Praying for Others – Part Three

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“My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength— that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all Christians the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:14-19 MSG)

So far we have seen …

1> I pray that you will know God

2> I pray that you will experience God’s love

2A> Experience the Breadth of God’s Love

2B> Experience the Length of God’s Love

2C> Experience the Depth of God’s Love

2D> Experience the Height of God’s Love

Let’s move on the last part of the apostle’s prayer

3> I Pray That You Allow God to Do Great Things in Your life.

Paul saves an amazing truth for last in his prayer which we have not yet read… And they are words that we need to personally embrace.

Ephesians 3:20 MSG “God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.”

These words apply to you, but they must be activated by your faith. Jesus said, “According to your faith will it be done to you” (Matthew 9:29 The Berean Bible). This is called the ‘faith factor.’ There are many factors that influence your progress in life; many of which you have no control over. Your background, nationality, age, giftedness. These are determined by the sovereignty of God. But there is one important fact that you do have control over: how much you choose to believe in God. God puts no limitation on faith; faith puts no limitation on God.

We simply need to give God room to act in our lives – and we release Him to do amazing and supernatural things by walking in faith. 

3A> God can do anything

That statement is certainly not about your ability, talent, and skill. Nor is it about mine. It’s not about us. It is about God. These words should set the bar of our expectations about God at a very high level. We need to be aware of how great a space there is between what we can do and what He can do. So we need to make room for God to do what only God can do. We do the possible. God does the impossible. We do the natural. He does the supernatural. And all this shows us who He really is. God can do anything.

3B> God is bigger than I am

God can do anything, you know — far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!

How much is ‘far more’? It is not a little more or some more. It’s FAR more. It’s so much more that we can’t really comprehend it. The writer of Hebrews tried to use words to give us some kind of idea about how much more ‘far more’ is: “far more than you could ever imagine or guess to request in your wildest dreams!” But even then, we don’t really get it.

Don’t ever try to understand how much bigger God is than us. We can’t. No words can ever come close. God is God and we are not. That is both simple and humbling. His ways and His thoughts are so far above us that we can simply only grasp a small portion of what His plan and purpose in our individual lives really is.

3C> We need to choose to let God do what only He can do

God works within our heart and mind. He does not push us around but gently nudges us by His Spirit that lives within us. God does not force anything on us, not even His love. He offers it to us gently and we receive it by grace. And He works within us only because we choose to let Him do that. The question we all have to answer is simply “How much access will we give God to the various aspects of our life? We can experience as much as we desire and allow. 

Perhaps the most amazing thing about God is that He allows average people like you and me to have access to Him and His unconditional love. 

1 Corinthians 1:26-31 MSG “Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don’t see many of “the brightest and the best” among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these “nobodies” to expose the hollow pretensions of the “somebodies”? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That’s why we have the saying, “If you’re going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God.”

We don’t have much to offer God except ourselves. God wants our willingness, not our strengths. If you think you can do everything on your own and you’re searching for some secret reservoir of strength, then stop. Because there isn’t one. Focus on God’s endless resources. He can do what we cannot do. And He’s willing to do it if you’re willing to give Him credit for it.

God’s invitation is extended to you. He loves you. I hope you will accept that love, if you haven’t already. It will change every aspect of your life. If you don’t yet know God, you have no idea what He can and will do for you. Today would be a good to day to come into a personal relationship with Him. 

 

Praying for Others – Part Two

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Last time we saw that Paul’s prayer for his people in Ephesus (Ephesians 3:14-19) is an important example for us as we pray for each other and for those who are going through tough times such as war and persecution.

We examined the start of Paul’s prayer:

1> I pray that you will know God

2> I pray that you will experience God’s love

Let’s continue to look at that second point and break it down a bit…. The Scripture states:

“And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all Christians the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.”

2A> Experience the Breadth of God’s Love

When the Scriptures says that God’s love has breadth, it means that God’s love includes everyone. God loves everyone — of every faith, of every race, of every nationality, and of any age or stage of life. Scripture says, “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life” (John 3:16 MSG).

This means that God loves you. He loves all those you know. He loves those whom you don’t know. He love those whom you like. He loves those that you don’t like. He loves your friends. He also loves your enemies. God’s love is broad; it includes people we have a hard time liking and prefer not to think about. 

You may be thinking of some of the difficult people in your life and wondering, How can God love them? Here’s how. As C. S. Lewis stated, “God loves us, not because we are lovable but because He is love.” Stop for a minute and say to yourself, “God loves me.” It’s true. He love you unconditionally and forever. And you can experience the breadth of His love today and every day.

2B> Experience the Length of God’s Love

God asks us to test the length to His love. What is its length? Forever! God’s love is never-ending. And the best part of that is that His love doesn’t depend on me or on you. God loves you as you are, not as you would like to be, or as you appear to be, but just as you are. And nothing you can do can make Him love you more!

The people who choose to connect with God know Him and are known by Him. Jesus said, 

“My sheep recognize my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them real and eternal life. They are protected from the Destroyer for good. No one can steal them from out of my hand. The Father who put them under my care is so much greater than the Destroyer and Thief. No one could ever get them away from him” (John 10:27-29 MSG). 

That should make you feel secure. It does me. Some have said (Country Music style) ‘God’s Grip Don’t Slip.’

2C> Experience the Depth of God’s Love

What does it mean to plumb God’s depths? The implication is that no matter how low you go, God’s love is deeper. God is forgiving. For many of us, the bad news is that our capacity to sin has taken us lower than we ever felt we would go. The good news is that God’s capacity to forgive us is greater. In fact, God not only forgives our sins, but He also forgets our sins. He said, “I will be merciful to them in their wrongdoings, and I will remember their sins no more” (Hebrews 8:12 The Living Bible). Wow!

In our relationship with God, we are somewhat like the young son who played hide-and-seek with his father. The lad would hide behind a tree while his dad shouted, “Where’s Christopher? I can’t find Christopher!” Then the child would burst out, “Here, Daddy. Look for me here behind the tree.” Most of us are torn like that., aren’t we? We alternately hide from God, yet long desperately you connect with Him. 

2D> Experience the Height of God’s Love

Rising to the height of God’s love means being lifted up by Him. There is no one more uplifting than God. The night I was saved I met Jesus in person – in the flesh. He hugged me and as He did He poured in His love – like liquid gold – into me. It started to fill me up from my feet upwards. As it did it pushed all the anger, bitterness, rejection, unforgiveness, resentment, and pain out of the top of my head. That night Jesus lifted me into His Kingdom (Colossians 1:13). That night His love lifted me out of my old nature and I became a new creature in Christ

2 Corinthians 5:17 MSG “Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it!”

There is a lifting of our life that is the result of experiencing the extravagant dimensions of God’s love

Jesus said, Anything is possible if a person believes (Mark 9:23 NLT)

Jesus said, “Everything is possible with God” (Mark 10:27 NLT)

Jesus said, “If you have a mere kernel of faith … there is nothing you wouldn’t be able to tackle” (Matthew 17:20 MSG).

God wants you to reach your full capacity. He created you with a plan and gave you gifts to help you accomplish that plan.

He will be the greatest lifter in your life if you let Him.For all the negative things we think about ourselves, God has a positive answer for us.

You say, “I’m too tired.”

God says, “I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28-30)

You say, “It’s impossible.”

God says, “All things are possible (Luke 18:27)

You say, “Nobody really loves me.”

God says, “I love you” (John 3:16 and John 13:34)

You say, “I can’t go on.”

God says, “My grace is sufficient” (2 Corinthians 12:9; Psalm 91:15)

You say, “I’m not able.”

God says, “I am able” (2 Corinthians 9:8)

You say, “I can’t forgive myself.”

God says, “I forgive you” (1 John 1:9 and Romans 8:1)

You say, “I can’t manage.”

God says, “I will supply all your needs” (Philippians 4:19)

You say, “I’m afraid.”

God says, “I have not given you a spirit of fear” (2 Timothy 1:7)

You say, “I’m not smart enough.”

God says, “I give you wisdom” (1 Corinthians 1:30)

You say, “I feel alone”

God says, “I will never leave you or forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5)

You say, “I can’t figure things out.”

God says, “I will direct your steps” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

You say, “I’m always worried and frustrated.”

God says, “Cast all your cares on Me” (I Peter 5:7)

God has an answer for every question, and an assurance for every doubt we possess.That is why it is life-changing when we encounter and experience God’s love.

Praying for Others – Part One

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I receive a lot of prayer requests from people on an almost daily basis. There is great need out there in the world and one of the things we can do for those we love and even those we don’t know well is to pray. Paul, the apostle who recorded a good chunk of the New Testament, sets an example for us in this realm.

Ephesians 3:14-19 NET “For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on the earth is named. I pray that according to the wealth of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love, you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and thus to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.”

It often helps to read the same verses in a different version and thus see the same truth from a different angle…

The Message Version: “My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength— that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all Christians the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.”

At times I base my prayers for others on Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians. 

1> I Pray That You Will Know God

Let’s read the first several verses of our passage again:

“My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength— that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in.”

It is amazing and humbling to me that Jesus wants to live in me. I know me, and sometimes I don’t even want to live with myself. But God does. What an amazing and beautiful picture of God that paints for us. If you are 1,000 steps from God, He will take 999 steps in your direction. And then He will wait for you to open your heart and ask Him into your life (or back into your life if you have drifted away). God wants you to have a deep personal relationship with Him.

I took that step 46 years ago and have known God in this personal way ever since. He is the foundation of my entire life and the reason I do what I do. I opened the door and invited Him in to my heart, my life.

One of the most amazing scriptures is found in Jeremiah 9:23-24 MSG “”Don’t let the wise brag of their wisdom. Don’t let heroes brag of their exploits. Don’t let the rich brag of their riches. If you brag, brag of this and this only: That you understand and know me. I’m GOD, and I act in loyal love. I do what’s right and set things right and fair, and delight in those who do the same things. These are my trademarks.”

This is more than believing in your head – knowing the facts of the Gospel or even having a great understanding of the Bible. This is more than a “head” thing. This is a “heart” thing where you trust the truth of the Gospel of the Kingdom (Matthew 24:14) and then allow this truth to transform you from the inside out. It is an encounter with the Living God which is personal and powerful.

John 17:3 NET “Now this is eternal life – that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent.”

2> I Pray That You Will Experience God’s Love Daily

The passage we are looking at continues…

“And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all Christians the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.”

God wants us to live a full life with full capacity. He truly wants the best for us. Jesus said, “I have come that they might have life, and have it abundantly!” (Tree of Life Version – John 10:10) As you read that statement, did you notice the comma? Which side of the comma do you live on? Are you living the life of abundance you desire? That’s what Jesus offers. He offers extravagant love and life at its fullest.

Mother Teresa is quoted as saying, “The most terrible poverty is loneliness and the feeling of being unloved.” I’d like to add that the most wonderful joy is to have a relationship with God and experience His amazing love each and every day. How amazing is it? 

Let’s save the details of experiencing God’s love and how amazing it is for next time…