Robert Jeffress - Paul's Power Prayer
Hi, I'm Robert Jeffress, and welcome again to "Pathway to Victory". Whenever you think about prayer, what comes to your mind? Maybe you imagine a formal recitation or a desperate plea in times of trouble. Well, today, we're going to look at a powerful prayer from the apostle Paul that reveals the incredible spiritual blessings available to every believer in Christ. As we turn to Ephesians chapter 3, we'll discover how to tap into God's limitless power and love. My message is titled, "Paul's Power Prayer" on today's edition of Pathway to Victory.
Miriam Webster's dictionary defines "Eccentric" as "A person who behaves in an odd or unusual way, who deviates from conventional and accepted usage or conduct, especially in whimsical ways". Now, instead of using all those words, the editors of that dictionary could have simply placed a picture of Julian Ellis Morris.
You may not be familiar with the name, but Morris was an eccentric millionaire who lived in England, who got up every morning and dressed as a tramp and would go door to door, selling razor blades and shampoo. And when he had finished selling his inventory, he would call for his chauffeured limousine to pick him up. He would go back to his mansion, change into formal evening wear, and go to the most expensive restaurant in the city. Why in the world would somebody who is so wealthy want to live like a pauper?
That's exactly the question Paul asks in his letter to the church at Ephesus. The book of Ephesians is about our spiritual wealth we have received in Jesus Christ. Chapter 1, verse 3, Paul says, "Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ". And when we understand the wealth we have received from Christ, it ought to impact how we walk with Christ every day. That's what Ephesians is about. And the book divides into two parts: chapters 1 to 3 is really an inventory of our spiritual wealth, everything God has done for us.
Now, just think about it. What has God done for you? What has he done for me? He has chosen us, not because of anything good on our part. He chose us simply because of the great love that he had for us. He has chosen us. He has predestined us. That word means to Mark the boundary. He has planned our lives for us. He's chosen us, he's predestined us, he has saved us. Not just from the penalty of sin, going to hell, but from the power of sin in our life right now. And one day from the presence of sin. He has redeemed us. He has saved us. And if that were not enough, he has adopted us and placed us in God's very own family.
Those are all the things, Paul says, God has done for us and it ought to impact our everyday life. There's no reason to live as though you're spiritually bankrupt when you consider all that God has done for you. Now, as Paul comes to the close of chapter 3, before he talks about our walk with God, he can't help but offer a prayer. Sometimes he is so overwhelmed with what God has done, he just stops right there and prays. He did it in chapter 1 in Ephesians. And now he does it in chapter 3. Notice Paul's prayer. I call it Paul's power prayer. He's going to pray for the four things he wants God to do in your life and my life as a result of the wealth we've inherited from Jesus Christ.
Notice there's a prelude to the prayer, there are the petitions of the prayer, and there is a postlude to the prayer. Let's look at Paul's prelude. Look at verse 14: "For this reason". Now we learned last time, anytime we see those words, "For this reason," we ought to ask for what reason are you talking about, Paul? Well, he's talking about everything he's written in chapters 1 to 3 so far. Paul is saying, "When I think about everything God has done for me, I bow my knees before the father". I bow, I can't help but pause and praise God. So Paul said, "I bow my knees".
Now remember where Paul was when he wrote this. He was under house arrest in an apartment he was having to pay for, awaiting his trial. And he was chained to a member of the praetorian guard, a Roman soldier. He was chained 24 hours a day, a different guard every 8 hours. And so when Paul said, "I bow my knee," I'm sure that soldier thought, "Oh no, here we go again". Because he had to get down when Paul got down to pray. "I bow my knees before the father," pateras in Greek.
Now that was an interesting word because the Jews never ever thought of God as their personal father. He was the father of the nation, but he was not their father. They would never even imagine you could have such an intimate relationship with God. But Paul said because of Christ Jesus, we can call God our father. "I bow my knees before the father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name". Now, what does Paul pray for? Look at Paul's petition. There are four things he wants you to experience because of your wealth in Christ. First of all, to experience God's power.
Look at verse 16: "I pray that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power through his spirit in the inner man". I wanna look at each of those prepositional phrases. "With power through his spirit in the inner man". Notice the focus of this prayer is that we would have power in the inner man. 2 Corinthians 4:16, Paul says, "We do not lose heart, but though the outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day". Even though our body decays, our inner man, our real self, can be strengthened every day. Strengthened with what? Strengthened with power. Power, dunamis. We get our word "Dynamite" from it.
What makes a stick of dynamite so powerful? It's what's packed inside of it, that gunpowder. That gives it power. You and I have been packed, not with gunpowder, but with the Holy Spirit of God. That's why he says, "Strengthened with power through his spirit". Every Christian has been given the supernatural person of the Holy Spirit. Now, while every Christian experiences the presence of the Holy Spirit, not every Christian experiences the power of the Holy Spirit, people don't understand how we access God's power.
We say, "Well, salvation is a work of God alone," and that's true. But our sanctification, our becoming more like Christ, our ability to say no to temptation, to curb our appetites that are ungodly, our ability to stand courageous when the world is collapsing around us, our ability is to stand firm in the faith when satan attacks us from every direction, that power comes through a joint effort between God and us. Salvation is God's work alone. Our sanctification, our becoming more like Christ, is a co-operative effort between God and us.
And that's why Paul says in 2 Timothy chapter 4, verses 7 and 8: "Discipline yourself for the purpose of Godliness: for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but Godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds the promise for this present life and the life to come". Paul says, "I want you to experience God's power to strengthen the inner man through the Holy Spirit of God". He prays for God's power. Secondly, he says, "I want you to experience God's presence". Look at verse 17: "So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith".
"Now wait a minute, pastor. You just said the moment we trust in Christ, we receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, 1 Corinthians 12:13: 'for with one spirit, we were all baptized into one body'. So, why should we pray that Christ might live or dwell in our hearts through faith if he's already there"? Well, the key is that word "Dwell," dwell. Now, there are two words Paul had a choice of using that is translated "Dwell". One is perioikeo. It means to live as a stranger and alien in a place. It's a word that was used to describe Abraham. Remember, Abraham lived his life, his entire life, as a stranger, an alien, in this world. He was looking for a better place, a better country, heaven itself.
Paul says you and I live as aliens in this world if we're really living a Christlike life. Our citizenship is not here on earth, it is in heaven. We are strangers and aliens. But that's not the word Paul uses. He uses instead the word katoikeo, katoikeo. That means to live or dwell permanently. To live or dwell comfortably in a certain place. And that's the word Paul is using. He says, I pray that Christ might live comfortably, that he might feel at home in your life. That's what he's talking about. How is such a thing possible? How do you make Christ feel at home in your life?
It's funny, just about every commentator I read, used the same example. Came from a little booklet. I remember when I was in high school, my first job was working in a Christian bookstore and we had a little booklet we used to sell. I bet you've read it, called "My heart: Christ's home," by Robert munger. And in this book, munger says that when Christ comes into your life, he comes to live permanently. But before he can dwell comfortably in your life, he has to do some renovation work and he asks for your help in it. And then munger likens our lives to different rooms in a house.
When Christ first comes into our house, our life, the first place he goes is to the library. He wants to check out what is shaping our mind. He may find some books there that need to be thrown out or some DVDs or some other things, but he deals with our mind. And then he goes into the kitchen of our life. That's where our appetites are and he sees appetites that aren't making him feel very comfortable: a desire for prominence, materialism, immorality, and he helps us change those appetites. And then he goes looking in places he shouldn't look, in some closets in our life, where there are hidden sins we don't want exposed and certainly don't want corrected.
That's what he's talking about here. He's praying that Christ might dwell, live comfortably, in your hearts through faith. Thirdly, he says, I pray that you would experience God's love. Look at verse 17: "And that you, being rooted and grounded in love". What love is he talking about? He's talking about that we might experience the love of God, that we might be rooted in it. That's a botanical term that refers to a plant that derives its nourishment from the soil beneath. That's what gives the plant life. He said, "I pray that you might gain spiritual nourishment and encouragement from the knowledge that God loves you and not only rooted in it but grounded in God's love". He changes metaphors. That's an architectural term. That means to have a solid foundation. You know, the quality of a building depends upon its foundation.
I remember reading through a picture book one time of the construction of the empire state building in New York city. You'll remember, for many years it was the tallest building in the world. Shortly after World War II, after the empire state building had been constructed, a pilot, flying an aircraft bomber, lost its way in the New York fog and slammed into the empire state building. Didn't do anything to the building, did a lot to that aircraft. It fell to the ground into a million pieces, but it didn't affect the building. Why? Because of the strong foundation underneath the ground. People say, "Well, I know of a couple of buildings in New York that were hit by airplanes and were completely destroyed".
That's right. But they fell under their own weight. They didn't topple over. The foundation means everything. And what Paul is saying is, "I pray that you may be so grounded in the knowledge of God's love for you that nothing shakes you. No adversity causes you to lose your faith". What is that knowledge? Think about it, the knowledge, the assurance, that the Creator of this universe, the one who holds life and death in his hands, he actually loves you. He has a feeling about you. He has a plan for your life. He said, "I pray that you might know that, that you might be able to comprehend," verse 18, "With all the saints what is the breadth, the length, the height, the depth of God's love".
My favorite chapter in all the Bible is Romans chapter 8. That chapter begins with "No condemnation". "There is therefore now no condemnation awaiting those who are in Christ Jesus". But that chapter finishes with "No separation". Paul said it this way in verses 38 and 39: "For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from the love of God. Death can't, and life can't. The angels won't, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God's love away," or wherever we are, high above the ocean or in the deepest sea, nothing can ever separate us from the love of God, demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when he died for us. Isn't that great? That is the love of God.
And Paul says, "I pray that you would know that, that you would apprehend it, that it would be a part of your life". And then he says, "Finally, I pray that you would experience God's fullness". Look at verse 19: "To know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, so that you might be filled up with all the fullness of God". That word "Fill," pleroo, it refers to a sail on a sail ship that is filled up with the wind. You know, when a sail is filled up with the wind, the sail doesn't contain all of the wind, but the sail itself is filled up with the wind. The sail can be completely filled with the wind, but the wind is not just contained in that sail. Two very different things. And when that sailboat is filled up with wind, that wind directs it.
When Paul says, "Be filled with the spirit," he's not saying that you keep pouring the Holy Spirit into our lives. No, we receive all of the Holy Spirit the moment we're saved. But Paul's prayer when he says, "Be filled with the spirit," literally is be directed by, be controlled by, the Holy Spirit of God. He says, "My prayer is that you might be filled up with all the fullness of God that his love, his power, his presence in your life, might just fill you up, running over with his power".
I remember a story I heard Chuck Swindoll tell one time about a time he was pastoring in Fullerton, California. Their family had gone to Laguna Beach one Saturday to spend the day. And when they got back home that night, they were tucking their children into bed and he walked in his youngest daughter's bedroom and saw a jar filled with water on the ledge. And Chuck said, "What is that"? She said, "Daddy, I just wanted to bring the ocean home with me".
Now, the whole ocean couldn't be contained in that little jar, but that jar could be filled with the ocean. And that's what Paul is saying here: "I pray that you would be filled with the fullness of God". Now, Paul could have easily stopped his prayer right there. But I want you to notice his postlude, the benediction. We know it so well. Verse 20: "Now to him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us". Will you notice three things from that little benediction? First of all, God is able to do.
Write that down. "Now to him who is able to do". Jeremiah 32:27: "God says, 'I am the Lord God. Is there anything too hard for me'"? What is it you're facing today? Is anything you're facing too hard for God to do? Remember what Jesus said? "With man it is impossible. But with God, all things are possible". There is nothing you can ask God to do that is beyond his ability. God is able to do. Secondly, "God is able to do what we ask or even imagine".
Now, I wanna be careful here. We need to ask God for what is in our heart. James said, "You have not because you ask not". But sometimes God does what we ask and even sometimes he does what we just imagine. God is able to do. He's able to do what we ask or imagine. And he is able, thirdly, to do beyond what we imagine. "Now to him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond". Paul used one Greek word that is translated "Exceeding abundantly beyond". It's a Greek word he just made up, because he was trying to come up with a superlative. How can I describe God's power?
So he took three different Greek words, strung them together into one, kind of like supercalifragilistic-expialidocious. He just put these words together to describe God's above and beyond ability to do what we even just simply imagine. That is the power of God. I was trying to think how to illustrate that for you. And thankfully, Dr. Criswell came to my rescue, because he wrote these words about this passage about God's over-the-top ability to do what we ask or even imagine.
Dr. Criswell said, "Just how able is God? Look at the sun, 93 million miles away, so large and powerful that all the planets in our solar system could fall into it. Is the sun with all of its energy capable of illuminating this sanctuary, this worship center? Or look at the mighty Mississippi river. Is there enough water in that river to satisfy the thirst of a single man or a woman? It is the same with God's power in our life. Can we ever ask God for too much? Is there anything too hard for him to do? Not only is he able to do what we ask, but he's able to do far above what we could ever imagine".
Who in this room would have ever thought to ask God to take on human form and come to earth and die for our sins? Who would have ever imagined to ask for such a thing? But God did it for us. Who would ever ask God, having done that, to adopt us and put us into his family and give us everything he's given his son, Jesus Christ? Why, even the prodigal son could only ask his father to make him a slave. But God has adopted us. Who would have ever thought to ask God to take our bodies once we've died and to change them and make them incorruptible and immortal?
But that's exactly what God does. The Bible tells us that when we die, God Marks the spot where we die. He Marks our atoms, our particles, our dust, and he promises to raise them from the dead. Is there anything too hard for God? No, God is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond anything that we ask or think. And that's why Paul closes this prayer with these words: "To him be the glory, in the church and in Christ Jesus, to all generations forever and ever, amen".