul, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” (). Our speech, our thoughts, our actions, our reactions, our relationships, our goals, our values—all are transformed if only we live in the self-conscious enjoyment of the love of Christ. Our testimony is then no longer dry and merely correct; it is living and vital as well. We are, in short, growing up spiritually.

Carson, D. A.. Praying with Paul (p. 174). Baker Publishing Group. Kindl

Carson, D. A.. Praying with Paul (p. 175). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

because we ourselves, thanks to God’s immeasurably rich love, have been forgiven so much. Others may despise us, but that makes little difference if God loves us. How shall trouble or sorrow or bereavement drive us into macabre despair, when we can say, with Paul, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” (). Our speech, our thoughts, our actions, our reactions, our relationships, our goals, our values—all are transformed if only we live in the self-conscious enjoyment of the love of Christ. Our testimony is then no longer dry and merely correct; it is living and vital as well. We are, in short, growing up spiritually.

III. Power to Praise

- The greatness of the Gospel of Jesus.

Carson, D. A.. Praying with Paul (p. 175). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

A. We simply cannot ask for good things beyond God’s power to give them; we cannot even imagine good things beyond God’s power to give them. Paul’s concluding word of praise thus becomes an immensely powerful incentive to pray.

Ephesians 3:20 NLT

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.

B. Yes all of this falls into the amazing nature of the infinitely more than we could ever ask or imagine Gospel of Jesus. How limitless and amazing is the gospel. It bewilders even the angels of heaven.

Carson, D. A.. Praying with Paul (pp. 179-180). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

1 Peter 1:12 NLT

They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you. And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.

C. It is hard to imagine that angels are looking at the unfolding gospel of Jesus with “outstretched necks” they go back and forth from heaven and experience all the heavenly glory in the presence of the King of kings and they see the gospel as something astonishing. More than we could ask or imagine.

D. They see the law of God. The wonderful law that shows us clearly the reality of our plight. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall make no idols. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Keep the Sabbath day holy. Honor your father and your mother. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal.You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet. All of this to show that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. All of this to also show that if we have broken even the smallest of the commands we are as guilty as one who has broken all of it. So you see the scriptures are correct when it says that no one is righteous no not one. And the wages of sin is death.

E. They see the Gospel of Jesus. More than we could ever ask or imagine. In Christ we can be saved. In Christ we can have life and life more abundant. Why? Because Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures… The saying is trustworthy...

F. Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost… He became sin who knew know sin...

G. The wonderful promises contniue … all who call upon the name of the Lord… If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord...

H.