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Introduction: We love when God is working in our lives and we can feel it.
We have peace and joy and motivation to keep pressing on.
It’s tough to consider when others you are struggling.
It’s a dangerous place to find yourself in when you are saying, “What about me?”
Sometimes God chooses to grow you in suffering.
Sometimes, God chooses to grow you through mountain top experiences.
In either of these cases, we can become so focused on ourselves that we miss what God is doing in someone else’s life especially in how we are to pray for them.
In the good times and the bad, we are to always be looking outward.
I was reading in the Acts this week for my Bible reading plan.
And the story in Acts 5 always amazes me.
Peter and John were arrested for healing a man.
They were beaten and bruised for the sake of the Gospel.
Christians throughout history have gloried in their suffering and actually welcomed persecution as evidence that they were obedient to God’s plan.
Christians throughout history would get jealous that someone else suffered more for Jesus.
Persecution was welcomed, because they saw that the more they were persecuted, the more the church grew and God’s kingdom expanded.
Sounds crazy.
A martyrs dead was the most honorable way to go.
That’s very different than what we know today.
Transition to the Text: Please turn with me in your Bibles to Ephesians 1:15:23.
We’re continuing through Paul’s list of things that he and we should be grateful for.
Paul has shown that He’s grateful for salvation.
Things that go along with salvation.
And now Paul turns his attention outward to show that he is also grateful when God works in other people’s lives.
The Ephesian people had a special place in Paul’s heart.
Paul never spent much time in one place.
He was used to moving from place to place.
That’s hard on man with a pastor’s heart.
To knit your heart to theirs and then leave.
But God gave Paul 2 full years serving that church.
They weren’t easy years as they were filled with opposition, but they were filled with love and community that Paul may not have been used to.
Eventually there came to time for Paul to leave.
And he did.
Eventually he finds himself imprisoned for sharing the Gospel.
So he writes a letter to the church he loved so much.
And lists all the things that he has to be grateful for.
By this time, the church at Ephesus is thriving!
Sure they have some issues, but they have become the flagship church in Europe.
Is Paul jealous that he’s not a part of it?
Perhaps that he didn’t get to lead it?
No because Paul is grateful even for what God is doing in other people!
Introduce:
Authentic Principle: Be GRATEFUL even when God is Working in OTHERS.
Read: Ephesians 1:15-23
Transformational Principle:
1. Be GRATEFUL When Others Grow.
(Ephesians 1:15-17)
Explanation: Paul starts out by praying for the Ephesian Christians.
And to start, he says, I do not cease to give thanks for them.
In his prayers, he remembers them.
I think we neglect the importance of remembering people.
Relationships are hard.
Or at least they are for me.
I always admire people who have friends they’ve known their entire lives.
Went to elementary school with.
Grew up with.
Who called your parents mom and dad and you did the same with theirs.
Too often people come and go in our lives.
And whether we want to or not, we forget them.
We go to move to a new town or state.
We get a new job or go to a new church.
And we forget those people who at one time meant to much to us.
Paul made it a point to remember them.
Additionally Paul desires that they grow in their relationship with God.
He prays that God may give them the Spirit of Wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Jesus.
Even though Paul is no longer with them, he still desires their good.
And even though they are continuing on without him, he still prays for their good.
He prays that God would given them a spirit of wisdom and of revelation.
Because even if Paul is no longer a part of it, the Kingdom is more important than us.
We are part of something bigger that God is doing.
So Paul prays for them to grow in knowledge of Jesus.
Even while he himself is in prison, he prays that God would work in them.
Illustration: It takes a lot of humility to pray for someone when you are struggling.
Goes along with what he says to the Philippians:
Application: We need to remember people.
And as we remember them we need to pray for them.
That God would help them to grow in their relationship with others.
2. Be GRATEFUL when OTHERS would be Transformed.
(Ephesians 1:18-19)
Explanation: Now in one sense, most of the people he’s writing to have already been transformed.
But at the same time, God is still transforming us.
Paul continues to pray that their eyes would be enlightened.
Paul has seen God work in the Ephesian church.
And he wants God to continue to work in their lives even more than before.
To my knowledge Paul never asks anyone to pray for his release.
He asks them to pray that he would remain faithful.
But Paul says he prays that their eyes would be opened.
So much of our lives depends on our physical sight.
Try walking in the dark.
You walk hesitantly even when you think you know where everything is.
In the same way, we need spiritual eyes to see spiritual realities.
So Paul continues to pray for them.
This requires transformation that continues beyond the now.
Initially when we come to know Jesus, our eyes are opened but we know that we are to live in daily transformation.
So what comes with enlightened eyes.
To know what is the hope to which people are called.
What are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the Saints
What is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe
According to the working of his great might.
Sometimes it’s difficult to see what is going on.
First Paul reminds them to be hopeful.
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