Ephesians 1:15-20
Notes
Transcript
Prayer Patterns
Prayer Patterns
As we begin to move past the “symphony of salvation” in verses 3-14, it is important that we note that Paul is a pastor first and foremost. This is a pastoral letter to these Christians that he is instructing. But he first, as he always does, gives them the doctrine behind the instruction. He gives the indicative before the imperative. He starts with the backbone of the truth, and then moves onto how it applies to the Christian individually. I think that is an important distinction, because so much of “Christianity” today focuses on our “experience” or our “well-being” or “what God can do for me” - when in reality we are milk-toast Christians in our theology and our doctrine. You can obviously take either to an extreme, but to have a lot of “experience” without the doctrine to structure it - can be extremely dangerous. Many a heretical church has been created that way.
Many churches are trying to be “seeker-sensitive” today and that just means that they are trying to be popular in eyes of the world, and you tell me one place in the Bible that says that we will ever be popular in the eyes of the world (or that we should even try!!!)
Having said that, I digress into our study this week in these verses before us.
15 For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints,
16 do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers;
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.
18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might
20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
Pastoral prayer as a pattern for Paul
Listen to these prayers that Paul prays for his readers in the churches:
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.
9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you,
10 always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you.
4 I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus,
16 do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers;
3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,
4 always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all,
3 We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
2 We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers;
3 constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father,
3 We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater;
3 I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day,
4 I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers,
Do you see a pattern here?!?!
When was the last time that we placed an emphasis on our personal prayer life?
When was the last time that we told someone that we would pray for them (and actually did it?)
What are some reasons that we don’t spend more time in prayer?
I saw something this week that really convicted me. It said “one thing social media does is prove that we REALLY DID have time to pray, we just chose not to”
But maybe it’s not social media for you, maybe it’s TV, maybe it’s sports, maybe it’s working, maybe it’s the next thing.... Whatever that is that keeps you from praying is a hindrance to you spending time in the presence of God.
v.15) Faith in the Lord Jesus
This is something that we can’t overlook. There is a big movement today about “faith”. Everybody thinks there is great value in “faith”. Faith is being touted as something beneficial. But when most people talk about faith, they are talking about faith as a means to accomplish something. They say “have faith” that you’ll get that job or make the sale and that’s enough. If you don’t get what you want, then it’s obvious you don’t have enough faith.
But you notice it’s not faith in God.