Beyond! Wk5

Beyond! Wk5

Pray that God would bring great success to every ministry, church and work in the Kingdom of God!

Pray that He would bless and use us to do great things beyond our expectation.

Ephesians 3:20 NKJV

20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,

Summation and Affirmation in Prayer (3:14–21)

Having described his own ministry and the role of the church in fulfilling God’s intentions, Paul is finally ready to offer the prayer he was about to begin in verse 1.

Christians often feel ambivalent about prayer.

We know that God has invited and commanded us to pray,

that the Lord Jesus taught it and practiced it and

that there are clear promises of God’s commitment to answer prayer properly offered.

But there is a lingering feeling that if God wants to do something he will go ahead and do it, with or without our prayers.

Yet the plain fact that Paul proceeds to pray for God’s sovereign work in the lives of believers even after such a majestic exposition of God’s purposes and their accomplishment should make the importance of prayer obvious.

We tend to think of prayer more as a means of setting our requests before God than as the means by which God accomplishes his work.

In this context Paul’s requests, when granted, allow God (so to speak) to do all that is described in 3:10 and its context.

Ephesians 3:10 NKJV

10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places,

(For a discussion of biblical, theological and practical issues concerning prayer, see Liefeld 1986.)

Ephesians Summation and Affirmation in Prayer (3:14–21)

Summation and Affirmation in Prayer (3:14–21) Having described his own ministry and the role of the church in fulfilling God’s intentions, Paul is finally ready to offer the prayer he was about to begin in verse 1.

Christians often feel ambivalent about prayer. We know that God has invited and commanded us to pray, that the Lord Jesus taught it and practiced it and that there are clear promises of God’s commitment to answer prayer properly offered. But there is a lingering feeling that if God wants to do something he will go ahead and do it, with or without our prayers. Yet the plain fact that Paul proceeds to pray for God’s sovereign work in the lives of believers even after such a majestic exposition of God’s purposes and their accomplishment should make the importance of prayer obvious.

We tend to think of prayer more as a means of setting our requests before God than as the means by which God accomplishes his work. In this context Paul’s requests, when granted, allow God (so to speak) to do all that is described in 3:10 and its context. (For a discussion of biblical, theological and practical issues concerning prayer, see Liefeld 1986.)