Paul’s Prayer – Churches Equipping
Ephesians 3:14-21
How many of you know that the church has a job to do? What job has Christ left for us? “As the Father has sent me, so send I you.” How many of you know that if you are going to do a job you need the right equipment?
If you want to move snow what do you need?
If you are going to build a house what do you need?
If we are going to be the church – here are some things we are going to need – Paul prays for them for the churches at Ephesus.
1) Strengthened in the inner man – He’s talking about growth spiritually for the believer. Paul speaks of our Christian faith in terms of Growing up –
Eph. 4: 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ,
Col 1:9-12; 2 Peter 1:5-8
The truth is that we are either growing or dying – there are only two choices. Growth in us becomes the tool for growth around us.
2) Rooted and Grounded in Love – The idea is that we become firmly planted – deeply rooted. Remember the story of the sower and the seed? Luke 8. We need to grow deep roots. Psalm 1.
3) Comprehend God’s Love – The truth is that this is transformational in life. When we comprehend God’s love it transforms our walk and life. The truth is that there is no greater tool for witness than the transformed life. John 3:16.
4) Filled to the fullness of God – One pastor said “To be FILLED with God is a great thing; to be filled with the FULNESS of God is still greater; but to be filled with ALL the fullness of God, goes utterly beyond the imagination. Most of us are content to be filled with God – like putting just enough gas in your tank to get you there and back. Some of us know what it is to be filled to the fullness of God – like filling up your tank and running till the needle gets back to empy. Infrequent stops but filler er up please. Then very few understand what it is to be filled to all the fullness of God – a tank that never leaves F. A tank that no matter how far you go it never runs out.”
Often we think of having the right equipment as having the right tools like Scripture memorization, eloquent prayers, a witnessing strategy (4 spiritual laws, Romans Road etc). But increasingly in the world those things make no sense to the people we are dealing with – what really works is our lives. These things are the parts of life that serve to build Christ into the life of the unbeliever.
