Paul was a preacher. Paul was a pastor. Paul was a man of prayer. He prayed for the people. He prayed with the people. He prayed that they would receive God's grace. He prayed that they would know that all of their sins had been forgiven. He prayed that they would grow strong in their faith. He prayed that they would be sanctified, that they would live a Godly life, a Christ-like life, a Spirit-filled life, a life which brings glory to God.
How are we to live the kind of life which brings glory to God? - In his prayer for the Ephesians, Paul points us in the direction of a life that is full of God's blessing:
'I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God' (Ephesians 3:17-19).
Get to know how much the Lord loves you and you will be changed by His love. As you think of the Lord's great love for you, you will want to love Him more. The story of your life will be 'Loving Him who first loved me.'
God calls us to worship Him. He calls us to walk with Him. He calls us to be His witnesses. He calls us to be His workers. Can we ever hope to live such a God-centred life? We cannot do so in our strength. Without Christ, we can do nothing. With Christ, everything changes. We become a new creation in Christ Jesus. We receive new strength.
Paul speaks about this strengthening when he prays for the Ephesians:
'For this reason I kneel before the Father ... I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being' (Ephesians 3:14, 16).
Paul was a man of action. He travelled from place to place, preaching here and preaching there. This is not, however, the full story of Paul's life. We must always remember that he was a man of prayer. From Paul's ministry, we learn this great lesson:
'The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective' (James 5:16).
There is such a clear connection in Scripture between prayer and blessing. We ask, 'Why is there not much blessing?' James tells us - 'You do not have because you do not ask God' (James 4:2). We wonder, 'How can we receive more of God's blessing?' Jesus tells us - 'Ask, and it will be given to you' (Matthew 7:7).
If we are to see God's blessing in our worship and witness, in our walk with God and our work for God, we must come to the Lord with this request, 'Lord, teach us to pray' (Luke 11:1).
We have looked together at the ministry of the Apostle Paul - a helpful ministry, a Gospel ministry, a teaching ministry, a prayerful ministry. May God help us to learn from this ministry. May we learn the great lesson contained in 2 Chronicles 7:14 - 'If My people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.'
No comments:
Post a Comment