“Never stop praying” (1 Thessalonians 5:17 NLT)
”So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” (Hebrews 4:16 NLT)
“Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” (Mark 11:24 NKJV)
“My dear friends, I pray that you will remain strong and not be discouraged or ashamed by all that I suffer on your behalf, for it is for your glory. So I kneel humbly in awe before the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, the perfect Father of every father and child in heaven and on the earth. And I pray that he would unveil within you the unlimited riches of his glory and favor until supernatural strength floods your innermost being with his divine might and explosive power. Then, by constantly using your faith, the life of Christ will be released deep inside you, and the resting place of his love will become the very source and root of your life. Then you will be empowered to discover what every holy one experiences—the great magnitude of the astonishing love of Christ in all its dimensions. How deeply intimate and far-reaching is his love! How enduring and inclusive it is! Endless love beyond measurement that transcends our understanding—this extravagant love pours into you until you are filled to overflowing with the fullness of God! Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this. He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination! He will outdo them all, for his miraculous power constantly energizes you. Now we offer up to God all the glorious praise that rises from every church in every generation through Jesus Christ—and all that will yet be manifest through time and eternity. Amen!” (Ephesians 3:13-21 TPT)
Step 1: Probe the prayer under the light of the Holy Spirit.
Today I am going to begin looking at verses 14 – 16 which read…
…So I kneel humbly in awe before the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, the perfect Father of every father and child in heaven and on the earth. And I pray that he would unveil within you the unlimited riches of his glory and favor until supernatural strength floods your innermost being with his divine might and explosive power.
There is so much in just these three verses that I could spend a lifetime and not even come close to exhausting what they have for me. Look at this list…
…unlimited riches of glory.
…unlimited riches of favor.
…supernatural strength.
…divine might.
…explosive power.
How is that for a heavenly grocery list?
Trying to tackle this list reminds me of the age old question, “How do you eat an elephant?” Answer, “One bite at a time.” Let’s take a bite and see how far we get. But first we will take a step back and look at the foundation of this list…
…”So I kneel humbly in awe before the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, the perfect Father of every father and child in heaven and on the earth.”
Paul builds his prayer on Jesus’ shoulders. He begins by humbling himself. Remember what Paul’s fellow disciple Peter wrote…
…”So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.” (1 Peter 5:6 NLT)
Paul knew that the way to see his prayer become the reality of the lives of those for which he was praying was to start from a place of recognition of the person and position of the Father. He was taking a posture of humility and submission to the One who holds the power to answer his prayer. He was also modeling the proper approach to prayer for the recipients of his letter (that includes you and me).
From this position of humility Paul was able to take his eyes off from himself and place them on his Father. This left him awestruck. I have had moments in which the Holy Spirit has given me glimpses of the person, power, and position of the Father and it has left me speechless (yes, even a head and mouth as jam-packed with words as mine empties at the awe of God).
When Isaiah came into the presence of the Father he was instantly awestruck by his holiness. He immediately fell on his face in full awareness of his current unclean condition. He recognized the Father’s majesty resulting in an overwhelming consciousness of his unworthiness to be in the presence of God. The Father’s response was to cleanse Isaiah and make him worthy of this life changing moment. Elijah humbled himself and was in turn exalted by the Father.
When Moses asked the Father to show him his glory he was placed in the cleft of the rock and given what he had requested. In order to preserve Moses’ life the Father only gave him a glimpse of his backside. The eye opener for me was the revelation while reading this account that when Moses asked to see God’s “glory,” God said that he would show him his glory and the account states that God showed Moses his “goodness.” God’s “glory” is his “goodness.” It is his goodness that will completely change the way that I think, speak, and act (the Bible calls that repentance).
“Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4 NKJV)
The Father told Moses that he would need to be shielded from seeing the fullness of his goodness or it would kill him. Think about that for a minute or two. God’s goodness is beyond my capacity to receive. It is beyond my ability to comprehend or embrace.
Paul knew the awesome perfection of the Father. He had an even clearer picture of the Father than Moses or Isaiah because he had a first hand revelation of Jesus who is the revealer of the Father. It is from the fulness of this revelation that Paul began his prayer for the Ephesians.
We’ll pick it up here next time. Until then, keep thinking about……Eric’s Life Lesson # 438: Praying With Paul – Ephesians 3:13-21 Part 3