3 May, 2016
Topic: A prayer for the community
Speaker: Karina Kreminski
Scripture: Ephesians 3:14-21
Book of Ephesians chapter summaries so far:
Chapter 1: Apostle Paul dazzles us with all
the blessings set out for us in Christ on a banquet table.
Chapter 2: How these blessings applied to
people’s lives. One new humanity.
Chapter 3: How all of these has affected
Paul himself.
Karina is the godmother of her niece. She desires
to pass on her faith and blessings to her.
This desire is most clearly expressed in
this prayer of Paul. Prayer for Paul is integrated into everything, a person of
prayer, so we see prayer in many parts of Ephesians.
This prayer displays Paul’s heart for God
and heart for the church.
He prays at this point because he knows the
formation of disciples is not an easy process. He’s fervent/passionate about
this. Paul’s communicating to the Jews and Gentiles, who were hostile against
each other. It’s hard to break down the walls. Prayer is needed for true
discipleship to take place.
What do you pray for a community of people
who are struggling to get along?
V16: People would be strengthened in their
inner being with power through His spirit. This inner being is not a gnostic
spiritual inner you. It is the new creation we are in Christ. “The inner man”.
V17: Secondly, he prays that Christ would
dwell in people by faith. It’s not an impersonal force like Star Wars which we
tap into when we need force. It’s the presence of Jesus dwelling in us. Faith
in Christ is a joy, not a burden. We rest in Him. We are being grounded in
love. As we are praying for the new creation/indwelling of Christ in us, we are
being grounded in love, so we are a people embodied in love in this world. The
joy of His presence.
V18-19: Paul praying that people might
comprehend God’s incomprehensible love. Fully grasp and absorb the love of
Christ. That we might together absorb the love of God, and understand the love
of God. If we want to know God deeper, love is the foundation, a love
relationship with Him, not just sitting there as a concept. As we know Him, we
realise how much more there is to know, and how much more there is to love. It
can be an overwhelming feeling realising how much we don’t know. But as we
relate to God, we find it’s not overwhelming or disempowering in a negative
way.
It’s difficult to absorb all of these. As
we are overwhelmed by God’s love, we have to embody it, and live it out. Loving
each other is costly and it’s not easy. It takes a lot of passion to build a harmonious
community that is to live out love. Pray that this new creation in us might
grow. Transformation of the community. It’s not easy, that’s why Paul prays,
and that’s why we need to pray too, for our local community.
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