Have you ever prayed for strength and power to be present in your life? My guess is most of us believe in the power of prayer but know we don’t nearly pray enough. There may be many reasons why we don’t. Maybe you’ve heard others pray eloquent prayers and thought you couldn’t possibly measure up. Other times, you start to pray but you’re ADD kicks in so the ding on your phone gets you off track and you don’t finish your prayer.
I do think we have two major mistakes when we pray. We pray way too small and way too general. It’s probably because we don’t want to be let down. I mean, what if I pray and God doesn’t grant my request. I don’t want to risk it so we keep everything generic.
But we serve a God who goes before us (Deuteronomy 31) and who levels our mountains (Isaiah 45). Jesus said it you have the faith of a mustard seed, you can move mountains. Paul said we serve a God with whom all things are possible. I wonder if we are undercutting our God by praying too shallow.
Paul wrote the house church in Ephesus from a Roman prison cell in 60AD. In the first 3 chapters of Ephesians, Paul reminds us what God did for us. In the last 3 chapters, Paul reminds us the type of life practically that we are called to live because of what God did for us. Right in that transition in chapter 3, Paul prays for the church, and us, to be empowered with the incredible power of God and the indwelling of his strength.
Paul in Ephesus 3:14-20 reminds us that we have every possible resource from our God to accomplish what comes our way everyday. Paul also said in Philippians 4 that God would meet all our needs through His glorious riches. Yet, you and I pray as if we are impoverished children. God wants us to ask for the good things which He will give us as it falls into his plan.
In this section of Ephesians, Paul uses the word “power” multiple times. The Greek word Paul uses is the same word we get the English word “dynamite” from. It means we have access to the miraculous, explosive power of God through prayer.
Paul’s prayer reminds us to be rooted in love so that we may have the power that only comes from God. When we are rooted in Jesus, we are able to live into the power of His glorious riches so that we have the ability to love the unlovable, be patient with our coworkers, and stay calm while others are abrasive in their interactions with us. We can do that because the power of God lives within us.
Verse 20 Paul says that through Christ, God can do more than we can imagine in our life. So my prayer for you is that daily, you pray the power and strength of our God dwells in you. Be specific for what you pray. Be bold and ask for things that only God will do. I know prayer changes things. I have seen it in my own life. May you pray with passion and may the Spirit of God dwell in you. Blessings on the journey.