The place where the missionary Dr. George Leslie Mackay came ashore onto Taiwan! Looks like he was kneeling in prayer in this artwork! Photo taken from a trip to Taiwan in 2016.
Speaker: Rachel Stuhr
Scripture: Ephesians
3:14-19
Have you ever had someone come to you and
say, “I’ve been praying for you a lot” (in a serious way, not just out of
politeness)? Rachel had a lady whom she doesn’t know well said to her she has
been praying for her. She prayed for her marriage, her being a good exemplar
for others, her faith, her spreading the word of God, etc. This prayer of Paul
is similar.
The prayer is motivated by the many
blessings we have in Christ.
V14: “I kneel before the Father.” People
kneeling to pray. To kneel to pray is to indicate urgency/desperation/earnest.
The Father, from whom every family in
heaven and on earth derives its name… We pray to the Father, the origin of all
creation.
Greek: Pater=father, Patria=family. The two
words have similar roots. We derive our origins from the Father, the One whom
we come from, the source of everything we know.
Sometimes we are focusing on the
things/issues we are praying for, but not on the One whom we are praying to. It’s
about God.
It is the Spirit, and Christ in us who give
us the strength we need. “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may
strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that
Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” Without Christ dwelling in our
hearts, what do we have? Exams and assignments are less urgent compared to
eternity.
Know and understand the love of Christ. “And
I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together
with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep
is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge.” It can
be quite unconceivable that God can love us this much. What would happen if we
all kneel on our knees praying urgently for the people in our lives?
“That you may be filled to the measure of
the fullness of God”. The fullness of God. The Spirit will strengthen us when
Christ lives in our hearts.
Take this prayer and read it again at home
and ask ourselves, “what would it look like if I was doing this?”
Often, we pray for people to feel better/do
better/other practical things. What happens if we pray that Christ dwell in
their hearts, and change them from the inside out? We can’t force anyone to
come to Christ, but we can pray for them. Pray this prayer for them because
that is what we can do.
Personal thoughts and reflections:
Today’s Chapel resonated with what
has been happening in my life lately again. Last week I made an urgent trip to
Taiwan to visit my terminally ill aunt. Although she became stable enough to be
discharged from the hospital, she still doesn’t have the desire to be visited
by church people or get baptized. So, although the practical aspects of my intercessions for her has been answered, this amazing extension of life is pointless if there is no growth in faith. After all, she is in great agony from the effects of the cancer itself as well as the side effects of the cancer treatment, and an extension of life means an extension of these physical and psychological agonies. Meanwhile, no one can force my aunt
to come to Christ. Therefore, I should make the prayer more Christ focused, and
praying for Christ to dwell in her heart, so that she can be changed from the
inside out.
The emphasis on “kneeling” in today’s talk reminded me of the time I went on a government funded CPD program to Mackay Memorial Hospital in 2016. In my spare time, I went to the Barnabas School of Missions and heard a message by Dr.
Allen Lien, a famous evangelist/ medical doctor in Taiwan who went to Africa,
who exhorted us to “Pick up the lost tradition of getting down on your knees to
break the ground with the groundbreaking prayer!” And a prophetic prayer by
another organisation where the intercessor told me “get down and pick up” some
of the things I’ve dropped! At that time, I already knew in my mind the Spirit was telling me to get down on my knees and pray with urgency every day, but my flesh found it hard to do because I was either in the situation of excessive comfort during holiday times, or excessive busyness during Morling College semester times.
Well, the situation has changed lately. Ephesians 3:14-19 is a good prayer I can do when interceding for my family in Taiwan… on my knees that is!
Addit 8May 2018:
After a week of break from the hospital, my aunt got admitted into hospital again on Saturday 5May, bleeding more profusely than before.
On Monday 7May, she decided to get baptised.
On Tuesday 8May, she got baptised.
Well, the situation has changed lately. Ephesians 3:14-19 is a good prayer I can do when interceding for my family in Taiwan… on my knees that is!
Addit 8May 2018:
After a week of break from the hospital, my aunt got admitted into hospital again on Saturday 5May, bleeding more profusely than before.
On Monday 7May, she decided to get baptised.
On Tuesday 8May, she got baptised.
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