Paul's Prayer (part 1)

(Ephesians 3:16-17)

The following is one of the Apostle Paul's prayers that is recorded for us in the book of Ephesians. Paul was a faithful man of prayer. It is important to note that at the time of Paul's prayer he was a prisoner of the Roman Empire. You see, no matter what your circumstance, you are always free to pray. You might be restricted in some way but your prayers are not. In fact, you are now about to read a prayer that was made about 2000 years ago and has blessed millions of people in all of the centuries following, so it certainly wasn't restricted! The book of Ephesians was written to "the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus". The word "saints" means "holy ones" and in the Bible this term is not restricted to an elite group of Christians but rather is applicable to all true believers. The word "faithful" literally means "full of faith".

“That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory,”

A man whose son had grave problems once said to Jesus "if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us." Jesus response was "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." You see, God can answer our prayers ca out of the storehouse of "the riches of his glory". There is no lack there, but we often limit what we receive of him because of our lack of faith.

“to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;”

Paul did not pray for outer strength (which is temporary) but for inner strength (which is eternal).

“That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith;”

When a person receives Christ as their personal Savior, he comes to dwell in their heart. "Dwell" means to reside or "house" and God tells us that this kind of dwelling is by faith. Would you let someone whom you didn't trust live in your house? If you were a guest in someone's house and that person started to distrust you, would you feel comfortable? I know that I wouldn't. And so it is with this dwelling of Christ within our heart. It is dependent upon faith and it continues in a state by faith. And when Christ comes to dwell he is much more than a guest. He is the Master of the house. Consider this also: our heart is more private than our house. To let God dwell there is to give him access to our private thoughts, motives, desires, and many other very personal things. That is what Christ wants.

To be continued...