Paul's Prayer for the Ephesians

                             

        Prayers in the New Testament      June 24^th

                  Paul’s Prayer for the Ephesians

Review: Last Sunday we began to look at another one of the Apostle Paul’s prayers for the Ephesians.  In this prayer Paul was petitioning God for strength for the Ephesian believers.  Can anyone remember what the source of that strength is?  (God’s glorious riches) We learned that these riches are boundless, immeasurable and that they exceed anything we can even imagine.

Next we learned that this strength was with power, God’s power, for His agenda and His purposes.  We also learned that God’s power is stronger than anything we know; it is a power that cannot be calculated because it is unlike anything we know here on earth.

The Agent of God’s power and strength is the Holy Spirit.  Divine strength flows from God to the Holy Spirit and then to us; if God’s Spirit lives in us.  We need God’s strength to live the Christian life and empower and enable us to do His will.

If we are in relationship with God, His Spirit resides in our inner being.  It is here deep within us that God renews us day by day and transforms us into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.  This renewing strength and power enables us to faithfully live for Christ and follow Him despite the difficulties life throws at us or the chaos the Devil tries to create in our lives. 

Finally our motive for praying and asking God to strengthen us is that Christ would dwell (settle down) in our hearts by faith. 

Scripture:  Let’s read the passage in Ephesians again and move on to the next part of Paul’s prayer.  Eph. 3:14-21

Power: The second request in Paul’s prayer is for power.  Before we look into the nature of this power and all that is connected to it we need to examine the position Paul talks about in the second half of verse 17.  Here we read, “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power…”

Positioned for Power: What do you think it means to be “rooted and established in love;” how would you describe this to someone else in your own words? The power Paul is asking for here is somehow connected to being rooted and established in love.  What do these words mean?  Lets’ examine them to see if we can gain a better understanding of what Paul is trying to communicate to us. 

A) Rooted- Gk. Rhizoo-means to take root, become rooted, be rooted.  It also means, strengthened with roots, and firmly fixed. In a physical sense, roots are anchored in soil.  In a spiritual sense where are the believers roots anchored? See verse 18 (in love, the Love of Christ) In the physical world what is the function of the root/s of a tree? (Roots draw nourishment; roots create stability so the tree can withstand the wind) What is the result of poor roots or little roots for a growing tree?  (Poor growth, little growth or no growth and eventually the tree will die) Now take this idea and apply it to the spiritual life.  Are you rooted in God’s love; how far down do your roots go?  Or are you rooted in religion, doctrine or some other seed bed.  Exactly where you are rooted is critical because being rooted in the right place leads to power.  Are your roots deep enough to stabilize you from the winds of life?  Is there a way for us to be more intentional in putting down our roots, deeper and deeper into the love of Christ? 

B) Established-Gk. Themelioo- to lay the foundation of anything.  There is another related word in the Greek, themelios, which carries the metaphorical meaning of elementary doctrines, fundamental doctrine or principle, i.e. Gospel, teachings of Christ.  What Paul is saying here is that the foundation of our faith must be built on, or laid in, the love of Christ, His teaching, the Gospel.  In the building trade any structural engineer will tell you that one of the most important parts of any structure is its foundation.  Remember the earthquake in Haiti, the mass destruction and devastation. Poor foundations and standards that were not up to code, inferior building material resulted in unthinkable death and destruction. Do you know, understand and believe the basic doctrines of the faith, the Gospel and the love of Christ; is this what your faith is built on? So then being rooted in the love of Christ enables us to be nourished and sustained.  Being established in the love of Christ means our foundation is solid and will withstand the storms of life.   

Power: Now that we have gained a better understanding of these words and how they relate to the love of Christ we can see their relationship to the power Paul is talking about.  When we, as believers, are rooted and established in love we will experience God’s power.  But what is the significance of this power and why do we need it?

A) Verse 18 starts out with the phrase, “may have power.”The word used here for power means, to be strong, able, full of strength.  It is the strongest word available to indicate strength or ability.  Being rooted and established in love gives us our best chance at being able to appropriate God’s power.   

B) Notice that verse 18 also says, “… may have power, together with the saints…” This being rooted and established in love and experiencing the power of God is a corporate affair.  We learn, grow, love and serve in community.  There is no such thing as a lone ranger Christian; we need each other, it is critical for us to be part of the body of Christ, the church, of which He the head.  Just like a coal taken from the fire and left on its own will die out, we as believers disconnected from the church will eventually shrivel up and die. This doesn’t mean we lose our salvation but it does mean we no longer give heat and light, we become ineffective for God.       

C) Look closely at the next phrase, “to grasp,” which gives us more information about God’s power and why we need it. The word grasp means to, “Seize with the mind.”What is it that we are to grasp?  (The love of Christ)  How is this love described for us?

The Love of Christ

·     Wide, long, high, and deep

·     To know(come to know, experientially, to gain or receive a knowledge)

·      Love that surpasses knowledge (Goes beyond what we can know intellectually-not just something we know in our heads like facts and formulas but something we know through experience) As we experience God personally in the realm beyond the teaching of man, beyond what we can learn in a fellowship meeting; as we encounter God day to day, moment by moment and see His hand in our lives and interact with Him and begin to recognize the part He has given us in His plan.

There is also another aspect of this love that we need to experience.  This experience can only be ours through revelation.  Rom. 5:5 says, “…God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.”This is a divine act of God not something we can learn or acquire on our own. We certainly need to study the Scripture, learn the truth of the Gospel and the basic tenants of the faith but if we are lacking a personal one on one experiential relationship with God Himself we have only religion.    

The purpose of this love is to fill us up to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Moral fullness)The Greek here implies to be fully supplied, to abound.

Conclusion: When it comes down to knowing the love of God would you describe yourself as being rooted and established in the love of Christ?  Would you say that your experience of being rooted and established has led you to greater power to know the depth of God’s love? In your Spiritual journey do you have both intellectual and experiential knowledge of God? Is God someone you know about or someone you know personally?  Do we need to Join Paul in petitioning God to help us know Him better?  I know I do, and I know I will; will you join me?  This may seem like a huge mountain to climb and it is but we must never forget the truths of the doxology in this chapter.  Look at verse 20 which says, “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…”

Take heart, we can know Him and know His love better too because He can do more…immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine… according to His power….that is at work within us.  This is a process, we are God’s construction project and He is continuously at work in us through His Spirit.