A Prayer Of Paul

by G. Jarvie, Glasgow | Category: Prayers Of Scripture | Dec 1973

"I bow my knees unto the Father" (Eph. 3:14)

What a man of God he was, this man Paul! What sufferings he endured as he went from place to place, heralding the glad tidings, and making disciples. From Jerusalem to Illyricum (probably in Yugoslavia) he had fully preached the gospel of Christ (Rom. 15:19). And now he is set aside for the ministry of intercession, and the ministry of the pen. Day by day, with the soldier who guarded him (Acts 28:16), he bows his knees in intercession for the disciples whom he had reached in his active ministry. No wonder the word spread through the whole praetorian guard, as man after man listened to him pouring out his heart in prayer, and at times speaking of the kingdom of God to all who came to see him (Acts 28:30). Let us consider his prayer for the disciples at Ephesus.

"I bow my knees unto the Father". Father - the name which the Lord Jesus taught His disciples to use in speaking to God. "I made known unto them Thy name", He said, "and will make it known" (John 17:26). The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, whom we worship and adore, is our Father in His love and care for us in all our need. "Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him" (Matt. 6:8). What a remarkable promise! "I ascend unto My Father and your Father, and My God and your God", Jesus said to Mary Magdalene as she stood near His empty tomb. Marvellous condescending grace! He has brought us into this nearness and relationship to His Father.

And then Paul tells the Ephesian saints what he had asked for them as he bowed his knees to the Father. And as 'he writes he reveals where his own strength lay,

"That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, that ye may be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inward man."

If those disciples in Ephesus were to stand, then they must be strengthened with a power greater than their own. The spiritual forces against them - and us - are greater than human strength can resist. Those spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenlies are gaining ground in our days, and unless we are strengthened then surely we shall not be able to stand. But the power is there for us, for the asking - and the taking - by faith. "According to the riches of His glory". No stint; no poverty with our heavenly Father, 'His giving is worthy of His

glory. "Through His Spirit". It can only be by the divine Spirit that this power is imparted. It is His power. "In the inward man". The spirit of the man acting on his mind. It is suggested that the inward man is not the same as the new man.

And Paul goes on to ask for more, for we need not only the power of the Lord but also the presence of the Lord. And so he asks that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith. It is the promise of the Lord in Revelation 3:20, "If any man hear My voice and open the door, I will come in". Christ dwelling in our hearts is not merely the assurance of salvation, which is granted to all the children of God (Rom. 1:16). It is communion with Christ for all who yield their lives to Him and invite Him to come in. It is the theme of the Song of Songs. As Israel ate the manna day by day, so should we seek His presence day by day. In the sweetness of His presence our lives will reflect His glory. How very much we need this.

Paul had known the transforming power of the love of Christ in his own life and so he prays for the saints that they may be strong to apprehend the breadth and length, and height and depth of that love that passes knowledge, and so be filled unto all the fulness of God.

As we read this prayer we are amazed at our emptiness and we marvel that though we know so much of the written word yet we have much to learn of the experimental knowledge of the love of Christ in our lives.

We thank God that He is able to do for us, and with us, far above all that we ask or think. He can take those lives of ours and transform them even now by the work of His Spirit, renewing our minds more to think as He thinks, and our hearts more to love as He loves. So let it be! To Him be the glory. Amen.

The Loveliness of Christ

I have a lover, Christ, and yet I want love for Him.

I have a lovely and desirable Lord, who is love-worthy, and who beggeth my love and heart, and I have nothing to give Him. Dear brother, come further in on Christ, and see a new treasure in Him: come in, and look down, and see angels' wonder, and heaven and earth's wonder of love, sweetness, majesty, and excellency in Him. No pen, no words, no image can express to you the loveliness of my only, only Lord Jesus. (Samuel Rutherford)

G. Jarvie, Glasgow | Dec 1973
Prayers Of Scripture