Praying for inner strength
Ephesians 3:16 “That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man;”
There is often a great difference between Paul’s prayers and ours….mainly because he saw the “unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph. 3:8)…for himself….
…and we do not.
I have spoken before about what we have “in Christ”….because I believe that how we pray is in direct response to…what we know about Christ Jesus.
When we are babes in Christ….knowing little of His Word,….our petitions are mostly about us, and “our” things.
But as we grow in grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ….we are shown and given “the exceeding great and precious promises” (2 Peter 1:3-4)….things we are to get into our lives and experience…to make us “strong in the Lord”….to be able to stand in this world…
….and to share with others.
These are the “riches of HIs glory”, “the unsearchable riches of Christ”. And they are for us.
We are to be strengthened by them.
We travel through a world full of troubles, temptations, and evil….
….yet we travel on the Narrow Way, which leads to life and heaven.
We must be “strengthened”….we must know the provisions which are placed in us, by the Holy Spirit…and around us through His Word and fellowship with believers.
Paul prayed here, “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,”… ….that the Ephesians might come to know these riches for themselves (and us)….and come to realize the Father’s surpassing love for us!
As Christians, we are fitted for our personal inheritance in Christ.
In other words, our new nature has the capacity to grow and grow and grow: in grace, in knowledge, in peace, in love to Christ….this is our strength…and power.
But how many of us are aware of how much Christ Jesus has laid aside for us…personally? How many of us are being strengthened with might in the inner man?
(Strengthened here means to increase in vigor….to not grow weary in well doing…but to become zealous.
Might here means ability…to be strengthened with the ability in the situation…in the inner man.)
Paul is praying for a very large petition:
(I love this, the Psalmist says…”open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.” Paul is not afraid to ask this large petition, for he knows his God. He knows that this is exactly what God the Father wants. God wants His children to know Him, and get what He is offering! And we should not be afraid to ask for large petitions!)
….”that God the Father would grant you….(personal),…according to the riches of His glory (what vast resources there are in His glory!)….
…to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man;”
Grant means give or minister to.
None of us earn or merit anything….all is in Christ, by His Spirit.
But the riches of His glory includes more than His grace….this includes everything in God…what a fullness there is!….and makes Him glorious to each of us!
(Glory here is God’s excellence made manifest, and brought into honor in our lives.
It is HIs divine character displayed and made real to our hearts and lives.
God has joined His glory to the good of His people, in Christ.)
Paul was also asking that the Father help our understanding. Our understanding is limited…it only goes so far…as far as our experience and teaching.
(We know babes think mostly of themselves…their food and care. As they grow, they become concerned with their family and friends, as well. And then they get jobs, and interests in the world around them. The experience widens….and the understanding does to.
Paul is asking that our understanding will grow, as our experience in God’s riches grow…so that we may deal with all that comes to us….and continue being filled with “all the fullness of God”)
In God’s abundant fullness….for He possesses unlimited and inexhaustible resources….we can have the supply of our every need.
Paul is praying that the Ephesians, who were weak and in a lowly condition….(and we)….would ask Him to minister these riches unto us.
A knowledge that our sins are forgiven is a great and blessed knowledge….but Paul is praying that they see that greater and grandeur blessings await them, and us.
That the Father will minister them to us….as we seek to get this strengthening in the inner man.
The inner man is the new nature…and it is constantly in need of strengthening by the Spirit of God….for we have many things to face on our way to heaven….
….but we can face them,….and we can abound in strength, as we receive the riches of God’s glory (God’s character manifested and honored in us)
Isaiah 39:29-31 “He giveth power to the faint; and them that have no might He increaseth strength.
Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: (in their own understanding and might)
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
Let us add our prayers to Pauls…. to our Heavenly Father, that we might be strengthened with His might by His Spirit in our inner man.
And then let us receive what He gives and be renewed for our everyday lives….to be lived to His glory and joy.
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 