(Sunday, July 18, 2010) Christ + Nothing part 1/ Pastor Jeff Royce

Podcast: May 02, 2010 The Oasis AZ/Jeff Royce

Supernatural power is available to us through the Spirit.

As we further examine the prayers of Paul for believers, we come to Ephesians 3:14 - 19.  This prayer is based on the discouragement and disillusionment that the Ephesians were feeling because of Paul's imprisonment.  Whenever Paul believed that there was something lacking in his own life or in the lives of fellow believers he prayed about it.  What a model Paul is for us; especially in the area of prayer.  So notice in 3:16 how he prays for their inner strength.  We may believe we have an inner person but for most of us we spend way more time on developing and maintaining the outer person over the inner man.  I believe Paul's prayer not only alerts us to this fact but should redirect our focus to increasing our inner strength as much if not more than our outer man.  Also, note that this supernatural power is available to us through the Spirit.  As you and I learn to walk in the Spirit and be filled by the Spirit we will come to realize that strength that we have available to us at any moment.  This prayer for God to strengthen them internally is based on the realization of the Ephesians and you and I that we need to ask for His strengthening.  The words in verse 16 "He may grant you" implies that we acknowledge we need a strength outside ourselves to navigate life and that we know who is the source of that strength - God Himself.  Why would we attempt to strengthen ourselves in other ways when all we have to do is ask our Heavenly Father whom Jesus characterized in the Gospels as the One who desires to give His children good things?  If you are strong in the Lord today seek to maintain that position of spiritual strength and if you are deficient of strength in your inner person, the remedy is only a prayer away.  Let's live today in the strength of God.

Effective praying isn't about the length of our prayers but about our hearts...

Continuing from my earlier post on June 7th....Another thing I notice about Paul's prayer here is how brief it is. Effective praying isn't about the length of our prayers or the specific language we use. It's about the heart of the one praying and the concept of God one has when approaching God. Notice Paul's God is far above every rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named. God reigns above all. That's the God Paul is praying to and He's the same One we can pray to as well. Hopefully the way Paul prayed and how he prayed and what he prayed for may change our view of prayer. Maybe we will pray for ourselves a little differently and even others a little differently. Someone once asked me what is the best way to learn to pray and my response was to read and study the prayers of the Bible and just start praying.

We should stay in constant contact with God throughout our day.

Let's continue in our closer look at the prayers of Paul as we look into Ephesians 1:15-23. Paul's prayer is motivated out of his knowledge that these believers are already consistently giving evidence that God is at work in their lives through their faith and love. Paul also uses two different words for prayer here in this passage. One signifies a set apart time and place which certainly builds consistency into our prayer life and the other word speaks of prayers offered as moved by the Hold Spirit. That's the model of a great balance in our praying. There needs to be some set times for prayer or else life would crowd it out but we also don't want to become to rigid in our practice of prayer where the only time we converse with God is at the set time. Remember Paul told the Thessalonians to constantly pray. (1 Thessalonians 5:17) We should stay in constant contact with God throughout our day.

Are you experiencing spiritual growth right now in your life?

As we examine the details of Paul's prayers, let's be reminded that Paul is primarily praying for the spiritual growth and maturity of Christians.  So in Ephesians 1:17, he is asking that the believers in Ephesus would have a desire to know God more accurately and thoroughly and that they would seek God.  Paul knew that God would respond to this and grant them spiritual wisdom and revelation.  This growth is so vital to our spiritual health so we don't remain stagnate in our relationship with God.  We are either making progress or regressing.  This is why there are so many exhortations in the New Testament about our spiritual growth.  The writer of Hebrews in 6:1 encourages the recipients of this letter to "move on to maturity."  Paul states in 1 Timothy 4:14 to "take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that everyone will see your progress." Also, Peter ends his second letter with these words, "But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." 

 

Are you experiencing spiritual growth right now in your life?  If not, why not?  Are you practicing the spiritual disciplines of prayer and time in the Word?  Are you placing yourself in an environment that will encourage your spiritual growth?  Remember we are responsible for our own spiritual growth and part of that is finding a community of believers whom God is building up by spiritually gifted men and women.  (Ephesians 4:11-12)

 

The goal, Paul says in Ephesians 4:15, is that we will in all things grow up into Christ or become like Jesus in all areas of life.  Remember Jesus Christ is our standard.  He is our example and if we look to Him, He will grow us up to be like Him.  There is nothing more fulfilling in this life than becoming like Jesus Christ.  So let's allow God to begin a work deep within us today to make it so.

The prayers of Paul can motivate and inspire our prayer life

Beginning today, we will examine and reflect upon the prayers of Paul recorded in the New Testament.  We can learn much and be inspired by how Paul prayed and for what Paul prayed. Before we examine the details of these prayers, there are a couple of things that impact me right away. 

 

First, these prayers are contained in what are called Paul's prison letters written to communities of believers while Paul was incarcerated.  I don't know about you, but if I'm in prison, I'm thinking about ME and not someone else, much less praying for them!  It shows the selflessness of Paul even during a personally difficult time in his life.  His heart was on others, not on himself.  This really should be the foundation for much of our praying.  It should be spent interceding to God on behalf of others.  It remind me of the words of Paul in Philippians 2:4, "Each of you should be concerned not only about your own interest, but about the interests of others as well."  In these prayers, Paul was seeking to encourage others at a time when he could have used encouragement himself.  What an example to all of us! 

 

Secondly, what strikes me is the nature of these prayers.  Paul is primarily praying for the spiritual growth and maturity of these Christians.  As I learned growing up in a church environment, most Christians occupy their prayer life with the physical needs of one another.  Let me say right away, that it is good and right to pray for these things.  However, we should also seek as Paul did throughout the New Testament to pray for each other's spiritual needs.  Paul understood and sought to impart this understanding to us:  If we are spiritually strong, we are better equipped to deal with life when physical trials or emotional pressure comes. 

 

So, let's use these prayers of Paul to motivate and inspire our prayer life.  These prayers can be found in:  Ephesians 1:15-23;  Ephesians 3:14-21;  Philippians 1:3-11;  Colossians 1:9-14.  Just read over these prayers and let the Holy Spirit lead and teach.