Ephesians 3:20-21-Now to him who is able to do far more (exceedingly) abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
At the end of his prayer in Ephesians 3, Paul prayed for greater things, for new things, things beyond the scope of their understanding to take place. In other words, he prayed that they would let God be in charge of what happened next. Paul prayed that the Ephesians wouldn’t limit God. I love the phrase, “to Him who is able.” Ours is the God who is able! Able to do far beyond anything we could conceive! We need to pray like we believe it!
II Corinthians 9:8-“And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”
Do you remember the three Hebrew boys who were thrown into the fiery furnace? They were going to be executed for not bowing down to the image King Nebuchadnezzar built in honor of himself. He asked them who was going to save them from execution if they decided to continue to defy his edict.
Daniel 3:16-17-16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.
There it is again…God is able! Listen, you lift your heads, march on, and mission on, and pray on because God is able to perform whatever miracle you need as a church and as an individual. Your prayer life needs to reflect that you know something about the One to whom you are praying! Do you believe Scripture when it says, “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?”
When you pray boldly, you are relying on the Lord’s merits and not your own. In bold praying you are affirming the Lord’s character and capabilities. You can pray bold prayers when you have confidence in the One to whom you are praying.
Earlier in Ephesians 3, Paul stated in verse 12, “In Christ we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.”
This word, “boldness,” is from a Greek word, “parresia,” which refers to a frankness of speech that is viewed to be coming from someone with unflinching authority even when that person is being opposed. A person with this kind of biblical boldness believes prayer changes things, even hard things. A person with this biblical boldness knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that God cannot fail.
Paul prayed, and he didn’t doubt what he was asking was possible and would come to pass. Paul understood that because there is no limit to God, there is no limit to the prayers that could be prayed. He was bold to ask God AND he was confident that God would deliver.
The word, “confidence,” comes from the Greek word, “peitho,” which in a lot of settings means “persuasion.” However, in this context, the word, “persuasion” isn’t strong enough to convey the meaning Paul was going for. In these verses, “confidence,” “peitho,” really means “absolute confidence.” It refers to someone who is doubly persuaded. We are talking about someone who is convinced to their core that God can do anything. Are you doubly convinced today that God is able? If so, pray big, bold prayers!
Hebrews 4:16-16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
March into the throne room and pray, and pray with confidence because God is able and will deliver exactly what is needed. There are greater things on the way because God is able! I Corinthians 2:9-“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
Look at our central text again: Ephesians 3:20-21-Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us
Isn’t it awesome that the God who is able desires to work in us and through us in power? That verb, “work” is in the present tense. What that means is that God didn’t just save us and take His hands off of us. No! He is still working on us, and He wants to work through us in and by His power!
In addition to bold praying, I encourage you to enter into a time of bold obedience, so that God can be at work in your life in power! Get radically fixed on knowing Jesus, on ingesting the Word of God, on serving Him with your whole heart, and by witnessing to others about the Good News of Salvation. Let God be at work in you to conform you to the image of His Son. Let Him enable you by His power to do the impossible! He can liberate you from any bondage, and He can use you to become a liberator of others. He can heal you emotionally and physically, and He can use you to bring the same healing to others.
Back up in Ephesians 3 to the beginning of Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians. It begins in verse 14: 14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being…
You need to experience God’s power in your inner being. Your inner being is just as real as your physical body. Ask God to move on you in power in your inner being. You know what it is like to feel strong in your physical body, and you know what it is to be weak. As we age, we know that our physical bodies will lose strength. It’s something we can work to combat, but our commitment to the gym won’t ultimately outpace what the natural aging process does to us. Anyhow, most of us will see a decline in physical strength as we age, but we do not have to have any decline in our inner man.
In fact, because of God’s power at work in us, we can gain spiritual strength and momentum even as our physical bodies are deteriorating and ultimately, by God’s power at work in you, your faith can soar regardless of the state of your physical strength! You could be in your weakest physical condition, but because of your willingness to let God’s power be at work in you, you could be at your strongest at the same time, spiritually speaking. Your greatest spiritual harvest for the Kingdom of God could come when your physical strength is at its lowest. It is strength in your inner being that you need to be able to navigate life’s challenges.
Paul had experienced the power of God so dramatically on the inside of his being that even in moments of intense pressure and physical pain to the point of torture, he felt stronger than ever. He said this in II Corinthians 4:16-18-16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
No matter what Paul faced, he was juiced and ready to go. He was fired up and faithed up and moving forward toward what God had for him next! He knew God’s power experientially. As his eyes were on Jesus, the power of God rested on him and enabled him to endure terrible things and bear much Kingdom fruit. Are you increasing in spiritual power? Do you know God in this kind of power? Knowing God and knowing Him in power aren’t quite the same. By knowing Him in power, I’m asking if you are experiencing His Divine power to do His work on earth. Paul said God would do immeasurably more than we could ask or think as His power flowed through us. That means we don’t just stand back and watch God work, but we become willing participants in God’s plans as we receive His power and use that Divine energy and strength to do His work.
It probably isn’t difficult for you to agree that God is able to do immeasurably more than you could ask or think. You see the evidence of His power in Creation and in everyday ways that get labeled as miracles. But have you considered that the more than you could ask or imagine is some stuff He wants to empower YOU to do?
Here is this message in a nutshell. God is able, and He wants to enable you. God is powerful, and He wants to empower you. In Ephesians 1:19-20, Paul prayed that the Ephesians would know- 19 the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
Listen, if you are in Christ, His power is in you! You simply need to surrender to His plans for you and pray that you can submit to His control so that His power can be experienced by you. Look again at Paul’s words in verse 19. This isn’t a little power. It isn’t a dose of power. You can’t even measure His power. It is immeasurably great! It is infinite.
II Peter 1:3 tells us that God has given us Divine power for everything we face and power to enable us to become who and what God is calling us to become. We can live on excuses, or we can rely on the power of God. One will keep us stuck and stagnant. The other will empower us to experience the abundantly or immeasurably more that God wants us to experience.
Every God-given assignment you are given will be accompanied by God-given power to carry it out. God’s power will be dispensed with every step of obedience you take, but it won’t be released if you won’t move to act in faith.
Peter didn’t experience water-walking power until he actually got out of the boat and started walking with water walking faith. Too many believers want to stay in the boat and watch God do the work. Our main text in Ephesians 3:21 tells me it doesn’t work that way. God’s infinite power is not simply to be displayed like a show of fireworks that we ooh and ahh over, but it is to be displayed in us as we move out in faith to do what He asks us to do. If we will move in obedience to His command to be His witnesses and to live His life here on earth, He will supply the power we need in every circumstance so that as we work in His name, people will experience Him in the power that flows through us.
Maybe you have interpreted the text differently, but I can’t unsee it. Look at it again: Ephesians 3:20-21-Now to him who is able to do far more (exceedingly) abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Can you unsee that? Can you separate the “far more,” the “exceedingly abundantly than all we ask or think” from His desire to work through us in power? I can’t!
What if the reason the world can’t see Christ is because they aren’t encountering Him in power through us? What if a lack of obedience or a lack of willingness to rely on His power has cut off the flow of His power through His people? What if we have stopped praying bold prayers because they would require a bold surrender and bold obedience on our part? What if our ability to be conduits for the power of God on earth would require some kind of submission or sacrifice that we aren’t willing to make? What if God wants to do above and beyond what we could ask or think, but we have just become content with doing what we can imagine and what we can do instead of hungering for what God can do?
If answers to those questions lead us to the conclusion that we might be part of the problem, friends, this day should be a day of repentance.
Oh, Church, bold prayers require bold faith and bold action which involves bold surrender if the power of God is going to be accessed and released in and through our lives. Let’s not be the reasons that the “far more” the “exceedingly more” the “immeasurably more” the “abundantly more” isn’t poured out on this region. Let’s not be bottlenecks that inhibit the flow of God’s power.
Ephesians 3:20-21-Now to him who is able to do far more (exceedingly) abundantly than all that YOU ask or think, according to the power at work within YOU, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
