A Prayer for Spiritual Strength
Notes
Transcript
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.
SUBJECT: A PRAYER FOR SPIRITUAL STRENGTH
Can we find times of praise in the middle of suffering and dying? Yes. This is exactly what the Apostle Paul does when he sent this prayer to the Christians in Ephesus:
Christians are called on to see life empowered by hope.
List what you can do today and tomorrow, for yourself and others, all the while relying on the Lord’s presence and help. May HOPE be the defining word of our disposition, attitudes, and resolve, always invoking the Spirit of the living God to enable us to think differently than those who have no such hope.
Remaining hopeful has become difficult for some. Why? Because we are sitting confined in our homes, unsure of what will happen next with the COVID-19 virus is in our community, our country, or the world. I frequently open the app counting the global statistics and try to understand what life is like in places where the virus is creating unimaginable havoc.
And to make matters worst, some have sarcastically dismissed the virus as being a political ploy. Now, such silliness is sobered by reality.
Today’s “New Normal”
Today’s “New Normal”
We aren’t the first Christians to face a global pandemic.
In fact, now is a good time to learn how we might deal with this world-being-shut-down crisis.
Those in the early church faced two life-threatening epidemics within its first 200 years.
The first was in 165 A.D., in which up to one-third of Roman citizens died, and the second was in 251 A.D.
Textual background
Textual background
This prayer was for a specific cause, a specific purpose.
The words “for this cause” refers back to the eternal plan of God and the life of the Christian believer which he has discussed
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
That is, Paul is referring back to the great salvation and birth of the church which God has wrought through Christ. No greater thing has ever been wrought upon earth than what God has done through Christ. Through Christ
God has given birth to the church, the new body of believers which He is building (Ep. 2:11f)
Therefore, it is of utmost importance that we fulfill the mission that God has set before us—especially in the midst of COVID-19.
Choose Wisely: Hope
Choose Wisely: Hope
My point in noting these early Christians is for one basic reason: that we will choose hope over confusion, humility over arrogance, empathy over self-interest, faith over fear. So that in recognizing our frail humanity, we will welcome the pervading presence and life of the Spirit to assert God’s will over our own distractions, providing us with a different way in which we view and make sense of what for too many is an existential reality.
Instead, let us see today and tomorrow through the prism of God’s grace and love.
Request 1: Strength and power within—by God’s Spirit
Request 1: Strength and power within—by God’s Spirit
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,
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,
The first request is for strength and power in the inner man, for the strength and power of God’s Spirit, for His presence and power in our lives. Note several facts.
The word strengthen (krataiothenai) means to be made strong, tough, enduring. It means to have energy or force; to act, endure, or resist.
The word power (dunamei) means force, energy, might.
The believer needs to be strengthened with power in the “inner man,” that is, in the deepest part of his being, in his soul, in his heart, in his spirit—in the spirit that God has renewed. It is there that he must be strengthened with power. Why?
16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
Request 2: For Christ to rule and reign within (v. 17).
Request 2: For Christ to rule and reign within (v. 17).
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
The second request is for Christ to dwell, that is, rule and reign, in our hearts—by faith.
“Dwell” means a permanent not a temporary dwelling. It means to take up permanent residence; to live in a home; to enter, settle down, and be at home. It means that Christ is at home and live in a permanent sense within me. It means that I’m aware and conscious of Christ within my heart—always aware and conscious that Christ has taken up residence within him. It means that I allow Christ to control and guide my life—permanently and constantly—because Christ is at home in his heart.
20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
Request 3: Love (v. 17)
Request 3: Love (v. 17)
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
This is agape love, the very same love God has for us
16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
Request 4: Full understanding of spiritual things (v. 18)
Request 4: Full understanding of spiritual things (v. 18)
18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
The fourth request is for understanding, a full understanding of spiritual things. It is crucial that the believer grasp God’s eternal plan and glorious salvation—all that has been covered in chapters one through three:
18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
Request 5: To know the love of Christ
Request 5: To know the love of Christ
19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
Request 6: The fullness of God
Request 6: The fullness of God
19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
THE LESSON: LEARNING FROM EARLY CHRISTIANS
THE LESSON: LEARNING FROM EARLY CHRISTIANS
12 I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. 14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
15 Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 16 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.
Yes, and I will rejoice,
First, Christians laid themselves down, even to death, and comforted those who were dying, bringing solace to those afflicted by the deadly contagions.
Second, Christians bolstered by their faith seemed to endure hardships better than others.
Large numbers of people, especially pagans, would have lost the bonds that once might have restrained them from becoming Christians.
Additionally, the amazing survival rate of Christians offered evidence that this disreputable group called Christians should be looked at again.
How might we think differently, contrary to the swirling anxiety that fills our media, swamps our family conversations, and paralyzes us when we think of our finances? He is not nervous. He can handle our candid and straightforward talk. Pause and write to people. Celebrate and unite people.
“Contemplate this rainbow which appears above the thick clouds which obscure our life.” Grab hold of this biblical metaphor, the rainbow of hope, and daily set that in the sky of your living, so that you can visualize a new way of seeing today and tomorrow.
Tuck this verse into your memory bank:
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus,
2 To Timothy, my beloved child:
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3 I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 4 As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
