Family Prayer That Leads To Action

Ephesians 3:14-21

‘You Need To Know, What You Know, Before You Can Know How To Help Others To Know!’

At our last Church, we had two older very frail saints named Collin and Peter. To be honest they were not striking in any way, they would be guys that people would pass in the street and not give a second thought too. Collin sadly was bashed to where he was unrecognisable to his wife, through no fault of his own and from that he was left pretty much blind and physically handicapped with slow speach. Peter, who suffered from mental health issues and had Parkinson to the point of not being able to do much physcially. These two guys, from different walks of life and careers were good friends and brothers in Christ. They unfortunately could not contribute much in church service but were always at Church and bible study. They did enjoy catching up weekly for a cup of coffee at Dome.

At the same time of this the Church saw some really exciting and fast gospel growth. We saw people coming to Christ for the first times, we had 12 baptisms, saw healing both physical and spiritual. We also saw things that shouldn’t have fallen in line but they did. We saw people strengthened in their faith, and went from being able to roll a bomb straight after church finished and not hitting anyone to almost the whole church staying afterwards and soetimes not leaving until lat afternoon. Now I could stand here and tell you Mel and I had something to do with it, we know God was in control of it and he was using us.

However, there was a very core group who had the capacity to make alot of this happen, the abilities to perform the tasks that I believe grew the Church, the energy and strength plus the consistent blood sweat and tears it took. They worked tirelessly and were giants and all they did was noticable. They were fearless in the face of the enemy, and were bold and just fantastic. In case you haven’t put two and two together, I am talking about those same disabled men, who you would pass in the street.

You see those coffee catch ups weren’t about two old men talking about yester year or complaining about their lot in life, or giving up on ministry becasue they couldn’t physically serve. They prayed, and I mean prayed and it is only now that I realise they prayed like Paul did in our verses we read this morning. They not only prayed the usual prayers about healing, and health for themselves or others, they prayed that people would deepen their love for God and others. They were timid men and meek and mild, but I was scared of them. Because, if you did not of a list of people to pray for or if I didn’t give them updates on what you needed prayer for as well, they would be on my case and others and tell us off, becasue they took praying seriously. They would pray everyday throughout the week for their Church. These guys were instrumental in the growth of the gospel in our Church and the love that we saw. Two seemingly insignificant and unremarkable men, were they most influential, strong, courageous men I have ever met! These two men were so rooted in the Love of God that they had immense power and energy to do the work.

Western Idea of how to Take Action, we struggle to sit, wait and pray -

If we doubled down on prayer rather than doubled down on work we would see greater gospel things taking place in us and around us!

We see being doers of the words as physical action all the time, we rush ahead and work until we crash and see so little change.

Family (Church) Prayer is vital to accomplish the work of the Gospel - Missions

Prayer Before The Father

Prayer Before Power

Prayer Leads to Power

Prayer Leads The Missional Church

1. Prayer Before The Father:

Ephesians 3:14 NIV

For this reason I kneel before the Father,

14) The interesting word in this verse is ‘kneel’, in the action world Jews would stand to pray Why has Paul taken this postrated physical position? Is it because he really wants the church in Ephesus (and surrounding churches) to understand the gospel that he has just explained? Or is it that he is so overwhelmed by it himself, that it drove him to his knees? Or a combination of both. Have you been that overwhelmed by God’s love and grace before that it literally dropped you to your knees? Likewise, I think if we earnestly seek the gospel understanding that Paul has penned and we dropped to our knees to pray for our church family like Paul does here, Collie wouldn’t be the same ever again. Not the Church and not the community, we would have a renewed energy because when love happens like this the power metre and energy levels fill up to spread the gospel. Notice who he is kneeled before, not works, not family, not politics or money, nor fame, nor the church it is Yahweh. Paul could have used any number of God’s names or position, but he uses the more intimate term of Father.

Ephesians 3:15 NIV

from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.

15) We really see the Fatherhood of God, not the anthropomorphism of it e.g. God is like a Father or that he acts like a father or has the state of being of a father. He is a Father and we derive our meaning of Father and Fatherhood from Him. ‘Every’ Family, does this mean Just Church people, those whom he has adopted in? Or is it more that we are all images bearer, therefore bearing his name. He has created all things, including all of humanity. Sadly we have been very distorted by sin, and even though those outside of Christ are not saved, they still have worth to God for he made them. In the ancient world a ‘name’ was a way to reveal the true nature/inner being of a person, a sense of belonging. So for God to give creatures a name was not simply to provide them with a label, but signifies his bringing them into existence, exercising dominion over them. The verse thus affirms that the Father is the Creator of all living beings. He is Soveriegn. If this is the case, those who call him Father have nothing to fear from any physical thing, nor any powers and principalities or their rulers. as he is above all things and we can just be loved and set free. Thats Powerful!

2. Prayer Before Power

Ephesians 3:16–19 NIV

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

16 - 19) The best prayer you can pray for someone is strength! Strength to endure, strength to have patience, Strength in our marriages and in our parenting! Strength to keep God first and strength to be faithful in our walk in the gospel. And he prays (verse 17) “that the Messiah”—that Christ—“may dwell in your hearts through faith.” Now, this is very interesting because this is the other side of our union with Christ. Paul has said several times that we are in Christ, that we are with Christ, that God does things for us through Christ, that here we see that Christ is in us, [and] that He dwells in the heart of every believer through faith. Does that mean we lose it, or that Paul was wrong in what he said previously? Or could it mean that we can forget, we can move away from these truths by letting them be burried by life. However, it is a great prayer so that we the church stay united, grow in our faith and freedom to be the missional church we have been called into, becasue we understand that we are in Christ, and he is in us! The deeper we get that, the more effective we will be. This reminds us to that our power, strength and energy come from the Holy Spirit and not ourselves.

‘being rooted in love’ Growing up in the country, you get to learn and see some facts. For example that tree roots of massive trees are as long as the tree is high. After a tree was felled, I saw the crator it caused and some of the root system and it was huge and tough. I saw many storms come in and lay waste, but some of these huge eucalyptus trees remained unscathed. Paul uses these two metaphors—one agricultural (“rooted”) and the other architectural (“established”)—as a reminder of the stability that Christ provides. Paul’s ultimate hope is that the indwelling presence of Christ will deepen the believers’ experience of God’s love. Here we have Paul praying that our deepest grounding is love, he wants this church to drop deep roots in it. We give love lip service and know that Love is important. But, this love in God and in others is so underwhelming in the Church at large, and is overlooked and other things are in its place. The power source, must be and has to be in Love, this proper love powers us in service to each other and to do the work of a missional church. Love is the way that the community grows and establishes itself. Love is the way that each member is firmly grounded in the truth and in the communion of God’s image bearers. So “you, being rooted and firmly established in love”—verse 18—”may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love.” This is the truth that in verse 19 Pauls states that ‘Surpasses Knowledge’.

This is why prayer is needed to, as it is beyond our cognitive reasoning, but not totally devoid of it - it can’t just be taught by books and learning. Only prayer (as it is in the Spirit) can reveal the fullness and deepen this width, breadth etc. It’s a very important part of our spiritual growth and maturity. It is what gives us assurance of salvation. It’s God’s love. It’s God’s mercy that caused Him to raise us from the dead, to make us alive with Christ, and to seat us with Christ in the heavenly realms. It’s God’s love that does that. It’s God’s mercy for us that does that, and so for believers to know that they are assured of salvation, for them to know that they really are adopted sons and daughters in the family of God, to know that they can have confident access to God through faith—understanding God’s love is the way that all those things will come about. Now in saying all of this, I say this, the love of Christ is beyond human comprehension.

3. Prayer Leads to Praise

Ephesians 3:20–21 NIV

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

V20-21) Jewish prayers often ended with a blessing to God (compare 1 Chr 16:35–36; Rom 16:25–27). Paul uses several Greek terms related to power and work in Ephesians, including dynamis (“power”) and its related verb dynamai, and ergon (“work”) and its related verb energeō. In this verse, Paul praises God both as “the one who is able” (tō dynamenō) and as the “power” (dynamis) that is “working” (energeō) in believers (Eph 3:20). There should be a sense of awe and wonderment and that we are filled with countless possibilities, new tasks, and boundless energy in him to complete it. We can dare to ask God for huge Gospel goals – like the whole of Collie to come to Christ. Also, to pray amazing things for your own life. Be warned however, this is not a magic genie or magic trick to get what you want for selfish gain. If you want to get on board with what Verse 20 offers, you best be on board with the whole three Chapters thus far of Ephesians.

Doxology is the only outcome when we are faced with the beauty of our God that has been laid out before us in the last three chapters of Ephesians. So what is a Doxology, it is from the Greek word Doxa, meaning glory! We bring a song of praise to his glory. It’s very fitting that Paul ends this chapter with such a rich doxology, that he poses the argument and reflects on the greatness and glory of God and prays that God would be glorified in the church, in the body of believers. God’s glory may be known, and in Christ Jesus, as Christ is glorified, as Christ is called Lord, as people put their faith and trust in Christ, so God is glorified. When was the last time after spending time meditationg of the Love and promises of God did you burst out in Song, or bought to your knees in deep prayful thanksgiving? Make it a staple in your life!

Conclusion:

4. Prayer leads the Missional Church

Overview of the series so far

God’s big stroy and our part in it

Size of sin and size of Gospel

Theology of God

Made one people under God through Jesus

What is the reason for Paul’s first three chapters? Why is he teaching us theology, but also praying that the theology will be pressed into our very soul/being? A big part is so we get how big the gospel is, that it is cosmological and needs to be to restore and rennovate every atom back in place. This is becasue sin cracked and distorted all of creation, and us being made in his image, being the pinnacle of his creation we too were corrupted by sin and followed after our first parents in the garden, with wanting to be God and in control of our own lives. So, he wants us to know and understand how good God’s salvation plan is, and how we have been given the most wonderful gift we did not deserve and did not have to earn salvation. So we can be free and to glorify God. He wants us to know we are new humanity and part of a family of that New Humanity, we are the Church.

This is true, However, the other part is that becasue of this we have been called to be on mission, we are the missional church and Paul is teaching us how to do that Book of Ephesians is a Missional Book - So different to modern day books on mission. This comes from the Doxology that we just read, which in turn came from the Power of Love, found in God’s salvation plan. This is becasue ‘

You Need To Know, What You Know, Before You Can Know How To Help Others To Know!’

We need this to power our work as the Church. What is work?

Work: exerting energy into actioning a plan that makes an outcome a reality

What is Gospel work?

Gospel work: As the church, drawing power from the love of Christ, and through the Great Commission, we glorify God and embody God’s salvation plan.

In closing some thoughts on Prayer!

“Perhaps the best Christian doctrine is that what emerges from the life of prayer” - Tom Wright

Western idea of head and hearts being linear hearts and heads flow both ways and simultaneously

Want to see change in our lives and others - then pray, Heaps!

Want to see the gospel flow out to collie and the world - pray for each other to know (inner being) what we know (head knowledge)

If you are not praying for your brothers and sisters in your church, you are doing prayer wrong. Not just praying when things are dyer, but everyday.

Power and Love are connected - Love of Power can lead to mass destruction whereas Power of Love can lead to weak people doing powerful things and humble those with power to do loving things.

Power comes from praying the truth from Chaps. 1-3 into our inner being (our spirit) our very essence, so that we can live it out seen in Chaps. 4-6 (if we don’t it becomes hypocritical at best and at worse legalistic living).