Praying For The Church

Continuing our study through Ephesians.

Today we are in Chapter 3 Verses 14-21

In the film Gravity, astronauts Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) undertake a routine space mission.

However, debris created by a Russian missile disrupts their mission.

The rest of the movie is about them trying to survive and return to earth.

Eventually, Ryan, a medical engineer and mission specialist on her first trip to space, finds herself in a desperate situation, stranded alone.

Having given up all hope of living, she tries to prepare herself to die.

She says, “I’m going to die.… Everyone dies, but I’m going to die today.… No one will mourn for me. No one will pray for my soul.… I’ve never prayed.… Nobody ever taught me how.”

A lot of people don’t know how to pray, especially when they are facing life changing issues.

For us we know that we access to God through Jesus Christ.

Ephesians contains many important truths related to prayer.

In the first chapter, we saw that prayer is a conversation with the Father, through the Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit.

This morning we’ll look at some more petitions that should be filling our prayers.

This part of the book is a transitional section moving from the doctrine or teaching to practicing the teaching.

The first three chapters are about who we are in Christ with all the blessings that comes with it.

The last three chapters about how are to live in Christ.

Stuck between these two sections is a prayer for power.

We will three points regarding our need to pray with a high view of God.

Let’s read the passage

Pray with Humility Verses 14-16

The first thing to notice is Paul’s position.

Just imagine the Roman guard watching Paul get down on His knees to pray.

Kneeling was not common for the Jews.

They typically pray standing up as those you see praying at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.

Many of the people whose prayer are recorded in the OT prayed standing up.

Yet in the Garden of Gethsemane, we see Jesus kneeling.

Why? 3 reasons.

Gratitude.

“For this reason” shows that Paul is beginning his prayer based the verses we studied last week.

Paul is grateful for his calling.

Grateful for the amazing grace God has shown us.

Grateful for God saving sinners individually and uniting them in one body.

Think of all God has blessed you with and then pray with gratitude for them.

He has called us, adopted us, redeemed us, and forgave us.

Christ died on our behalf.

The Spirit has sealed us.

God brought us from death to life.

He has made us part of His church.

In light of all of this Paul prays.

Desperation

Kneeling is also a sign of desperation.

When we realize that we are approaching the Almighty God it should give us a sense of helplessness.

We can’t just do things on our own and need someone greater.

Paul was a great leader, missionary, trainer who passionately knew Jesus.

Yet, he still felt the need to bow before God, and we should too.

Confidence

Paul has told us earlier that we should have confidence and boldness to go before God in prayer and now he is modeling that confidence.

We can pray with confidence because of our position in Christ.

We can approach our Father who is sovereign over all, the glorious Father, the Father of all.

Every family indicates he has authority over all in heaven and on Earth.

That’s the God we can bring our prayers to knowing He will hear them.

God loves to give to His children.

Especially those things that relate to the Spirit and not just material blessings.

Pray For The Fullness Of God’s Power And Love Verses 16-19

As we move to Paul’s request, we see that there are two: power and love.

He is praying for the readers to experience what he has just talked about in the previous chapters.

Which was Christ’s power and love toward us sinners.

Paul has talked about these two and now he will model how to receive what we desperately need.

We need to be strengthened by the Spirit’s power.

His first request is for the believers to strengthen with the power in the “inner man.”

When we became a believer, the Holy Spirit came into you to empower you to live the the Christ like life.

Think, Jesus ascended to heaven and sent the Spirit to us to carry out His work.

The power of the Spirit is given to us according to the riches of His glory.

All the riches and blessings of heaven are now ours to tap into.

That power is available for the inner man.

In God’s kingdom the inner is far more important than what is on the outside.

Paul uses the language of the inner man and heart.

Then he uses the language of the strength of the Spirit and the indwelling of the Messiah.

Paul never intends to separate the two, but to him the indwelling of Christ and indwelling of the Spirit are the same.

The idea behind the word “dwell” is significant.

It does not mean to “inhabit” but instead he uses a word that means to “settle down.”

Like buying a home

Needs work

The new owners the remodel to make it their own.

Christ moves in and remodels us to be like Him.

We need power to grasp Christ’s love.

Paul then moves to talking about love in verse 17.

With strength still on our minds since we need God’s power to fully understand His love for us.

His prayer is for the Ephesians to know Christ’s love for them, not their love for Him.

I think we all need to have a better understanding of just how much Christ loves us.

Paul has taught us to know God’s power and love, but he really wants us to experience that power and love.

Four aspects of love that we need to know.

Know that you are secured in God’s love. v.17b

We are rooted in Christ’s love like a tree with a strong root system that will not allow the tree to be blown down.

As we grow in Christ, we need to let our roots go down deep into Christ’s love by living every moment of our life know we are loved by God.

Know the limitless dimensions of God’s love v. 18

Have you heard the phrase that goes “so high can’t get over it, so low can’t get under it, so wide you can’t go around it”?

Paul is trying to get us to understand that God’s love is gigantic.

It’s hard to fully get a grasp on it, but only with God’s power we able to do it.

All the saints—rich and poor, black and white, young and old—should think on the love of Christ together.

Discuss His love; share stories of His love; study the Bible together.

Know that this love surpasses knowledge.

We can’t not fully understand it all.

So just stop and marvel at His love

And rest in His forgiveness given to us by His love.

Then experience that love by showing love to the world.

Know God’s love that you may be mature.

He closes this prayer with a climax in the phrase “filled with all the fullness of God.”

You see as get to know His love then will be able to be all that God wants us to be or spiritually mature.

Pray With Great Expectations Verses 20-21

We looked at this verse a few weeks ago as we saw ways to bring God glory.

Paul says God is “able”

How able?

• to do above [But that’s not all!]

• to do above and beyond [But that’s not all!]

• to do above and beyond all that we ask [But that’s not all!]

• to do above and beyond all that we ask or think

God can do more than we could ever think about doing.

He’s the creator of the universe.

He raised Jesus from the dead.

He placed Jesus as the Head of the church.

He has placed all things under His feet

If He can do all that, then pour your heart our to Him believing He is able.

How does He do this?

According to the power that works in us.

God does extraordinary things through ordinary people by the power that works in us.

The Holy Spirit is our power source.

Why does God do these things?

For His glory!

God blesses His people for His own glory!

He desires His glory in the church and in Christ Jesus.

For how long?

Forever!

God is timeless, infinite, eternal.

Forever God will be glorified in Christ who willing died to take our wrath upon Himself and now dwells with us through faith by the Spirit.

Remember that fictional astronaut Ryan Stone.

She was correct.

We are all going to die.

But you can live forever through Jesus Christ.

Who gives us access to the Father in prayer right now.