Praying......

This is a borrowed piece on prayer....it touched me in my study today.  I hope it prayers you.





Ephesians 3:14-21
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. 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, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 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, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.





***************************************************************

I would have to say that Paul is one of the best authorities on prayer in the whole Bible. We can learn a lot by simply paying attention to how Paul prayed and what Paul prayed for. Listen to Paul’s prayer in Eph. 3…

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, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 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, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Notice that Paul is not praying for himself, not that there’s anything wrong with that. In this prayer, Paul is praying for others. He is praying for his brothers and sister in the Ephesus church. We might want to take note of what Paul prays for others because we may want to make that our prayer for others also.

He prays that others might know the power of Christ, the presence of Christ, and the possibilities in Christ. When we pray for others, we often pray for specific needs that we know about: healing, hope, reconciliation, comfort… But when we don’t know the specifics, or in addition to the specifics, we can’t go wrong praying for these three things for others


1) The Power of Christ
Paul prays…

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…
We can pray that others be strengthened with the power of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. That’s something important we need to remember – power comes from God. Paul draws on the “riches of [God’s] glory,” which is an inexhaustible supply. Our power eventually runs out, but God’s never does.

Christ’s power gives us inner strength. That’s the power we need most – to be “strengthened in [our] inner being,” as Paul prays. The people around us need inner strength – to resist temptation, to face illness, to get through family problems.

In 2 Tim. 1:7 Paul says…

God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.
The power of the Holy Spirit can overcome any obstacle. Do you know others whose own power has run out? Pray that they be open to receive Holy Spirit power.

2) The Presence of Christ
Paul also prays that…

…Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith…
Our prayer for others can be that they not just know “about” Christ but that they “know” Christ – that they experience the presence of Christ in all his fullness.

When Paul uses the term “dwell,” he means not that Christ make a short visit and leave, but that he take up permanent residence in our hearts – that he come and stay for good. This is something that parents can pray especially for their children as they help them trust in Christ so he can take up permanent residence in their hearts and lives.

One thing we have to realize before we pray this for ourselves or others is that this is really a radical thing we’re praying for. C.S. Lewis, in his book Mere Christianity uses this parable from George MacDonald…

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of -- throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself." [C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, pg. 160]

Paul piles up images to convey this loving presence of Christ:
· Rooted and grounded in love
· Breadth and length and height and depth
· The love of Christ that surpasses knowledge

Do you know people who are alone, unloved? Pray that they experience the presence of Christ.

3) Possibilities in Christ
Paul addresses his prayer to the God of all possibilities…

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…
We can pray that others experience the unlimited possibilities we have in Christ. We can pray that they and we don’t put limits on Christ’s power and presence. Many years ago J.B. Phillips wrote a book titled, Your God is Too Small. That’s true of too many of us – our God is too small. We need to remember that our God is able to accomplish “abundantly far more than all we can ask or [even] imagine.”

Do you know people who think they’ve run out of options, who’ve given up and reached “the end of their rope”? Pray that they may reach out to the Christ of unlimited possibilities.

It doesn’t matter how old you are – it’s never too soon or too late to start learning and growing in the life of prayer. Yes, it does take time, discipline, and good teachers. We may never play the piano like Van Cliburn, but wouldn’t you like to pray like Paul? Wouldn’t you like to know that your prayers could bring others closer to the power, presence and possibilities of a relationship with Jesus Christ?

I invite you, if you aren’t already, to make prayer a part of your daily routine. Spend time in God’s presence. Praise God. Pray for your own needs. Pray for others, in their specific needs and that they experience the power, presence, and possibilities of life in Christ.

Jesus prayed for others. Paul prayed for others. Countless others have prayed for you. Won’t you pray for them? 


tHINK aBOUT tHESE tHINGS