Ephesians - Paul's Prayer for Spiritual Strength - Ephesians 3:14-21

Prayer puts you in touch with the eternal. Prayer says what you are doing with your life is going to last. He who does the will of God abides forever. 

[Narrator: Thanks for being a part of this Wednesday edition of Back to the Bible. Today we continue Warren Wiersbe's series from the book of Ephesians. Our focus: Paul's prayer for spiritual strength. In this message we'll discover that we can find all the strength we need for our walk with Christ if we turn to Him and ask for help. So, if you have a Bible nearby, open it to Ephesians 3:14 and let's join Warren to go back to the Bible.]

And now as we open the Word of God to Ephesians 3, we pause to seek God's blessing. Our Father, our hearts rejoice when we open the Word. Whether the Word convicts us or encourages us, teaches us or reminds us, we are grateful for Your Word. And we always need to learn something new and always need to be reminded, and Father, we always need Your help in practicing what we learn. And so guide us as we study now today. This is our prayer through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

"For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," Paul writes in Ephesians 3:14, "from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen."

Now that is a prayer that guides us in our own praying. Why am I praying? Ephesians 3:1. For what reason? Well, for the building of the church. Ephesians 3:1, he began this prayer: "For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles." And when he mentioned the word Gentiles, he thought he better pause to explain his own ministry as apostle to the Gentiles. But the reason is given at the end of Ephesians 2, that God is building His temple. 

Therefore, why are we praying? For the building of the church. How are we praying? "I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named." I am praying as a son bowed to the Father, as a servant submitted to the Master. I am seated with Christ in the heavenlies. The only way to practice my position here on earth is to bow before the Father and receive from Him that adequate supply that I need to serve Him. How am I praying? Yielded to His will, bowed before Him. How am I praying? Keeping the whole family of God in my mind. Not praying selfishly, but praying "Our Father," not just "my Father." Thinking about the whole church, not just ourselves, our family, our church, our needs, but thinking about God's whole family. "The whole building," says Ephesians 2:21. "The whole family," says Ephesians 3:15. "The whole body," says Ephesians 4:16. I wish we could all have that kind of wide vision. 

You see, Paul wasn't praying about his needs so much as God's plan. God has a plan. What's He doing? He is building His temple. He is building the body. He's putting together the family. He is forming this holy nation. God is at work in this world putting things together. "The whole building being joined together." That's one of the great themes of Ephesians. Ephesians 1:10, "that in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ." Now when you and I pray "for this reason," for the building of the church, we become a part of what God is doing in this world. As we pray, God works in and through our lives and our prayers to build this temple, which is the habitation of God. 

Now, for what are we praying? And this we find, of course, in Ephesians 3:16-19. There are four requests: for spiritual strength, that God may give us the strength and power that we need, Ephesians 3:16. And then for spiritual depth, a deeper relationship with the Lord, "rooted and grounded," a solid foundation. And then for spiritual perspective, that we might be able to comprehend and apprehend how big God's love is through His church. Depth, strength, perspective, and fullness—"that you might be filled unto all the fullness of God." 

Now in Ephesians 3:20-21, we have a fourth question we must answer. Why am I praying? How am I praying? For what am I praying? Finally, am I willing to be a part of the answer? That's critical. "Now to Him who is able." Now nobody's going to argue about that. He is able. He's able to do. He's able to do above all we ask or think. He's able to do abundantly above all we ask or think. He's able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. Nobody questions that. Our God is able. 

But notice the rest of the verse: "according to the power that works in us." Not in the angels, not in the patriarchs and the apostles—in us. Where does God start to answer prayer? In us. In His children. Now let's keep in mind that prayer does something for the person who is praying. Now that's not the main reason for praying. Prayer is something God answers objectively, but prayer also is answered subjectively. God begins to do a work in our own hearts. God is able to answer prayer, and He begins to answer that prayer in us. This benediction is such a remarkable thing. God is able to do more than our powers. The answering of prayer does not depend on my weakness; it depends on God's strength. He's able to do above and beyond our powers. He's even able to do above and beyond our prayers—"above all that we ask." God wants to answer beyond our prayers with good measure, pressed down, running over. God is not a miser when it comes to answering prayer. "Thou art coming to a King, large petitions with thee bring." God is able to do beyond our powers and beyond our prayers and even beyond our plans—"beyond all that we ask or think." You see, we can't begin to think the way God thinks. His thoughts are far above our thoughts, His ways are far beyond our ways. And so God can answer prayer above and beyond our powers. 

Phillips Brooks used to say, "Do not pray for easy lives; pray to be better men and women. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers; pray for powers equal to your tasks." Otherwise, how are we going to grow? God can answer prayer beyond our powers and even beyond our prayers and even beyond our plans and even beyond our purposes—"To Him be glory." He has high and holy purposes that He wants to fulfill. Now this encourages me, but the two little words at the end of Ephesians 3:20 are so critical: "in us." God answers prayer and He starts in us, in His children. 

Now we can illustrate this throughout the Word of God. Let's begin with Moses. Moses ran away from Egypt. He had tried unsuccessfully to deliver his people. His approach was wrong, his method was wrong, although his attitude was right. God put him out into the wilderness to learn how to take care of sheep. He'd be doing that for the rest of his life—a nation of sheep. And then Moses saw that burning bush and God called Moses. Now what had Moses been doing during those years? He'd been praying. I'm sure all day long he was praying, "Oh God, our people are in Egypt. Fulfill Your promise to Abraham. You told Abraham that in due time they would be delivered. Now deliver Your people, deliver Your people." And so God came down and said, "I've heard your cries. I know the cries of My people. Moses, I've heard what you have to say. I know your burden. I'm going to send you." Isn't that interesting? The power that works in us. Now Moses said, "Well, You can't send me, I'm not able." God said, "I can do above and beyond your ability." God didn't expect Moses to bring water out of the rock; God would do it. God didn't expect Moses to defeat the various armies that would attack them; God would do it. God said, "Moses, I want to work in you and through you. I want to do exceedingly abundantly above anything you could ask, anything you could pray for, anything you could ever expect. But I'm going to start with you." 

I think of Nehemiah. Nehemiah is one of the great heroes of the Old Testament. His brother went down to Jerusalem to make a visit of some kind, and when he came back, Nehemiah asked him and his friends, "How are things in the city of our fathers?" And they said, "Terrible. The walls are broken down, the gates are burned, the people do not have adequate housing, people don't want to live in Jerusalem. It's not safe." And Nehemiah began to weep. He sat down and wept because the city of the great King, the joy of all the earth, Jerusalem, the city of peace, was in ruins. So he began to pray, "Oh God, You are a great God. Oh God, do something." And God said, "Nehemiah, I'm going to send you." And God called Nehemiah to be an answer to prayer. By the way, there is something more wonderful than getting answers to prayer; that is being an answer to prayer. Are you an answer to prayer? Or are you the kind of a person people are praying for and saying, "Boy, don't let her get involved in our home. Oh, keep him away from us." I hope not. I trust that you and I, when people look at us, they say, "You are an answer to prayer. The power that works in us." You see, this benediction is saying to us, God is willing to work. Make yourself available. "To Him be glory in the church, world without end. Amen." 

Are you willing to be a part of the answer? Now if we're not willing to be a part of the answer, God is not likely to do much. Prayer doesn't just change things; prayer changes people. Notice in this prayer, just go back and read Ephesians 3:14-21 and notice the changes that ought to take place in my life if I am really praying according to the will of God. If prayer doesn't change me, it's not going to change anybody else. Prayer is not our coming to God and telling Him what to do; prayer is making ourselves available for God to accomplish what He wants to do. 

Notice in Ephesians 3:14, if I'm praying as I ought to, I will be changed from aimlessness to purpose. "For this reason." I've got a purpose for praying and a purpose for living. Now what is that purpose? The building of the church. From aimlessness to purpose. From resisting to submitting. "I bow my knees." The longer we pray, the longer we walk with God, the longer we're in His fellowship, the more we ought to submit to Him. You see, if prayer does not accomplish something in my life, it's not going to accomplish much in the lives of those for whom I am praying. As I pray, I move from aimlessness to purpose. I live for the building of the church. I move from resisting to submitting, bowing my knees to the Father, practicing my position in Christ. 

I think of the Prodigal Son as this lesson comes to mind. The Prodigal came and said, "Give me. Father, give me." And the Father did. The Father had the freedom to do that. And then the Prodigal came home and said, "Father, make me." That's different, isn't it? "Give me." Anybody can say that. Many people live on the "give me" level of prayer. They don't live on the "make me" level of prayer. From resisting to submitting. From isolation to fellowship. "From whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named." Now I may pray in solitude, but I cannot pray alone. I am a part of the whole family, the whole building, the whole body. And I pray "Our Father," not "my Father." Our Father. The church is a family. The church is made up of all the saints. Ephesians 3:18, "that you may be able to comprehend with all the saints." If my praying makes me see only my Christian life and my service and my church and my fellowship, it is not true biblical prayer. Prayer is such a great and glorious thing, and we ought to be able to comprehend the greatness of God and the greatness of God's church. 

We move from aimlessness to purpose, from resisting to submitting, from isolation to fellowship, from poverty to riches—"that He would grant you according to the riches of His glory." We bow before the Lord bankrupt; we rise enriched by Him. The riches of His grace and His glory. The riches of His mercy. The untraceable, unfathomable riches of Jesus Christ, Ephesians 3:18. The riches of His wisdom, Romans 11:33. Wisdom and grace and mercy, all of this available to us through prayer. We go from poverty to riches. I tell you, when you're praying the way God wants you to pray, some changes take place and you become a part of the answer. 

We go from weakness to power. The power that He gives to us—"strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man." I have had experiences in my own life and ministry when my own strength was completely gone. I couldn't even think straight. And yet there was ministry to perform, there was work to do. And you pray to God and the indwelling Holy Spirit gives you the power that you need. Resurrection power. From shallowness to depth—"that Christ may dwell," settle down, feel at home in your hearts, "that you might be rooted," get down deep, "grounded," good solid foundations. From shallowness to depth. If prayer doesn't make me a deeper Christian, then there's something wrong with my praying. If prayer does not mean I am going deeper into the promises of God, deeper into the love of God. 

From narrowness to breadth. Notice that in Ephesians 3:18-19, that you might know and comprehend how big God's love is. Its width and its length, its depth, its height—this love of Christ that passes knowledge. Oh, that's a marvelous thing, to see how big God's love is. Our love is so narrow. We love our own family, we love our friends, we love our own church and denomination, but everybody else is suspect. Paul is saying if you're really praying, God is going to fill your life with love. And the boundaries of your life are going to expand to horizons, and you are going to see how big is the work of God in His church. From narrowness to breadth and from emptiness to fullness—"that you might be filled with all the fullness of God," "filled unto all the fullness of God." It is God who is at work in us. Be filled with the Holy Spirit, the fullness of God's blessing. 

And as we pray, if we're praying as we ought to, we move from watching to working—"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us." We aren't spectators anymore; we are involved in the work of the Lord. If we are praying as we ought to pray, then we are going to be involved in serving, in caring, in helping to pay the bill. It's amazing how many people can pray with great emotion about the needs of the mission field, but they aren't available to go or give. Now sometimes we can't give, sometimes we are not called to go, but we're willing to do so. And the Holy Spirit of God wants to work through us. I say it again: it's a great blessing to receive answers to prayer; it's a greater blessing to be an answer to prayer. 

And then we're moved from the temporary to the eternal—"to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." If you live for the world, what you live for will be gone. You live for the wealth of this world, the wisdom of this world, it'll all be gone someday. The world is passing away. Paul said the fashion of this world is changing; it's passing away. And you live for this world, everything you live for will go up in smoke. You live for God's glory and the eternal, and it will last forever. That's the beautiful thing about prayer. Prayer puts you in touch with the eternal. Prayer says what you are doing with your life is going to last. He who does the will of God abides forever. 

Well, let's take inventory of our prayer life. Let's find out why are we praying. Are we praying selfishly just for ourselves? Why are we praying? How are we praying? Are we demanding or submitting? For what are we praying? Just the material and physical things? Nothing wrong with that, of course—"Give us this day our daily bread." But are we praying for spiritual strength? That's important. Spiritual depth, perspective, spiritual fullness. And then are we willing to be a part of the answer? That's the important thing. Can we say to the Lord today, "Lord, here I am. I am willing to be a part of the answer. Here I am, God. Call me, send me, help me today to be an answer to somebody's prayer."