Most of us have experienced a time of intense physical activity that left us spent, completely worn out and unable to do much more than move. Ever felt that way? Perhaps a move has left you in this condition, doing a thorough spring cleaning maybe, or putting in a garden etc. What type of feelings would you say go along with this kind of fatigue? At times it might feel like you didn't have enough strength to lift even a cup of water to your lips! Your arms feel heavy, your legs feel as if weights were tied to them as you try to lift them one at a time to carry yourself up the stairs. You experience muscle soreness, back pain, perhaps even crankiness starts to set in... a total collapsing, amen? What about those times when we experience spiritual weariness in our inner man, is it the same or would it differ? How then, when we are spiritually worn out, do we bring ourselves back to a position of having spiritual strength? Which weakness - spiritual or physical, do you tend to take care of most often? Turn with me to Ephesians 3:14-21 and let's read through before we begin....
"For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen."
We find here in scripture a prayer uttered by Paul while in prison, and he starts out in verse 14 by saying, "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,"
There is no real command anywhere in scripture showing that God requires of us a special posture in prayer. Yet Paul here bows his knees. What a picture of reverence, sincerity, seriousness and humility, amen? A x-ray of Paul's heart.... The fact that Paul was addressing God Almighty was enough to bring him to his knees! The cause for which he was praying also brought him to his knees as well.... You see, the apostle Paul had an attitude of dependency upon the Father for all things! Do we ladies? Do we believe that it is through prayer that we lay hold of God's riches that enable us to behave like Christians and battle like Christians? If we really did, perhaps we would bow our knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ more often!
We also discover that even while imprisoned, Paul here in this portion of scripture is praying for the church at Ephesus, praying for other Christians who are struggling.
The apostle seems to be more anxious lest the believers should be discouraged and faint upon his tribulations, than for what he himself had to bear! How many of us, if imprisoned for our faith would be found praying for others OUTSIDE the prison?! Think about it, you and I today are physically located outside of prison walls, yet do we ever pray for those that are in prison?! How then would we ever expect to pray for others if we were on the other side of the fence.... As saved people, we are 'set free' amen? Jesus Christ has set us free from our sins and from hell, praise God! But how burdened are we now to pray for the lost, those whose souls are spiritually still "in prison"? Have you forgotten we were prisoners once? Didn't you appreciate the prayers of those who cared enough about your soul to share the Lord with you and pray for your salvation? Our prayer lives are sorely lacking ladies! We need to care about the spiritual condition of others much more than we do!
Paul's prayer was for those who were spiritually weak, without strength, without power, completely worn out. He was concerned with the spiritual condition of their inner man, not just the physical and material needs of the body. Perhaps if we spent some time in prison our concerns would change, amen? Too many of our prayers are focused on the outward condition of man, and not the inner needs of the heart! Paul knew that the power of God was available for the inner man, the spiritual part of man where God dwells and works. 2 Cor. 4:16 says, "...but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day." We will decay physically, but in spite of that aging process, can still be renewed inwardly! It is a power that can be tapped into regularly. But are we tapping into it? Paul did, and he renewed his strength as well as prayed that God would grant others this same strength in their inner man. It is a power that God shares with all through His Spirit.
What does it mean to have the Holy Spirit empower the inner man? How do we experience the power of God? In our muscles? Our mind? Our emotions? Or in our spirit? It means that our spiritual faculties are controlled by God, and we are exercising them and growing in the Word. It is only when we yield to the Spirit and let Him control the inner man that we succeed in living to the glory of God! This means that we must not only feed the inner man the Word of God, but feast on prayer as well!
I want you to notice something important mentioned in verse 16. Paul says in his prayer, "That He would grant you, ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GLORY..." Do you realize what this means ladies? It means that the power of God, this very strength that is available to our inner man, never runs out! It is impossible for us to use all of God's power up! Our human supply of strength runs out quickly and often - it doesn't get us very far, does it? But our Heavenly Father has an adequate supply for each and every one of us to draw from over and over again! As a matter of fact, His strength went all the way to the cross!! Praise God for a never-ending power supply, amen?! Why then, are we living powerless Christian lives and walking around weak and in need of strength in our inner man?! It is because we have not bended our knees and asked God to strengthen us with might by His Spirit! There are no trials of life that you and I could be in the midst of that God's strength would not be able to handle! Yet many of God's children are walking around defeated and discouraged, without spiritual strength, and no one to blame but themselves.....Paul knew this, and prayed for his brothers and sisters in the Lord. Won't you too? Who do you know that needs prayer today?
What did Paul want the Ephesians to grasp, why was he praying this way for them? Verse 17-19 reveals the answer, "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God."
Paul desired that they enjoy a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ! Oh sure, Jesus lived in their hearts by faith, but Paul wanted them to have more than a shallow relationship with Him. Ladies, when your relationship with the Lord becomes deeper and you experience the breadth, length, depth and height of God, you too will desire others to know Him in this rich and wonderful way! Your prayer life for others will change and expand beyond just praying for the physical needs of others to praying for the inner needs of their hearts - the need for the strength and power of the Lord in their lives!
Are you experiencing an ever growing relationship with the Lord? Are you beginning to get a deeper comprehension of God? Are your roots going deep into the soil of His Word? If you don't go deep, you won't go high! You won't reach the heights in your spiritual walk with the Lord that He has intended for you to reach! The storms of life reveal the strength of our roots.... How are you doing in your inner man today dear lady? Paul prayed that Christians might have a deeper experience with Christ, because that depth would sustain them through the trials of life.
We need to lay hold of not only the breadth, length, height, and depth of God, but also lay hold of His love! Scripture says God's love passes our understanding, our knowledge. Sometimes in the trials of life we feel as if God does not love us and yet, when you develop a deeper relationship with the Lord you realize that all of these trials are born of God's love for us and desire for us to know Him more intimately, to be completely filled up with Him! It is His love for us that makes His strength available to us through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. If God did not love us, He would not have left us the Holy Spirit to equip us with the power necessary to live a successful Christian life, amen? It is not God that does not love us enough, it is we who do not love Him enough! If we did, we would bend our knees more often and talk with Him and ask Him for a complete filling of His strength and thank Him for it as well!!
In closing, let's look for a moment at verse 20; "Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us..."
Paul seems to want to use every word possible here to get us to understand the size of God's power! He chose words like -EXCEEDING, ABUNDANTLY, ABOVE, and ALL. Paul wants us to grasp that this power and strength is beyond our human understanding or measurement. It is bigger than we could ever imagine! And the exciting part is, this power and strength is available to us, available to our inner man anytime we need it!! We have been freely offered the fulness of God ladies! What fools we are to refuse it, for it is just the strength we need to live victorious Christian lives.... It is a working power, not a power to be stored up and just put on a shelf!
Are you putting the power of God to work in your life today? Are you tapping into the Spirit of God for the strength to face the trials in your life, the daily grind? James 4:2 says, "...ye have not, because ye ask not." The Bible says that we have a God who will provide power - if we ask. Every day things come into our lives that try to hinder or block the power of God. Have you been feeling weak and defeated, do you need a fresh supply of spiritual strength? How do you plan to get it? Bend your heart first and then your knee to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and ask Him to restore strength to your inner man today! And while you're praying, why not whisper the name of another that needs God's strengthening power as well!
God Bless,
Pam
Isaiah 60:1&2
Copyright 2000 Pamela A. Iannello
