THE ETERNAL PURPOSE OF GOD FOR THE CHRISTIAN BELIEVER

B. A MATURE BELIEVER IN JESUS: THE GREAT PRAYER

-- { Ephesians 3:14-21 }  ¹⁴ For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. ¹⁶ I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, ¹⁷ and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. ¹⁸ I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. ²⁰ Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.  -- NRSV

Breath Prayer For The Week (A "breath prayer" is a brief sentence or simple phrase that can be repeated often to Jesus in one breath.)

Jesus, help me mature in You.

Dear Friend, grace and peace be unto you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus, the Christ.  Amen.

This is the great prayer of Paul for the Church.  It is probably the third most important prayer in the Bible, following our Lord’s model prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 and His prayer in John 17.  This should be our prayer daily for a mature Church.

The prayer (3:14-15)  “For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.”

1. Paul’s prayer is for a specific cause and purpose.  The words “for this reason” refer back to the eternal plan of God and the life of the Christian believer.  Paul is referring back to the great salvation and birth of the Church.

2. The prayer was so important that it drove Paul to his knees.  Kneeling is a sign of desperation and dependency.  

3. The prayer addresses God as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus had come to reveal God perfectly.  A God who was near and interested in humankind.  A God who was listening to Paul’s prayer.

4. The prayer was also addressed to the Father of the whole family of God, past, present and future.

Request 1: for strength, power within by God’s Spirit (3:16)  “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,…”

Paul knew that the secret to the Christian life was power beyond oneself.  The follower of Jesus needs the strength and power of the Holy Spirit of God to live to God’s glory.

1. The word “strengthen” (krataiothenai) means to be made strong, tough, enduring.  It means to have energy or force to act, endure, or resist.

2. The word “power” (dunamei) means force, energy, might.

3. The believer needs to be strengthened with power in the ”inner being.”  This means the deepest part of our being – our very self.  It is where the “new creation” takes place.  It is here we must be strengthened and recreated with God’s power because…

   1. it is the only way we can overcome our weaknesses.  It is the only way we can conquer: temptation and sin, trouble and trials, suffering and grief, selfishness and worldliness, problems and circumstances.

   2. It is the only way the believer can ever succeed in the smallest way to become more like Jesus.

4. The only source for such conquering strength and power is the Holy Spirit.  The world’s wisdom and technology will never be able to conquer the inner self.  This is God’s own realm.

5. God answers our prayers and desires for this new “inner being” because it is to His glory to bless us.

Request 2: for Christ to rule and reign within by faith (3:17a)  “…so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith,…”

Paul’s second request is for Jesus to dwell and rule in the lives of believers.  The word “dwell” means a permanent not a temporary dwelling, to take up permanent residence, settle down, and be at home.  When a person trusts Jesus with their life He comes to dwell within that person for eternity.  This means…

1. Jesus will be at home with the person and the person at home with Jesus.  A relationship will develop.

2. The person will be aware of Jesus in all he does.

3. The person will seek to let Jesus control and guide his life making Him Lord of his life.

The more a believer is aware of Jesus in their life the more that person can walk and live for Him.  The believer’s faith and trust increase in Jesus by God’s grace.

Request 3: for love (3:17b)  “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,…”

Here Paul asked that the Ephesian believers be blessed with the love of God for one another.  That they live with one another in agape love - the selfless, sacrificial love of God that heals, forgives and binds together.

Request 4: for a full understanding of all spiritual things (3:18)  “…may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,…”

Paul knows how critical it is for believers to understand God’s eternal love.

Only in understanding God’s love of us in Jesus can we ever hope to love others.

Request 5: to know the love of Christ (3:19a)  “…and to know this love that surpasses knowledge…”

It is impossible to grasp and experience the love of Jesus perfectly, but we should pray for God to open our minds and spirits to understand more completely day by day.  As we walk our faith journey our desire is that we be enlightened as to God’s love more perfectly along the way.

Request 6: for the fullness of God (3:19b) “…that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

One of my favorite translations of the Bible is the Amplified Bible and it describes this verse very well.  “That you may be filled (through all your being) unto all the fullness of God… (that is) may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself.”

The follower of Jesus has all of the Holy Spirit but the Holy Spirit does not have all of the believer.  The Holy Spirit’s work is to establish the divine Presence of God within us.  That we be overwhelmed by God.  This is a progressive experience.  As Paul does, we must pray continually to be filled, controlled, overwhelmed by God’s presence in our life.  Our prayer must be, “Lord, constantly flood me with Your fullness.”

Conclusion: the encouragement to pray and trust God for the answer (3:20-21)  “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.”

We note two points by Paul here.

1. God is able to do what we ask.  Paul tells us just how strong God really is.

2. The source of answered prayer is the power of God that works in us.  

3. The purpose of God in answering prayer and in doing all this for us is to help us and be glorified in the Church through Jesus for eternity.

After understanding Paul’s prayer it is humbling to realize how immature we really are as followers of Jesus.  Paul is right.  We need God’s presence in our lives in a powerful way to even live a fraction of our lives as Jesus would.

Heavenly Father, we fall so short of Your glory.  We need Your overwhelming presence in our lives so that we can live and mature in life for You.  Make it so in Jesus.