From the Pulpit: A powerful prayer
We learn to pray mostly by listening to others and learning from them. The best, but often overlooked place, to learn how to pray is from the prayers in the Bible. The Apostle Paul is a wonderful Biblical example. Mimic Paul and you will be doing two things: you will be learning from the best and you will be praying according to the will of God.
In Ephesians 3:14-19 we find a wonderful prayer that the Apostle prayed for the Ephesian Christians. It is a wonderful prayer for godliness. This is a devotional piece so it is best to read this article beside an open Bible turned to the passage.
Paul has just wrapped up three chapters of doctrine and before he begins to move to the last three chapters, which he devotes to application, he offers this prayer before the Father. It is not wrong to pray to Jesus or the Holy Spirit, but Christian prayer is usually directed toward the Father through the Son in the Spirit. All three persons of the Trinity are equally God, but there is an order in the Godhead.
One thing we learn from Paul about prayer is that he lets God’s Word direct his prayers. It is the great doctrines that he has been expounding upon in chapter one and two that are driving him to his knees. There is an important application point for us: The knowledge of God’s purposes and dealing with us should be the basis of how we pray for others. Paul isn’t getting creative with his prayer life. The Bible and prayer go hand and hand. The promise from God is that when we pray according to His will He hears us (1 John 5:14).
The body of the prayer has two main points, but for the sake of space I will only get to one this week. The first thing he prays for is that they would be strengthened with power by the Spirit. This is what we need to grow and reflect Christ in our lives, “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” The point isn’t that Christ isn’t in them – He is. Christ dwells in all believers through the Holy Spirit when they repent and believe the gospel. The point here is that of Christian maturity, of Christ likeness. Christ can dwell in the believer by the Holy Spirit and yet a fullness of him can still be lacking in the life. The word he uses has the idea of settling down and making a home. The picture is when a person moves into a house they settle in and the place is shaped by them. Things are added or removed; things are put on the walls; it takes on their identity. So when Christ makes his home in a life it takes the shape of Christ – it starts to look like Christ. This is what Paul is after. By the power of the Spirit they would be strengthened so that Christ takes shape in their lives.
Can I encourage you to take up Paul as a prayer mentor? Pray as he does for yourself, your family, and your church that God would strengthen with power by the Spirit so lives would take the shape of Christ Himself.