Rungs in the ladder of prayer
The prayers of Paul are an incredible resource for our prayer life. I find them helpful in praying for myself and for others. One of my favorite prayers is found in Ephesians 3:14-19. Let me share the ESV’s translation,
“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
We don’t have enough time or space to exhaust this prayer, but John Stott helped me years ago and his thoughts shape my praying. He compared these verses to a staircase “by which he climbs higher and higher in his aspiration for his readers.”
I find it easier to think of it in terms of a ladder. The first rung is power. Paul asks God to strengthen you, or the person for whom you are praying, with power through His Spirit. “That according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power in your inner being.” Power is a common theme in Ephesians, but notice Paul is specifically asking that we would be strengthened with God’s power.
But notice the location of the strengthening, “in your inner being.” So much of our time and prayers center around our outer being which is passing away, but the inner being is who we are in Christ and that must be the center of our thoughts and prayers. The outer self is wasting away, but our inner self is being renewed day by day.
Focus your prayer on the inner being…that it would be strengthened with power. Pray that you might feed your inner man with time in the Word, time in prayer, time in worship, and in day-to-day obedience, and then pray for the same things to happen in the lives of those for whom you are praying. That is the secret to our growth in Christ and it is the secret to the growth of those we love.
We will look at the rest of the rungs in the ladder throughout the rest of the week, but start by praying for this…power through His Spirit in your inner being.
“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
We don’t have enough time or space to exhaust this prayer, but John Stott helped me years ago and his thoughts shape my praying. He compared these verses to a staircase “by which he climbs higher and higher in his aspiration for his readers.”
I find it easier to think of it in terms of a ladder. The first rung is power. Paul asks God to strengthen you, or the person for whom you are praying, with power through His Spirit. “That according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power in your inner being.” Power is a common theme in Ephesians, but notice Paul is specifically asking that we would be strengthened with God’s power.
But notice the location of the strengthening, “in your inner being.” So much of our time and prayers center around our outer being which is passing away, but the inner being is who we are in Christ and that must be the center of our thoughts and prayers. The outer self is wasting away, but our inner self is being renewed day by day.
Focus your prayer on the inner being…that it would be strengthened with power. Pray that you might feed your inner man with time in the Word, time in prayer, time in worship, and in day-to-day obedience, and then pray for the same things to happen in the lives of those for whom you are praying. That is the secret to our growth in Christ and it is the secret to the growth of those we love.
We will look at the rest of the rungs in the ladder throughout the rest of the week, but start by praying for this…power through His Spirit in your inner being.
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