A Powerful Prayer for Power

From whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being (Eph 3:16).

There are powerful prayers all throughout the Bible.  And there are prayers for power.  Here the Apostle Paul gives us both.  A powerful prayer for power.

From a dark dungeon in Rome, he writes to his friends back in Ephesus.  He knows them well.  He spent three years telling everyone who would listen about Jesus (Acts 19).  The Gospel turned the big port city upside down.  Things got especially crazy when non-Jews heard that Messiah Jesus had died for them too.  That stirred up unbelieving Jews in a big way, resulting in a citywide riot.  

So what is Paul's purpose for this powerful prayer for power?  He's trying to prepare the Ephesian church for a heresy that's headed their way.  False teachers have duped folks down the road in Colossae, Hierapolis and Laodicea into believing a counterfeit gospel.  These spiritual snake oil salesmen have conned Jesus' followers into thinking He's good but not God.  Through scriptural slight of hand, they've said that He can't save us completely.  The only way we can REALLY be sure we're saved is to finish the job.  How do we do that?  Well, these hucksters are more than happy to tell you they have the answers.  Follow a complicated list of religious rules, holidays and dietary requirements.  Paul fired off a letter of correction to handle this.  We call it Colossians.  At the same time, he dipped his pen back in the ink and wrote another letter to the Ephesians.  The apostle knows the importance of understanding who Jesus is and who we are in Him.  We need to know that we don't save ourselves.  "It is FINISHED!!!" (Jn 19:30).  Once we know that, we won't fall for impostor faith.

Paul begins his prayer by talking about our heavenly Father, "from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named" (v15).  He's not describing that God has brought everyone into His family.  Salvation is NOT universal.  It's only THROUGH Jesus.  He is "THE Way, THE Truth and THE Life" (Jn 14:6).  It might not be universal but it is universally offered.  The apostle's point here is that Jesus is saving folks from every ethnic group on the planet.  And some have already joined Him in eternity "in heaven."

Paul continues his powerful prayer of power with the phrase "according to the riches in of His glory" (v16).  Here's the deal.  Our heavenly Dad is loaded.  Forget Bill Gates.  Sorry Donald Trump.  Warren Buffett?  Nope.  You can take any list Forbes cooks up of the riches people on the planet, combine all that money and it still isn't a thimbleful compared to the combined divine portfolio of our Father in heaven.  For instance, He owns livestock "on a thousand hills" (Ps 51:10).  His wealth is limitless.

And our heavenly Dad continually shares His fortune with His kids.  That's one of the big themes in this letter.  He's overwhelmed us with "the riches of His grace" (Eph 1:7).  He's giving us "the riches of His glorious inheritance" (Eph 1:18).  He's not only saved us but there's even more to come in the future, "the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus" (Eph 2:7).  And Jesus has invited non-Jews to God's party to end all parties where they can experience "the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Eph 3:8).

The apostle tells us once again how God "may grant you" (v16) access to His limitless resources.  God is a Giver.  He gives.  And He gives.  And He gives.  And He gives.  As we said before, Paul loads this letter with reminders of God's many gifts and blessings to His kids.  Let that Tsunami of Blessings sweep you away (Eph 1:3-14).  Every good thing in our lives has God's fingerprints (James 1:17).

Paul's powerful prayer for power asks that we would be "strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being" (v16).  The original language here just bulges with muscle.  Think of the skin tight shirt on a body builder's chest.  The apostle uses the verb "strengthened."  This is the Greek krataio'o, which means to become powerful and grow in strength.  With what does God make us powerful?  Now we see the term dunamis.  This is where we get our English word dynamo.  This is strength, might or force.  Sorry Obi-Wan, we're not talking about some impersonal power like "the Force."  This is the VERY personal and powerful Holy Spirit.  The Third Person of the Godhead.

Paul prays that his Ephesian friends will realize the unlimited scope of God's power through the indwelling Holy Spirit.  He's asking the Lord to let His strength flow freely to these believers.  This isn't an external strength.  He's not talking about being ripped and pumped up for Jesus.  This is strength "in your inner being" (v16).  God gives us the strength and power to follow Jesus.  Without Him living in us, we don't stand a chance.  But with the Third Member of the Trinity setting up shop in each of us, we have the resources available to be obedient all that God's called us to do and be.  Will I fall short?  Will I trip and fall?  Will I sin?  You betcha.  Even the great Paul was bummed about how sin was still part of his life after Jesus saved him (Rom 7:15-20).  

While Jesus has returned home to take a seat next His Dad, He's given us His Spirit to fill us, empower us and guide us.  Tony Stark's arc reactor ain't got nothing on God's Spirit.  Christ told His boys that His Spirit would show up to help them and guide them in a way that He couldn't while He was with them (Jn 14:15-16, 26; 15:7, 13).  His Spirit gives us the supernatural strength to tell others about Jesus (Acts 1:8).  And we need to remember that staying plugged into the power that Jesus provides is just like the grapes receive nourishment from the vine (Jn 15:1-5).  Let's do what we can to stay plugged in to the Spirit's power source.

Do you realize that folks are praying for you?  Praying for your spiritual growth.  Praying that God would unleash His unlimited power through the Holy Spirit in your life.  Praying that you'll understand the strength to follow Jesus is available to you right here, right now.  Praying powerful prayers for power for you.

Are you praying similar prayers for others?  Praying for their spiritual growth.  Praying that God would unleash His unlimited power through the Holy Spirit in their lives.  Praying that they'll understand the strength to follow Jesus is available to them right here, right now.  Let us pray powerful prayers for power for others.