I am in day
two of a miserable cold. The nights have felt exceptionally long, and the
daytimes have dragged by. I have not been able to wrap my brain around God’s
word enough to have my morning time with God, and much less energy to try to
share anything via my blog.
What I keep
returning to these two days is what God spoke so clearly about on Sunday
morning. The cold had not hit until Sunday afternoon, so our home church was
able to have a wonderful time of sharing in God’s word. One line of the
Scripture we explored has ministered to my heart even while everything else is
running far below regular capacity.
The verse in
question is Paul’s central request in his prayer for the Ephesian church.[1]He
prayed, “that according to the riches of
his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in
your inner being…”[2]
What my soul
rests in is that Paul’s expectant prayer was based on “the riches of his glory,” not the strength of his enemies, or the
demoralizing power of his circumstances, or the weaknesses of anyone in the
church, or the confusion of anything going on with him or anyone else. When he
prayed, he prayed “according to” the
immensity of the riches of God’s glory. This captivates me to consider how my
praying will dramatically change/improve as I base all my prayers on the riches
of God’s glory. It feels wonderfully hopeful.
Next, Paul
turns attention on what “he may grant
you.” Paul could not go and do anything for the Ephesian church. He described
how he felt about the churches he could not be with when he told the
Corinthians how, “apart from other
things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.”[3]How
did he handle this anxiety for the churches? He looked to what God would grant
them through prayer.[4]
Then Paul
strung together an amazing tapestry of requests. He wanted God to grant to the
church “to be strengthened.” He was
not telling them to be strong in themselves, but sought what God would grant
them for their strength.
He clarified
that the strengthening he prayed for was not the strength of purpose, or
determination, or motivation, but asking God to strengthen the church “with power.” Why pray for the people to
do something themselves when Paul’s eye was on the glorious riches of God and
what God could grant them out of those riches of glory? Instead, he prayed that
God would supply the power that would fill the church with strength.
The way that
the church would experience power from God giving them strength was “through his Spirit.” There was no
thought of an impersonal force getting the church plugged-in for Jesus. This
was about strength coming from power that filled the church through the abiding
presence of the Spirit. Did I say this sounds hopeful?
Then there is
one more golden thread that weaves this tapestry of intercession into its
glorious example to the church. Paul’s prayer was not for external strength. He
was not asking God to find the champion within us and unleash us on an
unsuspecting world. He was praying that God’s strength would come through God’s
power, expressed through the Holy Spirit, in the very “inner being” of the believers, where they were “poor in spirit.” [5]
It is no
wonder that Paul testified of God’s word to him, “’My grace is sufficient for
you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the
more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”[6]
Paul taught us
how he prayed, so we would follow his example.[7]When
we face our weakness, we do not remain weak. We become the meek who so hunger
and thirst for the righteousness of God’s presence,[8]
that we will pray for what he can do in the innermost part of our being, not
what we can do in all kinds of religious good works and activities.
So, it is time
to rest my head. I was thankful to have the strength to share this. Perhaps it
was the way I was praying the last two miserable days. I am sure there is much
more ahead as I stay focused on praying the way Paul prayed.
© 2015 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517,
Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted,
Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good
News Publishers.)
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