Ephesians 1:15-23
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,
Sermon Transcript:
Morning, everybody. I invite you to take your Bibles. You’re looking at the book of Ephesians, and if you wondered what was going on up there, um, We are going through a series in the book of Ephesians, um, in your journal, if you’ve got a black journal, which you can get at the hub this morning. Um, basically it is of the book of Ephesians, and in the cover of that is an outline of the sermon series, or of the topics in the book of Ephesians, which we’re following in our sermon series.
And the young people are basically doing symbols to remind us as we go through the book of Ephesians. That outline. So you’re gonna be looking this morning at Ephesians chapter 1 verse 15 to 23. A really Practical passage a passage that really talks about if you ever wonder what what really should I be praying for other people?
Especially for people that are that are followers of Jesus Christ. Well, Paul is going to tell us here in Ephesians chapter 1 Here’s what we read Verse 15. For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation and knowledge of him.
Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you. What are the riches of his glorious inheritance and the saints. And what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might, that He worked in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come.
And He put all things under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness. of him who fills all in all. Lord, we ask you to be our teacher. We thank you that all the things Paul prays for these Christians in Ephesus are also the things that you would have us embrace in our own lives and to pray for ourselves and for others to know.
Lord, thank you for how these very truths have been the foundation for many of our lives, my life. Um, the confidence, the contentment, the capacity to live that are all founded through the work of God of you in our lives. And Lord, I pray that you would teach us about that today in Jesus name. Amen. We’ve just left off, as we looked at verses 3 through 14, a few of us have taught through that the last handful of weeks.
In verses 3 through 14 of chapter 1, basically it is the work of the three members of the Godhead in the work of the story of grace. God the Father is mentioned in the first verses, in verses 3 through 6, as being the architect of the whole thing. He designed the whole rescue plan of grace. God the Son is the agent of it.
He accomplished that rescue plan of grace through coming and being born and taking flesh and living his life but ultimately going to the cross and being raised from the dead. God the Spirit. is the applier of it. He is the one that applies the rescue plan of grace into people’s lives, even taking resident of their, in their lives, and is therefore giving us the down payment in this life of all the riches of glory that will be ours in a day to come.
But all members of the Godhead are involved in this, this amazing rescue plan the story of grace. We now come, Paul is now prompted as an outgrowth of that, of hearing about God’s investment in the lives of Christians. He prays for these Christians in Ephesus. We notice an interesting thing as we look at this passage.
We prayer we just read, and we’d also notice is we’ve looked at all the prayers of Paul. Paul doesn’t pray anything about circumstances. He don’t see him praying for protection from financial setbacks or for surgeries or for the emperor to leave them alone. And then we might wonder, does this mean that we don’t pray that way?
Do we not pray specifics? Do we not pray circumstantially? Well, of course we do. The Lord says in the Lord’s Prayer, um, to pray, uh, God your will be done in our lives. Give us guidance. Uh, we pray for daily bread in the Lord’s Prayer. We’re praying for practical necessities. But what we are finding in this prayer, and in other prayers of the Apostle Paul, and in John 17, Jesus prayer for his followers, we are seeing those things of ultimate importance.
What we find here are what every believer needs, regardless of circumstances. It is the stuff that flows out of the work of the three members of the Godhead involved in our lives. This is going for the jugular praying. This is three great prayer requests that he is going to pray for every believer. And the degree to which these three things are developed in your life is the degree to which your spiritual life prospers and flourishes.
The circumstances actually won’t really matter. They will enable you to thrive regardless of those circumstances. And quite honestly, if you don’t have those three things involved in your life, you will process things in such a way that you will be spiritually and psychologically shallow and weak. Even if you are in a time of relative ease and prosperity.
These three things supersede circumstances. They are the things that change our lives. They are the things that he wants us to pray for one another, whether wealthy or impoverished, whether healthy or infirmed, whether surrounding by loving relationships or struggling with loneliness. These are things that are the source of spiritual health and joy.
Now, the interesting thing about this prayer is that Paul didn’t know many of the people he’s praying for. He says this in verse 15, he says, I have heard of your faith. And if you mentioned before this, this letter, the book of Ephesians is actually a circular letter. It wasn’t only sent to the church at Ephesus, that was a hub for Christianity in that part of the world, modern day Turkey.
And as the church, uh, had, had grown and started other churches, This letter would be read and Paul says, there’s lots of you guys I don’t know by name. I don’t know personally. I can’t put a face to it, but I’ve heard about you. And even though he did not know them, he knew how to pray for them because he knew the three things.
That he wanted them as any Christian to be able to rise above whatever circumstances they’re in are these three realities. And all of them are things he wants us to know. That they would be grounded into our psyche. Vital realities. And he says this in these verses in 16, 17. He says, I’m praying you’ll have a spirit of wisdom and revelation.
I’m praying you’ll know. I’m praying that your eyes will be in line. To what? To these three prayer requests, number one, he wants them to know and hold with a rock solid grasp and to continually grasp that the hope to which God has called them, secondly, the riches of God’s inheritance in them, and third, the greatness of God’s power for them.
I want to look at these three things that he prays for Christians. But first, I want to just clarify what he means, or what I mean, by the term Christian. Because he’s saying, I’m praying these things on the basis of this reality. I know, even though I don’t know you personally, I have heard that you are in Christ because of two evidences in your life.
So what are those two evidences? Well, that’s what verse 15 is about, and I’m just going to try to touch on this. First of all, they have faith. in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith comes first. Faith is foundational. It is what you believe primarily that makes you a Christian. It is not the group you’re a part of.
It’s not the church you attend. It is not even if, if you, uh, uh, participate with it, with the right movements in any way. Now, this speaks immediately to the concept that it, well, it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you live a good life. That’s not what Paul’s saying. He’s saying, being a Christian is not a Christian in name.
It’s a person that has placed their faith in Jesus. Faith is primary. It’s not faith in a church, in a dogma. It’s not even faith in the Bible. It’s faith in a person, faith in Jesus Christ, and it’s different from intellectual faith. You know, if I had a chair up here, and I brought this up here, and I said, this chair absolutely can hold my weight.
Um, uh, I have confidence you can hold a matter of fact, probably hold two of us, but I’ll just say it’ll hold me, but I don’t really exercise faith in the chair until I do something. I sit in the chair. This faith that is being presented here is not faith that. Yeah, I believe Jesus did this. I believe I believe this.
I believe I have believed into Christ. I have entrusted the weight of my spiritual destiny into the chair of Jesus Christ. It’s really likely that there are a number of people here this morning, or here, here in Mount Laurel, or here in Collingswood, or here watching online. that would affirm all the faiths, all of the dogmas of Christian faith that have not entrusted themselves into Jesus Christ, that have not said, in this moment, I realize that Jesus Christ died for me.
He died for my sins, that he rose from the dead as a demonstration that, that that, that offering had been satisfied, that it had satisfied the payment for my sins, and that I am personally, it’s not just I think it, it’s not just I intellectually embrace it, it’s not just a cognitive reality to me. In this moment, I am believing into Jesus Christ.
I am receiving him as my Savior. That’s why in Romans 10, it says, those who call on the name of the Lord are saved. They entrusted themselves into the chair of his grace. Have you done that? Have you personally embraced Jesus Christ as your Savior? It doesn’t matter what church you’re a part of. It doesn’t matter how many services you come here.
It doesn’t matter anything. It doesn’t matter. Other than, have you sat in the chair of grace? Have you placed your faith in Jesus Christ? And Paul is saying here, uh, you guys have done this. And, and, and that’s foundationally why I’m praying for you the way I am. Because I’m praying for you. as a member of the, of, of God’s family, as one who is in Christ in relationship to Christ.
But he says something else here. He says, you have faith in the Lord Jesus. He doesn’t say you have faith in Jesus. Why add Lord in verse 15? Because when a person puts their faith in Jesus, they are entrusting him to be their Savior and their Lord. to be the Lord of their lives. Romans 10 says this. If you declare with your mouth, Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
This was a key reality in Ephesus. Number of years ago, Marian and I had the chance, um, church sent us on the 25th anniversary of us are being here on a, on a, Wherever we wanted to go in the world. We went to the Mediterranean, we actually went with a few other people, but we, uh, went on this cruise in the Mediterranean, and probably, certainly my favorite site, and we went to some great sites.
Rome, and, and Istanbul, I mean it was awesome. Athens, but my favorite was actually the, the city of ruins. It was Ephesus. It was awesome because there’s so much still you could see the grandeur of the city of Ephesus and you could walk through the streets and there’s so much that has been restored. As you go into the city of Ephesus, you find in, it was a harbor city and, and there was a long quarter mile harbor road that I’ve told you before, had lit up lanterns.
It’s just gorgeous. It ended at the end of the, you’re coming from the harbor and as you go down this road, you get at the end and there is the hill that, that the whole city was built around. The side of that hill is this giant stadium and you can see the stadium and, and the, and the theater seats. But as you made a right right after the Harbor Road, and now you started to go down into the main district of the whole city.
There’s this giant mall called the Agora. 2, 000 shops. It’s where everybody shopped in the entire city of Ephesus and the surrounding areas. And to get into it, it was actually surrounded by wall. You had to go through these two gates. And as you went through these gates, on the left side there, Up above is this statement, Caesar is Lord.
It was striking. Caesar is Lord. This is our belief. This is what unifies us as a people here in Ephesus. And Jesus said, I know you guys have declared Jesus is Lord. Faith in Jesus is not just a question of addition. You don’t just add Jesus to your life when you embrace him as your Savior. There’s subtraction.
There’s, there’s changes that take place. They had to separate themselves from the cultural mentality. No, for us, it’s the same thing that happened in Nazi Germany when Hitler was moving. And it was Heil Hitler, which meant, basically, Hitler is Lord. And the true Christians said, We can’t. No, we don’t do it.
We don’t. We can’t say he is our Lord. So for the Ephesian believers, for them, there was a decision made. They were subtracting cultural idols. They were saying we have chosen to live differently as we have embraced Jesus Christ as our savior. The second reality in their lives, how that was manifested was that they showed love to all the saints.
They showed faith in Jesus and love to all the saints. Faith is primary, but practice is essential.
A guy believes, all women are out to get me. All women are out to get me. And finally, this has become such a, a, a controlling reality in his life. He finally goes to a therapist. And of course, the therapist helps him to see all women aren’t out to get him. And he goes through the whole process, talks about his background, his situation, what’s going on in his life.
And basically the guy comes out and says, I realize not all women are out to get me. Just one woman’s out to get me. But it’s affected his life, right? His whole life is dominated by thinking, Oh, all women are, no, you just, I mean, but now he has to live it out. It’s going to change his behavior. It’s going to, it’s going to make him, Able to date.
It’s going to make him able to not be mad at his co workers, or be guarded, or be worse, be antagonistic. Because it isn’t just faith, it is practice. And the practice that is focused on here is this. That you can have love for all the saints.
Why do artists struggle with engineers? Why does one ethnicity struggle with another or one political party struggle with another? Because all of us tend to group. All of us tends to try and, uh, try to find our identity in other people. The beauty of the body of Christ is Jesus came along and completely broke down every barrier.
In chapter 2, he’s going to talk about he broke down the wall of hostility between people.
That the greatest calling of Christians is to love people that are utterly different than you, except they are united in a foundational love for Jesus Christ. We love across political parties. We love across races. We love across ethnicities. We love across denominations, reconciliation of cultures and races and different perspectives is at heart of Christian experience.
And Paul says, I see this in you guys. I mean, Jews, former practicing Jews, actually Jews now who have become Christians who are still practicing many of the Jewish practices. Which we Gentiles believe we have been freed from are not responsible to do. But he says, I see you guys coming together and loving each other and doing church together and even allowing your your your kids to get married and all these things that would have been so hard.
And he says, I just see this change. And he says, You know, these are the ways I know you guys are Christians. And so what he prays now is he’s praying for people that are doing that. So what does he pray we should they would know here are the three things he prays first of all and this is verse 16 23 that we he prays they would know the confidence God’s calling can give them I pray that you will know the hope to which he has called you.
In the New Testament, there are three particular things that Paul is talking about when he says the hope that is theirs because of their calling. Number one, and I want to say that I, I want, I wish I could be more skilled at helping you to see the practicalness of this. He says, Find your confidence in these three things that God has called you to himself, made you a part of his family.
He’s given you hope. And there are three things that’s hope focus in. One, number one, you have hope because you know God. Ephesians 2 verse 12, you were without hope. And without God. He’s talking to the same people. You didn’t have the hope. I’m talking about because that hope is in a relationship with God that God filled that God shaped hole in your life as he called you into salvation.
You have been given a personal relationship with God that you have come to know God, the one who is the safest person in your life. What do I mean by that?
People feel dangerous. When they’re on the line, when they’re discontent. It’s why we tend to condemn other people. We tend to be judging of other people when we’re most beating ourselves up. We tend to share the wealth. God is never on the line. God never is struggling with feeling inadequate. Or feeling like a less than.
Or feeling afraid. Or feeling angry. Or feeling worried. God is utterly content. Because he is utterly content in himself, he is utterly free to love. When we’re given to fear, we can’t love, because fear is controlling, it’s absorbing, it takes everything. But God is able to love. He is then the safest person.
Well, if you get with an individual, you go to the gym and you’re working out with a guy next to you, And, uh, he’s so, you know, he’s just everything, you know, he’s talking about this and talking about this and he looks great and it’s working and, and, and, but he’s obviously on the line that man, I got to be here every day, every day.
I got to put in a couple of hours, you know, I come, I do this. You don’t want to be next to that guy when you work out. He’s not safe. What he does is make you think. Man, I don’t, come on, buddy. You know, you’re just saying, he’s not safe to me. I want, I want somebody else that’s relaxed. You know, they’re just here, you know, and it’s okay.
We’ll work out together. It’s the comparison. God never is. He’s not having to prove himself. He’s not saying, Oh man, I gotta get here today. You know, he’s not in the line. He’s safe and he’s in. He’s willing to life with us. He’s willing to come alongside. And Paul says, Find your your Hope in this. You know, God, this God, the safest person you will ever know.
Secondly, you know your reason for living. Romans chapter five verse two. We boast in the hope of the glory of God. It goes on to say it was therefore we can glory and suffering because we know it has a purpose. There’s a purpose in what is allowed into our lives. God is determined to use it all for good that God is purposing in our lives that he’s he’s at work in our lives.
The Purpose Driven Life was written by Rick Warren a number of years ago.
It has sold 50 million copies. It has been translated into 137 languages. Now, a very large percentage of those people were not Christians. Why’d they buy this book? Because there is this hunger in the heart of humans to have meaning to my life. I was talking with a girl who was an avowed atheist once a young adult, and she was going through some hard times.
We had talked about her atheism, and she made the statement to me. She said, I just I just want to know that all these hard things going on in my life have purpose, have a meaning. There is no purpose or meaning. If there isn’t a purposer, if there isn’t a designer, But we can live with our lives saying, I’m trying to live my life to the glory of God.
That God is arranging circumstances of my life to help me grow in Christ. There’s purpose. And I can even embrace the, the, the hard things, the confusing things, the, the, the major issues in my life, because I know there’s a, there’s a purpose that God is, is intending in my life. The third thing he says, you can have confidence, you can have hope because you know your future.
Throughout the New Testament, our hope is talking about the future to come. That this is not your ultimate home. And Paul says, I’m praying that you guys will remember these realities. That you know God. That you, you know you have a reason for living. That you know there’s life beyond this. That you will embrace these realities and drink at the well of these truths over and over again.
I’m at the age of my life where I’m thinking of the next one more than I used to when I was 30 years old. I now watch movies and, uh, and it’s a movie that a guy loses his spouse and I cry every time. I can’t imagine it. And it’s caused me to think about heaven in a way I never thought about it before.
And I’ve said probably on I don’t know, six or seven times probably feels like a thousand to Marianne, but because I tend to do With things I’m thinking about I’ve said this to her babe. I can’t wait to do heaven with you I believe that I can’t imagine doing life without my bride,
but what gives me hope in it is the It’s a temporary separation. It’s not over. And I can’t wait to be in a place where I leave all the stuff behind that I’m leaving behind when I go to heaven. The me. The, the, the self part. The self centeredness. The self absorption. The selfishness. The self promotion.
The self ambition. This, uh, all that stuff that I have to deal with continually with the Lord and only He gives the grace to overcome because it’s so prominent. Leave it all up behind. She’s leaving all that behind. He says you can be confident because of what you have been Called to you’ve been called to hope, you know your future, you know your reason for living, you know your God Okay, I got a step up to pace Second thing here is he’s praying for the contentment God’s appraisal can give them I love this one.
That you will know in verse 18 what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. Imagine trying a Christmas shop for Bill Gates or Taylor Swift. They both have yachts, they have jets, they have innumerable homes, most of them mansions, and recently they both own a car. Islands. What do you buy for a person that buys islands?
And you get with him at Christmas and you give him your, your present, which you for, and, and, and of course it’s going to go like this. Oh my goodness, this is just what I’ve been waiting. No, you didn’t. This is what I’ve been looking for. No, they didn’t. They would have bought it.
In this passage, In this phrase, God is saying something incredible. You see, it could be rendered that the inheritance that’s being talked about here, the glorious inheritance in the saints, is an inheritance that we receive from God. But that’s not what it’s about. That’s not the way the wording is, and it’s not what has been historically understood.
That’s not what it’s about. It’s talking about the inheritance that God receives in us. And he says, this is your riches, your riches. Are God’s inheritance in you? Saints, the word saints here means Christian set apart ones. God needs nothing, right? I mean, he’s got more than islands, but he finds his great inheritance in those he called and justified and made a part of his family.
Now, Jesus was convinced of this in John 17. He says, Father, I’m not praying for the world, but for those whom you have given me for their yours. They belong to you. They matter to you. Pursued them. You drew them. Now, what is an inheritance? An inheritance is what is passed on as a legacy, a gift, a gift to others.
God’s gift to himself
is believers. People he chose, rescued, forgave, gave his spirit to, he says, This is my inheritance. This is what the whole work, the whole story of grace and redemption was about. That what I will inherit as a result are these who have been embraced by Christ, who have entrusted themselves to my son. The ones that I have drawn, the ones that I have sent my son for, He finds his pleasure in you.
Your riches are in the fact that you are God’s inheritance. Martin Lloyd Jones, great preacher of Scotland days past, said this, about this phrase. The degree to which you understand this passage, is the degree to which you will find strength not to sin. The degree that we imbibe this reality that God looks at us as his gift to himself,
his legacy, his inherited gift. is the degree that you will find self control, is the degree to which you will find that that sin is not as powerful an enticement. J. I. Packer, in his classic book, Knowing God, says that those who know God have four characteristics. Number one, great energy for God, great thoughts of God, great boldness for God, and great contentment in God.
If you haven’t read that book, you really need to. And our great contentment ultimately comes in knowing that God delights in his children.
I was listening to a song this, uh, this week or last week. It’s by the sidewalk prophets. It’s called Chosen. The cadence of it is not going to do really well being read, but I’m going to do the best I can. Here’s what, how it goes. What do you see when you look in the mirror? A loser? A failure? Does every scar determine who you are?
Maybe don’t look, just turn away. If every day is like yesterday. Winds are gonna change. What do you hear when you’re all alone? Stranded at sea on a stepping stone. There’s a cloud inside you, it’s welling up. You’re not worthless, you’re precious. You’re not left out, you’re wanted. You’re not invisible with your shining soul.
Lord has spoken. You are chosen. You sat on the side and you tried to hide it, but deep in your heart there’s a burning fire. Whoever told you that you’re not strong, today’s the day you’re gonna prove them wrong. You’re not worthless. You’re precious. You’re not left out. You’re wanted. You’re not invisible with your shining soul.
Love has spoken. You are chosen. Your fear is courageous and your weakness is strong. Hold on to faith and you’ll more than overcome. This is your identity. Your call to be your royalty. You’re chosen. You are chosen. Your fear is courageous and your weakness is strong. Hold on to faith and you’ll more than overcome.
This is who you’re made to be. Come and see your destiny. You’re chosen. You are chosen. You’re not worthless. You’re precious. You’re not left out. You’re wanted. You’re irreplaceable with your shining soul. Love has spoken. You are chosen. You didn’t make yourself that way. God did. God says, this is my prize.
This is my glory. This is my inheritance. This is my legacy to myself. That I’ve reached out and taken a sin for broken people and I’ve drawn them to my son and they’ve embraced his work and for all eternity. They’re going to be my joy. They are my glory. And Paul says, guys, I want you to see yourselves this way.
I want, I’m praying that you will see yourself because the more you see that is your identity, the freer you are from all the other things that are trying to identify, trying to determine your identity. The last thing, the capability God’s power can give them. He’s prayed three things here. Hope to which he’s called you, the inheritance they are to God, and now the capability God’s power can give them.
He says this in verses, um, 18 and following, about his power, verse 19 and following, about his power that is manifested. I’m not going to take time to go through all that. I just want to highlight the practicality of it. In Ephesus, there was tremendous demonic opposition. This is the book where he’s going to talk about spiritual warfare and lay out the whole reality of it.
This is the book where he’s going to talk more about principalities and powers and authorities of dark places than any other book in the New Testament. This is a city that was filled with opposition. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in doing my life with God for a number of years, The enemy is utterly, incomparably more powerful than I am.
In a moment of time, he could snuff me out. He could snuff you out. He could shut down this service in a second. There’s only one reason he doesn’t. We are protected by the shielding, circling power of God. That’s the reality. That is the reality. And Paul is reminding these people who felt the hot breath of the enemy every day living in Ephesus.
He says, I want you to be, I want you to, I’m praying that you will, you will be consumed with the fact that God is on your side, the power of God. Reading recently, uh, writing by Tim Keller, and I was just struck by a little story he was telling. And he was talking about God at work. in circumstances and how we tend to not be aware of just the big things that God is doing all around us every day.
He told the story when, when he was, um, in seminary. During that time, hap the Watergate break in happened with Richard Nixon, the president, wiretapping into Democratic headquarters. And as a result of that, Richard Nick Nixon was removed from office in disgrace, and Gerald Ford took over. And at that same time, uh, uh, Tim Keller was at, at seminary and there was a speaker that was supposed to come to the school.
And he said, and he was not able to get here from Britain because of some political issues. And it was a guy they, they had wanted to hear speak. And so a guy was on the board of the school and his, his, I can’t remember his first name, but he was the son of Gerald Ford. He was on the board of Gordon Conwell.
And so he pulled some strings because his father was after in a pretty important position in the world at this moment as the president. And he got some strings pulled and this guy was able to come to speak at Gordon Conwell. And he spoke at Gordon Conwell and, and Tim Keller tells the story of how sitting out there, this guy absolutely changed my life.
As a matter of fact, he’s the reason I became a Presbyterian, talking with him and, and, and, and realizing I, I embrace what he’s saying and, and where he’s coming from. Tim Keller then left Gordon Conwell and he went down to a small rural church in Virginia. Amazing church, diversity, amazing things he did there.
But he’s in a little country church there, nobody knows him. But some Presbyterian leadership, because he was a part of their movement, reached out to him and they said to Tim, would you be willing to consider starting a church in downtown Manhattan? And so Tim Keller was called to go to this church in, in, in Manhattan, and, and in the story, Tim Keller’s talking to the people of the congregation in, in Manhattan at Redeemer Church, and he said, if you today can look back and there’s any way that God has, has brought good out of your life through Redeemer Church.
You owe it all to the Watergate break in. And he traced it. He did it. Basically saying, why? Because God is at work all the time. That’s happening in your life right now. God isn’t wasting stuff. God isn’t, oh, how did that happen? No, He’s moving. Because He’s big. And He’s powerful. And He’s constantly thwarting, The enemy, you know, we’re looking right now to move on to our next lead pastor, right?
We’ve only had one I’m, sorry for that, but that We’ve only had one in all these years 43 years brown hair mustache Turn into this
But I am absolutely certain that god cares more about this church than any of us And as godly leaders are crying out with a prayer of jehoshaphat. Oh god, our eyes are on you You I am absolutely positive God is going to, to orchestrate this thing to his own glory and grace. I’ve prayed for the last 20 years.
That the years after me would be the time when God did his greatest work in this church. I believe he’s gonna do that. I, I’m absolutely positive he’s gonna do it. Why? Because he’s a God of power. And we can pray and embrace the power of God. Okay, so here we come. And, and in Sixers terminology, in regards to succession, they may trust the process.
We’re trusting the processor. Okay, conclusion. Let’s put some shoes on the bottom shelf. Here we go. Okay. Number one, pray this prayer for yourself. Ephesians chapter one, pray through it and pray it for yourself. Secondly, really meditate on these truths
that your confidence is in you know God and you know there’s a purpose for your life and you know your future. There’s a contentment that you have in that you are God’s inheritance that he has deeded to himself and there’s a capability that is found in God is working for you. And as you reflect on those things, I encourage you, and I’d encourage you to write this down.
Ask this question, how would my life be different if I really knew this in my life? If I really knew this, how would my life be different in the way I do life with my wife or husband, with my kids in my job, with my coworker, with my finances? How would my life be different in my school if I really knew this?
Number three, remember that Jesus Christ prayed these truths for you. He prayed that they would know the Father. He prayed that they would experience the Father’s love for them. He prayed that they would be protected and empowered, all three parallel Paul’s prayer here. And last, pray this for others. The next time you feel prompted to pray for somebody and you don’t know what to pray, well, pray this way.
God, help them to know the hope to which He’s called. Help them to remember who they are in your sight. Help them to embrace and experience and remember your power. Amen. Your creative power to work in their lives. Lord, we come to you now.
We glory in the work of grace that was done by you, Father, Son, and Spirit. Lord, now we pray that we might have our eyes open to these truths, that we might embrace them, sit in them.
Lord, we glory in Christ, praise you for who he is and what he’s done for us. In Jesus name, Amen.