"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." Ephesians 3:14-16 (NKJV)Kneeling to pray signifies humble submission to God and His will. As I mentioned yesterday, our heart's attitude is more important than the outward posture. Yes, we can (and should) approach God/our Heavenly Father with boldness and confidence. At the same time, we must approach Him with reverence, awe, and humility.
Even though every human is created by God in His image, not everyone is His child. Only those who have trusted in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and have been born again by His Spirit are adopted into God's family as God's children and can call Him, "Abba Father". "The whole family" in this passage refers to every believer (whether Jews or Gentiles...they all are one in Christ, including those in Heaven and those still on earth). All believers share this family privilege of prayer. It's absolutely wonderful to be able to come to our Father anytime about anything, knowing that our Good Good Father who is loving, compassionate, all wise & powerful, cares so much about us and takes care of all our needs.
Paul prays for us that our inner being (the heart, the soul that lives forever, the new inward creation in Christ) may have spiritual strength/empowerment by the Holy Spirit, which in turn will lead to a deeper experience with Christ which enables us to comprehend His love and results in being filled unto all the fullness of God. "According to the riches of His glory"--shows the limitless, exceeding, abundant greatness & generosity of God's power/wealth/resources given to us the redeemed. "Since the Lord is infinitely rich in glory, let the saints get ready for a deluge! Why should we ask so little of so great a King?" (MacDonald) The Holy Spirit empowers and strengthens us to do God's will & God's work, to bear good fruit, to glorify God, to persevere to the end, to endure trials & suffering, to resist temptations, to make right & wise choices, to say no to flesh, to fear not & worry not, to speak the truth & share the Gospel regardless of what others think of us, and to live a life of faith & obedience. We definitely cannot do all this on our own strength. Since we have access to God's unlimited resources/spiritual wealth, we ought to walk and live out of them. We don't have to limp along as weak paupers. God is at work in us! "The power of Christ in you is greater than the pressure of troubles around you." (Unknown)
"You have . . . a war to wage; a race to run; an enemy to watch; a victory to gain.Your own strength is nothing. Even an angel's strength would not suffice you. You must be clothed with power from Heaven; you must be armed with God. I would not underrate your own weakness; and I cannot overrate the divine strength at your command." (George Mylne)
No comments:
Post a Comment