How I am Praying for You

A few weeks ago I met with my ministry team (don’t get excited, over Zoom of course) and collectively we were at a crossroads.  How do we minister to people we can’t be with?  A lot of our talk was focused on methodology—in a virtual world, how to we make the greatest impact.  Worried about the spiritual strength of those we were shepherding, how to we intervene and encourage their faith? 

If you are in ministry right now, you may be wrestling with the same questions and problems.  Though you may not consider yourself “in ministry,” meaning a church body has designated you in a pastoral role over others, you have connections with other believers.  There are some farther along the road of faith than you, and some further behind.  Paul compares the spiritual journey to a race in 1 Corinthians 1:24, a single-minded focus on where we are headed that must be approached with intention.  If you’ve been running longer than others, God calls you to minister to them. 

During this world pandemic you have probably connected with other believers to see how they are feeling and doing.  As Paul says to the Roman church at the beginning of his letter to them: 

For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. (1:11-12)

And my heart has been longing, to the point of sorrow, grieving the gathering that we took for granted.  Many of my sisters and brothers are living in fear, isolated, and confused as so many of the things that held them up have disappeared.  This time has been a great revealer of the true state of our hearts, our marriages, our faith.  If faith is a race, right now we are running an uphill leg in the blazing sun with no water. How do we lend strength to them without depleting our own?

I think an answer is found in Ephesians chapter 3.  Closing his doctrinal section, Paul closes this part of the letter with a recorded prayer.  Friends, the one ministry we can be doing though far apart is prayer—and the prayer recorded in verses 14-22 describe what we all need in times calling for spiritual strength.  So like me, if you’ve been wanting to come alongside others but don’t know how, use the content of this passage to guide your intercessory prayers for others.

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named (14-15)

For what reason does Paul bow in reverence before God?  Paul started the chapter describing the mystery that was the gospel, that all along God had planned to bring Gentiles into His story of salvation for the Jews. The mystery was no longer a mystery;  God had revealed something that was previously unknown.  This revealed knowledge was so magnanimous to Paul that he was driven to worship—this God who is now Father of all peoples because they are one family through the sacrifice of Christ.  To whom every believer, from all times dead or alive, from every nation, the great mystery of joining the Gentile and Jew that trust in Him, can turn to as their spiritual Father, their true Father beyond the lineage of blood.  He names all families as He created them and is sovereign over them [my paraphrase]. 

How often did we take for granted our opportunity to be together? For if we are a family, being together is one of the things we are draw to do as God is joining us into one body. The unity that can be felt in the body of Christ as we would sing in one place, receive the bread from one loaf, grasp a hand entering the sanctuary and a hug going out…lingering after the message while children run around the foyer.  The joy of the Spirit that passes among us as we look deeply into one another’s faces with our own eyes, not through the digitized image of a screen. 

that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, (16)

One of the most fascinating things to me about God is his characteristics.  He is different than me and when I dwell on the characteristics that make Him unique—all knowing, omnipresent, Eternal One with no beginning or end, I am reminded why He is God and I am not.  One of the things that gives me much comfort about God and His ability to care for me is His self-sufficiency, His unlimitedness.  God does not get tired, impatient or run out of a supply of love, grace, mercy, etc. In this verse when it says He gives according to the riches of His glory, it refers to the fact that when we have need, which is often since we are beings with finite capacity, we can receive from Him.  And we don’t have to feel bad about asking Him because His supply in unending and never gets depleted, as if we could take something from God.  He is the Source capital S.  Not only that, but He gives according to His riches meaning He doesn’t give us a little bit so we have to ask for more, but He gives in proportion to what He has which is more than we need! All the spiritual resources Paul is praying for them comes from the abundance of a limitless, inexhaustible, resource-filling God. 

And what do we receive when we are weak--strength.  Shored-up within, spiritually energized, fortified emotions, better perspective, calm thoughts, rejuvenation within our own soul and personality.  It’s not something we muster from within ourselves, it’s something imparted to us.  Ever get frustrated when you reach the end, convinced it’s on you?  That is a lie. The enemy wants you to feel bad that you need something from God or tried to convince you that He will only meet you when you’ve gone halfway. As if somehow we can do part of it on our own and need to prove our worth to Him.  He ran to the prodigal son so don’t buy into that.  The strength you need, the strength you receive is divine and doesn’t come from within you.  Though it is experienced in your inner man, it is a resource you don’t have unless you access it through prayer.  Rejoice in your weakness, not because it’s a pleasant experience to be weak but that you have an all-sufficient God who is waiting for you to ask for strength. 

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith…(17a)

If you’re a thoughtful reader and understand basic doctrine of the Christian faith, then I hope this verse will make you pause a bit.  Wait a minute, doesn’t Jesus live within us?  Is this phrase saying that there are times that He leaves and I have to ask Him back in?  Friends, this is why bible study is so important!  The Bible teaches that when the believer accepts the salvation of Christ, He then lives in them (2 Cor 13:5, Col. 1:27).  The Greek word katoikeo goes beyond the idea of remaining somewhere and instead captures the idea of being at home.  When we read that Christ dwells in our hearts through faith, it means that He feels comfortable.  That of course means the opposing thought must also be true, that there are times that Christ is in us when He is a little uncomfortable…so think back on your life.  When does it feel awkward that Christ is with you?  When you are in sin.  When you are willingly welcoming in things you know are wrong, when the Holy Spirit convicts you.  The first part of this verse is important because Christ feels at home within us after the Spirit gives us power.  What is the power for?  To resist sin.  To seek the holiness and purity that God calls us to live in.  

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:14–16)

If I want Christ to be at home within me, I need to first acknowledge the things I’m allowing to dwell within me, that interrupt the unity I have with Christ.  The things that push Him out, that He calls me to repent of, literally turn away from.  This is the work of sanctification.  Much like Jesus is now in heaven preparing a home for us  (John 14:2) the Holy Spirit is at work within, preparing us for that home.  Heaven is a wedding and the church will wear white—for the marriage of the Lamb has come and his Bride has made herself ready (Rev 19:7b).  Christ dwelling in our hearts through faith is a call to holiness, empowered by the Spirit in my battle against the flesh. 

—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God (17b-19)

Love does more than give us a warm feeling.  It anchors us and its tendrils dig into the soil of our heart.  Seeking to comprehend the love of Christ takes strength.  Not knowledge, because this love surpasses knowledge; it can only be experienced.  You must have divine strength to experience the love of Christ, which is endless, because so many of us are used to a different kind of love.  From people love comes with conditions and expectations.  We’ve experienced time and time again how the love of people doesn’t satisfy and runs out.  We need strength to believe the love of Christ is different and trust it to engulf us within in encompassing dimensions. 

The last of the blessings Paul longs to impart to the church in Ephesians is they would be filled with all the fullness of God.  If we are a vessel, housing the fullness of God, you have received the fullness of God in Christ:  

For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. Colossians 2:9-10 says

To be filled with the love of Christ means you have received the essence of the Godhead within you.  The will of the Father, the sacrifice of Christ, and the indwelling on the Spirit.  All three, working in harmony to be united with you.  

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, (20)

This prayer is not only intercession but adoration.  This verse begins a doxology of praise to a God whose doing has no limits.  Not only is He capable of giving us spiritual strength, the things that He can do through us, if we access all the blessings this prayer has for us, will be beyond our wildest dreams.  This begs the questions, when we pray why do we ask God for things when He is capable of giving us abundantly more?  Should our prayers not be God this is what I can see and what I think but I know you can do more that I can imagine?  Let me trust you for what you can and want to do…

Right now I need big prayers and a God that delivers more that I can think to ask.  God, I can’t imagine how you will bring our society back from where it was 2 months ago, and maybe God it shouldn’t go back to the way it was.  Bring the hearts of your people back to you.  Let them turn to you in their loneliness, in their poverty, illness, confusion, and grief.  Replace fear with peace and in this time of isolation, where distractions are minimized, let us see that You and You alone satisfy.  

to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (21)

Amen; so be it.  This prayer ends full circle about who deserves the credit when we are spiritually strengthened, encouraged, able to walk away from sin, and can experience the love of Christ despite our circumstances—God!  Remember, when we are crushing it in times of hardship we can’t take any of the credit!  This is the empowered gifts of the Holy Spirit that lives in you, sending God’s vitality through a spiritual pipeline into us.  We receive and so we must glorify, give due to, acknowledge, point to, honor the God who gave.  That is why this prayer ends in worship as there is no other response to all that we’ve received.  The gospel is good news because we do nothing and get everything.  It’s too good to be  but it’s true.  He deserves glory when we gather again and praise for what He did for us in Christ.  In our time and in our children’s time, and for all eternity. 

This is what I’m praying for you dear reader.  I don’t know who you are but my big God who showed me this in His word and prompted me to share it with you can do beyond everything we think we need.  Pray this for yourself when you don’t know what do to. Pray this for your brother or sister when life is hard.  Pray this for our leaders, our country, the world.  It is time for those who know the love of Christ, to realize He is our source and through prayer lift up the spiritual atmosphere of those who are barely hanging on.  Not only will you pray this, but will you believe it for your own life? When the Spirit strengthens us, Christ dwells in us, love stabilizes us, God fills us...then God can do anything with us. Amen!