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 don'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? How do we bring
ourselves back to a position of having physical strength? What about when
we experience spiritual weariness in our inner man..... Would we experience
weakness in a similar fashion, 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 where
we'll search for some insight in light of these questions.
We find here 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 picture
of Paul's heart... The fact that God Himself is who Paul is addressing
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 ladies, Paul had an
attitude of dependency upon the Father for all things! Do we?? 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 did, we
would bow our knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ more often!
We find that even while imprisoned, Paul here in this portion of scripture
is praying for the church at Ephesus, for other Christians who are struggling.
How many of us, if imprisoned for our faith would be found praying for
others OUTSIDE the prison?! Think about it ladies... You and I at this
moment are actually physically positioned outside of prison walls, yet
do we even 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 has set us free from our
sins and from hell - praise God! But do we pray for the lost, those whose
souls are "in prison", not yet released from the penalty of sin? We were
prisoners once ourselves, weren't we? Didn't you appreciate the prayers
of those that cared enough about your soul to share the Lord with you
and labor for you on their knees? Our prayer lives are sorely lacking,
ladies! We ought to care about the spiritual condition of others far more
than we do!
Philip. 2:4, "Look not every man on his own things, but every man also
on the things of others."
The apostle Paul's prayer was for the strength of those who were spiritually
weak, without strength, without power, completely worn out. He was concerned
with the spiritual condition of their inner man and not just the physical
and material needs of the body. (Perhaps if we spent some time in prison
our concerns would take such shape, 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 power 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 can decay physically, but in spite of that, still be renewed inwardly!
God's 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....
Ephes. 3:16, "That he would grant you, according to the riches of his
glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;"
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 above in verse 16....
Paul said 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 entirely impossible for us to use ALL of God's power up! Our human
supply of strength runs out quickly and often, it doesn't go very far
at all, does it? But our Heavenly Father has an adequate supply for each
and every one of us to draw from over and over again! 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 God's people are
walking around defeated and discouraged and without spiritual strength
with no one to blame but themselves. Paul knew this, and prayed for his
brothers and sisters in the Lord - won't you too?
What did Paul want the Ephesians to grasp, why was he praying this way
for them? Verse 17-18 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..."
Yes, Paul sincerely desired that these folk enjoy a deeper relationship
with Jesus Christ. Oh sure, Jesus lived in their hearts by faith, but
Paul wanted them to comprehend that it was possible to have MORE than
a surface relationship with Him. Ladies, when your relationship with the
Lord grows in intimacy and you experience the breadth, length, depth and
height of God, you too, will desire others to know Him this wonderful
way! Your prayer life for others will change and expand beyond just praying
for the physical needs to praying for the inner needs of the hearts of
others, the need for the strength and power of the Lord in their lives!
Are you experiencing an ever growing relationship with the Lord, beginning
to get a deeper comprehension of Him? Are your roots going deep into the
soil of God's 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 for
you to reach! The storms of life reveal the strength of your roots....
How are you doing in your inner man today, dear lady? Paul prayed that
Christians might have a deeper understanding of Christ, because he knew
from experience that depth would sustain them through the trials of life.
Ephes. 3:19, "And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,
that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God."
Paul also desired that we lay hold of not only the breadth, length, height,
and depth of God, but also lay hold of His love! God's love surpasses
our understanding, our human 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'll begin to 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.
Ladies, 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 who does not love us enough, it is WE who do not love
Him enough! For 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 20-21 which say,
"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."
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. Ladies, 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 the likes of us, available to our inner man anytime we need it!! 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 inactive. It is a
power that brings His glory into the church! Can you think of a healthier
contribution any believer could bring to the body of Christ??
So dear lady, would you say you are 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. Those areas that God does not fill
are available for the devil to fill, there is no neutral ground. Have
you been feeling weak and defeated, need some spiritual strength back?
How did you plan to get it?? Why not follow Paul's example.... 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 soul that needs God's strengthening
power as well!
God Bless,
Pam
Isaiah 60:1&2
Copyright 2000
Pamela A. Iannello
