[NOTE: This sermon is the first in a four-part sermon series entitled, "The Prayers of Paul." The scriptures and inspiration for this sermon were from a similar series preached by Craig Groeschel, LifeChurch.TV.]
21 June 2015
I. Introduction
-- turn in
your Bibles to Ephesians 3:14-21
Ephesians 3:14-21
(NIV)
14 For this reason I
kneel before the Father,
15 from whom his
whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
16 I pray that out of
his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your
inner being,
17 so that Christ may
dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and
established in love,
18 may have power,
together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is
the love of Christ,
19 and to know this
love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the
fullness of God.
20 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,
21 to him be glory in
the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!
Amen.
-- one of
my all-time favorite movies is “Mr. Holland’s Opus” -- I don't know if any of you remember this --
it starred Richard Dreyfuss as a musician -- a composer -- who hasn't found any
success in following his dream of composing the next great symphony -- so he
ends up taking a job teaching music at a local high school just to pay the
bills -- and he looks at it as just a job he can do to make money while still
giving him time to compose and follow his dream
-- One of his students is a very serious girl
who plays the clarinet terribly, even though she practices constantly -- and as
Mr. Holland works with her to try to help, he learns that she is the youngest
in a family where everyone excels – except her -- Because she has tried so hard
and failed at playing the clarinet, she considers herself a failure in life
-- One day
she comes into the classroom and tells Mr. Holland that she’s going to quit and
says that if he knows anyone who wants her clarinet, he can give it to them --
as she walks away, Mr. Holland asks her, “Is it any fun?” -- With a shrug, she
answers, “I wanted it to be.”
-- “You
know what we’ve been doing wrong, Miss Lang? We’ve been playing the notes on
the page.” -- Confused, the girl asks, “Well what else is there is to play?”
-- “There’s
a lot more to music than notes on a page -- playing music is supposed to be fun
-- it’s about heart -- it’s about feelings and moving people and something
beautiful and being alive and it’s not about notes on a page -- I could teach
you notes on a page -- I can’t teach you that other stuff.”
-- He has
her sit down in front of him with her clarinet and takes the music sheets off
the stand and tells her to play -- She tries a time or two, each time coming to
a point where her clarinet squawks and squeaks, and she starts to kick herself
for her failure -- -- “What do you
like best about yourself?” he asks. -- With a shy smile she says, “My hair – my
dad says it reminds him of a sunset.” -- “Well, then, play the sunset.”
-- And she
closes her eyes, and she begins to play – really play, not just the notes, but
the heart of the music -- She is so amazed when she does the hard part of the
song perfectly that her eyes pop open and she stops -- Mr. Holland shares her
amazement and says, “Don’t stop!”
-- And so,
on she plays: eyes closed, head beginning to sway with the rhythm of it -- and
this time, it's different -- this time, it’s fun.2
-- when I
thought of this scene in the movie, I thought of prayer -- for many of us,
prayer is just like music was to this girl -- prayer is serious -- prayer is work
-- prayer is duty -- prayer is something we HAVE to do because we are expected
to do it as Christians -- but it seems more as a chore than anything else -- and
we end up feeling like failures in our prayers more often than not
-- but this
is not the way God intended prayer to be -- prayer should be like playing a
sunset -- it should be like sharing our lives with a friend -- it should be
like sharing our day -- the good and the bad -- our wants and desires -- our
dreams and our hopes -- with a Father who loves us and wants us to succeed --
with a Father who just wants to listen and just wants to know our hearts
-- this
morning we are beginning a sermon series on the four prayers of the Apostle Paul
in the hopes this may encourage us in our prayer life and help us to recapture
the heart of what God intended when He told us to pray
-- the
first of Paul's prayers that we're going to discuss is found here in Ephesians
Chapter 3 -- so let's look together now at this prayer of Paul and see what we
can learn from him
-- verse 14
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father,
15 from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives
its name.
-- Paul
begins his prayer with the words, "for this reason" -- and to
understand what he's talking about, you need to know the context of the Book of
Ephesians up to this point -- Paul has been sharing with this church that he
loved the truth of the gospel and the mystery of the church -- he has reminded
them of how Christ died for them on His cross -- how they stand forgiven of
their sins by grace through faith in the atoning death and sacrifice of Jesus
-- and of the mystery of the church -- how Christ brought together Jews and
Gentiles to become one church -- one family -- one people under Him
-- that is
the foundation of Paul's prayer -- that is the truth of God's word that he
stands on as he begins here -- for this reason -- for all that Christ has done
for us -- because of this -- I kneel here in prayer for you
-- it's
important to know this, because the only reason we can come before God is
because of what Christ has done for us -- we, too, stand on this promise of the
forgiveness of sins and new life with Jesus when we come before the Father in
our prayers -- that is why we are told to pray in Jesus' name, for it is in His
name -- for this reason -- that we can come confidently and boldly before the
throne of God
-- don't
get hung up on Paul's statement that he kneels there in prayer for the
Ephesians -- prayer is not so much about posture as it is about the position of
our heart -- most people in Paul's day prayed standing up, with arm uplifted to
heaven -- Paul is making a point here to the people that he cared about them so
much that as he prayed, he dropped to his knees before God in a symbol of
humbleness and awe and worship
-- it was
Paul's heart and his relationship with God that drove him to his knees -- and
if you are led to pray in a similar manner, that's great -- but you can pray as
you stand, as you sit, as you drive -- don't close your eyes -- as you go about
your day -- the important is not how you pray, but that you pray and that your
prayers are real and from the heart as Paul's
-- one
other point before we leave these verses -- up till now in the Book of
Ephesians, Paul has been referring to God simply as God -- but here in his
prayer, he switches to the use of the term "Father" -- he does this
because he is trying to make the point that the church is not just a group of
people, but a family with a Father -- and that our name -- our heritage -- our
lineage -- is derived from our Father who art in Heaven
-- verse 16
16 I pray that out of
his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your
inner being,
-- In this prayer, Paul makes
four petitions to God on behalf of the Ephesians -- we see the first of these
four here in verse 16 -- Paul prays that the believers would be strengthened
with the power of God in their inner being
-- if there
is one mistake that all of us make in our prayers it is that we pray without
power -- we pray in our own strength and not in the strength of the Holy Spirit
within us -- and this leads to two problems
-- first,
because we don't pray with power, our prayers are too small -- and second,
because we don't pray with power, our prayers are too general
-- as James
says, "You have not because you ask not" -- we get what we pray for,
and when we pray small prayers that are not specific, that is what we get -- we
don't get what we desire because we aren't asking God to do anything big in our
lives
-- how many
times do your prayers consist of phrases like, "Thank you, Lord, for today
-- please bless me and please bless my family -- protect us today -- keep us
safe" -- I have to admit my prayers sound like this far too often --
small, safe, and general prayers -- and I think God must get frustrated with us
because He has all to give us -- as Paul said over in Ephesians 1:3, God has
blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ --
and rather than asking God to move mightily in our lives and in the lives of
those around us, we simply pray, "Lord, if it's not too much trouble,
please bless us today"
-- I wonder
if God isn't listening to our prayers and saying, "Just ask Me -- just ask
Me to do something big -- something that will show off my glory -- something
that will show this world what a powerful and great God I am"
-- let me
give you an example of someone who wasn't afraid to pray big and bold prayers
in the power of God
-- Martin
Luther, the father of the Protestant Reformation -- his friend and assistant
Friedrich (ee) Myconius was very sick -- he was actually on his death bed, and
his family and friends had gathered around because he was expected to pass on
at any time -- Myconius had a farewell message sent to Luther, praying that God
would continue His ministry and reformation through him
-- but
listen to Luther responded -- Luther wrote a prayer in response, "I
command you in the name of God to live because I still have need of you in the
work of reforming the church -- the Lord will never let me hear that you are
dead, but will permit you to survive me -- for this I am praying...because I
seek only to glorify the name of God"
-- Wow! --
here Myconius is on his death bed, making his final peace with this world, and
when he tells Luther he's dying, Luther says, "No, I'm not going to allow
it -- My God is not going to allow it" -- Myconius had already lost the
ability to speak -- but he recovered from his sickness and lived six more years
-- he finally died two months after Luther did, just as Luther asked in his
prayer3
-- now
that's a bold, powerful, specific prayer -- and that's the way we should pray
to our Father, as well
-- as Craig
Groeschel put it: "pray big and
specific prayers because general prayers do not move God to specific actions"
-- look at verse
17a
17a so that Christ
may dwell in your hearts through faith.
-- here we see a pattern that is
common in Paul's prayer -- the use of the phrase, "so that" -- Paul's
prayers had a purpose -- and Paul prays here that we would be strengthened with
God's power SO THAT Christ may dwell within us through faith
-- what is
faith? -- faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not
see -- our prayers operate in the realm of faith -- we pray for what we do not
see -- we pray for God to move mightily in our lives -- we pray for healing and
for grace and for changed lives and transformed hearts -- we don't see any of
that -- but we pray in faith, being sure of what we hope for and certain that
God will bring His power to bear in our lives so that His glory may be
magnified
-- if we
are to transform our prayer life from work and duty to a vibrant life of fun
and success, we have to know that Christ dwells within us and we have to have
faith that He wants to glorify Himself through us in great and powerful ways
-- look
back at the second part of verse 17b
17b And I pray that you, being rooted and established in
love,
18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp
how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you
may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 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,
21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus
throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
-- the
third purpose of this prayer of Paul was that the believers of Christ would
know His love -- how is it that we can boldly approach the throne of Christ? --
because we know He loves us and desires the best for us
-- when we
pray, we need to remember that we're not praying to some judge up in the sky
who weighs the value of our request against others -- the answers to our
prayers are not based on how good or how bad we've been that day -- the answers
to our prayers aren't about whether we read our Bible that day or went to
church last Sunday
-- no, the
answers to our prayers are based solely on the love of God for us -- and Paul
says that love is so deep and so high and so wide that we can't fully encompass
it -- we can't know it completely
-- think of
the ocean -- we have no way of truly measuring the width and the depth and the
expanse of that body of water -- and that's the way God's love is -- it so much
greater than anything we could every imagine -- and God pours out His power and
His grace on us because He loves us beyond comprehension
-- when you
pray, remember this one thing -- God loves you and wants you to have the best
in your life -- He wants to give you everything you need -- not because He has
to -- but because He loves us and wants us to enjoy life with Him
-- when we
come to God with our requests, He listens as our loving Father -- He listens
with a heart turned towards us -- wanting to give us even more than what we ask
-- what a difference
it could make in our prayer lives if we could just grasp how much God truly
loves us...
-- we also
see here in verse 19 the final purpose of this prayer of Paul -- he prays that
we would be filled to the measure of the fullness of God -- this is a prayer
for holiness -- a prayer that our lives would resemble the life of Christ --
that we would live rich and full and abundant lives that reflect God's glory in
all we say and do and believe
-- this is
a prayer we should be praying for our families -- for our parents -- our
spouses -- our children -- rather than praying, "God bless them -- God
keep them safe" -- we should be praying prayers of boldness and power in
their lives and asking God to let them reflect His glory and goodness to this
world
-- prayers
like "Father God, I pray that you would touch my husband today -- that you
humble him before You and that you would let him be bold in his faith -- I pray
that he would bow his knees in full surrender to your Son, Jesus, and He would
stand up a fully devoted follower of Jesus, a man after God's own heart, that
our family would be different because he leads us to the things of God and He
is close to Jesus, hearing from His Word. That generations would be different
because my husband will fully belong to you."3
-- prayers
like, "God, raise up my children to be spiritual leaders in their school.
God, may they stand out for the glory of Jesus. I pray they would be bold in
their faith, that they would be leaders in their Faith. -- that they would be
an example to others of Your love."3
-- verse 19
tells us that we should pray for holiness and faithfulness -- in our lives and
in the lives of our family and friends -- so that God might be glorified
through us and in us
III. Closing
-- let me
close by sharing with you a story from Skye Jethani's book, "The Divine
Commodity" -- in this story, Skye talks about a trip he took to New Delhi,
India, with his father -- as they were walking the streets in New Delhi, a
little boy -- skinny and crippled -- approached them and cried out, "One
rupee, please! Just one rupee"
-- after
trying to ignore his pleas and just walk by, eventually Skye's father turned to
the boy and asked him, "What do you want?" -- "Just one rupee,
sir"
--
"How about I give you five rupees?" his father responded -- the boy's
face flashed anger -- he pulled his hand back and sneered at Skye and his
father -- he thought Skye's father was mocking him -- making a joke about him
-- after all, no one would willingly give up five rupees -- the little boy
turned away and started cursing under his breath
-- Skye's
father reached into his pocket -- and when he heard the coins jingle, the boy
stopped and looked back at the father -- Skye's father was holding out a
five-rupee coin -- he approached the boy and placed the coin in his hand -- The
boy didn't move or say a word -- He just stared at the coin in his hand -- Skye
and his father continued on and walked past him down the street
-- A moment later the boy started
shouting again, but this time, instead of begging for a rupee, he was yelling,
"Thank you! Thank you, sir! Bless you!" He raced after us once again—not
for more money but to touch Skye's father's feet. …
-- Skye
writes, "This, I imagine, is how our God sees us—as miserable creatures in
desperate need of his help -- But rather than asking for what we truly need --
rather than desiring what he is able and willing to give -- we settle for
lesser things."4
-- and we
miss out on the blessings He has in store for us -- including the greatest
blessing of all -- touching the feet of the Master
-- I want
to encourage you this week to think about this prayer of Paul as you turn to
God with your own prayers -- pray in the power that comes from the Spirit
indwelling us -- pray bold and specific prayers through faith -- pray knowing
that God loves us -- He loves you -- and He wants to give you all that you need
and desire and want -- and pray not just for the things of this world -- but
pray that He would change us and change our families -- that He would make us
holy as He is holy -- pray prayers that will glorify Him this week
-- let us
pray
-------------------------------------------------------
1 This series was
derived and modified from the four part series "Pray" developed and
preached by Craig Groeschel, LifeChurch.tv
2 Mary Lewis, First
Baptist Church,
Sermon Central Illustration, http://www.sermoncentral.com/illustrations/sermon-illustration-mary-lewis-movies-and-videos-holyspiritattributes-holyspiritinbelievers-2634.asp
3 Craig Groeschel, Sermon "Pray: Part 1,"
LifeChurch.tv
4 Skye Jethani, The Divine Commodity (Zondervan, 2009), pp.
113-114
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