Plugged In

¹⁴For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

²⁰Now 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, ²¹to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:1-13

Introduction

• This section deals with Paul’s second prayer for the Ephesians. The first one was part three in this series, entitled “Sixth Sense”. The three points then were:
  1. We were selected by God before the World began
  2. We were set free from the bondage of Sin by the blood of Jesus Christ
  3. Our relationship with God and our place in this family is secured with the Holy Spirit
• The phrase ‘For this reason’ indicates that Paul is expressing gratitude here for the things we have discussed so far:
  1. The wonderful by grace through faith
  2. The work by Christ on the cross whereby Gentiles can now become “fellow heirs, of the same body, partakers of His promise”.
• We know that prayer is an essential part of our spiritual life. It is the way by which we converse with God. We aim to pray as much and as often as we can, so that we can be ‘plugged in’ to Christ at all times.
• There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to pray, each of us have our own separate ways, although it is beneficial to have a guide to start with so that we can eventually find our own ‘voice’.
• Consequently, there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ time to pray.
• In the first part of the discussion, we pick apart the prayer that Paul did, in order to see how an apostle did it.

1. The Invocation

• Paul indicated that he “bows at the knee”, which is a common posture in prayer throughout the scriptures; although there is not one official position one can take when praying. Other samples are:
  1. Solomon stood when he prayed to dedicate the temple – 1 Kings 8:22
  2. David sat before the Lord when he prayed about the future of his kingdom – 1 Chronicles 17:16
  3. Jesus fell on His face when He prayed in Gethsemane – Matthew 26:39
• Paul addressed His prayer to the Father, “in the name” of or “through” Jesus Christ, and “in” the Spirit. In the New Testament (early) church, there is little evidence of anyone praying directly to Jesus Christ, much less to the Holy Spirit, it is always directly to God.

2. The Petition

• To be strengthened by the Spirit of God; that “Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith”, and that they may be “rooted and grounded in love”
• To comprehend the love of Christ
• To be filled with the fullness of God – this is the objective, the goal, of all that was said previously

3. The Doxology

• Glory to God, for what He is able to do – which is exceedingly abundant, above and beyond all that we ask or think (far beyond our imagination)
• Glory to God, in the Church by Christ Jesus forever
  • Paul sees the church (its very being, its service, etc.) as the means by which God can be glorified
  • Such potential is to come only “by Christ Jesus”; but if it does, then it will be throughout “ages, world without end”

Activity

• Each one will make their own prayer in the pattern of the ACTS guide (explain the ACTS guide to those who don’t know yet). Choose from the following topics: