A Prayer for
Ministry
In
Ephesians 3:14-21, Paul writes down his prayer for the Ephesian
church. We pray that this can become a prayer for all of us that serve
together in the Children's Ministry. It states, "For
this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from 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 through His
Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your
hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able
to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and
height- to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be
filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do
exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power
that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all
generations, forever and ever. Amen."
The first thing Paul desires for the church is "to
be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man."
"Strengthened" means "to empower, to increase in vigor, and to
be strong" in the original Greek. "Might"
means "ability, abundance, meaning, and power." So, how do we
increase in vigor with ability, abundance, meaning, and power? Through God's Spirit. The first thing Paul realizes
the church NEEDS to be able to excel is the Holy Spirit. We too, need
God's Spirit on a moment-by-moment basis. Without Him we will surely
become weak. Let us remember when we are tired and feel that we cannot go
on, that there is SUPERNATURAL strength available to us "THROUGH
HIS SPIRIT."
The next thing Paul prays for the Ephesian
church is "that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith." The
word "dwell" indicates Christ is housed permanently or
resides in our hearts through faith. When our faith gets weak, we may
feel that Christ has left us. Let us remember that faith comes by hearing
the Word of God. May we continue to renew our faith by reading the Word
so that we will never doubt that Christ resides in our hearts.
So far, Paul has basically prayed for the Ephesians to remember
to always be filled with God's Spirit and to stay in the Word. What will
be the result of doing these two vital things?
1. We
will be "rooted and grounded in love." "Rooted"
means "to root or to become stable." "Grounded" means "to lay a basis for, to lay the foundation, to
settle." This means the foundation of our entire being will be LOVE.
This will give us STABILITY while we are on this earth doing our best to love
in this unstable world.
2. We
will "be able to comprehend... to know the love of Christ which
passes knowledge." "Comprehend" means in the original Greek
"to take eagerly, seize, possess, apprehend, attain, come upon, find,
obtain, or perceive." "Know" means "to allow, be aware
(of), feel, be sure, or understand." So, we will be able to possess,
attain, find, be aware of, be sure about and understand the LOVE of Christ that
"passes knowledge." Yes, the love of Christ does
"pass knowledge" of most. BUT... this love that is so
UNSEARCHABLE and beyond human reason becomes KNOWLEDGE for those of us that are
His. WOW!!! This is such a gift. Let us be thankful and take
advantage of this wonderful gift. Read the Word and be filled with the
Spirit so that we MAY KNOW the LOVE OF CHRIST!!!!
3. We
will "be filled with all the fulness of God."
This word "filled" means "to cram, to furnish, to satisfy, to be
complete, or to fulfill." So, we could say we will be crammed with all
the fulness of God, we will be satisfied with all the
fulness of God OR we will be complete with all the fulness of God. I WANT THAT!!!
So, two simple things we must remember to do to be able to enjoy
these GIFTS and BLESSINGS from God:
1. Be
filled with the Spirit and
2. Read
the Word!
God is TRULY "able to do exceedingly
abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in
us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to
all generations, forever and ever. Amen."