Incomparably Great Prayer – Eph 1:Deut 16

7/31/11  “Our prayers lay the track down which Gods power can come. Like a mighty locomotive, his power is irresistible, but it cannot reach us without rails.”  Watchman Nee    

Eph 1:17-23 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit  of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Many books have been written about prayers in the Bible. The Lord’s Prayer is a popular subject to examine and take line by line to use as a basis for a time of prayer. The Prayer of Jabez was very popular for a long time as well but I love the prayers found in Ephesians 1 and 3 even more than these others. In these two prayers we find wellsprings of life, purpose and power. If we each prayed the words of the this prayer from the letter to the Ephesians 1 every day over ourselves and those we loved, we would know God better, ourselves better and we would be powerhouses of faith, spiritual warfare and in wielding the authority of God.

In this prayer we find that God anticipates our deepest desires. He instructs us that not only did Paul pray for his fellow Christians but also modeled this prayer for us, revealing His desires for us through the prayer. Have you often wished for God’s wisdom in a situation? This prayer asks God to give you wisdom AND revelation and the understanding that these two things will allow you to know God better. Have you wished you were a more hope full person, more visionary – at least in regards to knowing what God was wanting to do in your life? This prayer leads you in asking for supernatural enlightenment, a calling of hope, a rich spiritual inheritance and the incomparable power of God Himself acting in you, through you and on your behalf.

That power is “like” the working of His mighty strength exerted when He raised Christ from the dead. “Like” – meaning the power God wants to activate in your life, on your behalf and through you on the behalf of all who hang around with you is of the equivalent power to raising Christ from the dead. Is there anything you need or desire to accomplish in life that requires more miraculous power working through you and on your behalf than the power that raised Christ from the dead? I doubt it, yet this is the power God desires to work out in you. All things are being placed under your feet because Christ is your head, your leader and you are His body. The fullness of Him, all that He encompasses of power, victory, peace, love – all of it – is to come to fullness in you as you grow in Him and incorporate His power into your life. And it can start (or grow) by praying the simple prayer found in Ephesians 1:17-23.

Read Eph 1 click on http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=eph%20%201&version=NASB 

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Deut 16:2-6 Sacrifice as the Passover to the Lord your God an animal from your flock or herd at the place the Lord will choose as a dwelling for his Name. Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but for seven days eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left Egypt in haste—so that all the days of your life you may remember the time of your departure from Egypt. Let no yeast be found in your possession in all your land for seven days. Do not let any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until morning. You must not sacrifice the Passover in any town the Lord your God gives you except in the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name. There you must sacrifice the Passover in the evening, when the sun goes down, on the anniversary of your departure from Egypt.

You departed Egypt. Moses reminds the Jews of this several times here, they left in haste, in the night they left their slave masters and the site of their slavery behind. They fled from it, leaving all that was useless and hateful behind and taking with them all that was valuable and of worth for their futures. They also left the plagues and the death behind in Egypt, the sounds of mourning, the tears of despair were no longer ringing in their ears. They finished the lamb for their supper, grabbed their stuff and the bread off the hearth that had not yet risen and they fled the bitterness and shame of the life they had been living under the control of the Egyptians.

Remember. Remember the slavery only in so far as it reminds you to never allow yourself to live there again. Remember that you fled that place and God provided you safe passage away from that life. Remember that God has a place of promise for you, prepared for you, paid for already and waiting for you to move into your future and take the land. Remember that you left as slaves but you are now entering the promised land as an army. Remember that you have conquered the fortified cities and the giants that your fathers feared and that God is on your side to conquer and do battle for you in the place He is bringing you into.

Every culture has days of remembrance and most of them are to remember dates or people who brought freedom to the land. In America we remember the Revolutionary War heroes, the Civil War where freedom was proclaimed for the slaves, our veterans who fought for freedom for us and for many areas in the world. We remember Martin Luther King Jr. and his willingness to die to see people treated as equals in our land. Freedom from slavery in all its forms is a good thing to celebrate. Are you celebrating your own freedom from the slavery of sin; from the pain, bitterness or regrets of your past; from memories of foolish decisions and shameful actions? We all should celebrate, not to dwell on the past and its painful memories, but to rejoice in the freedom and new life we have been given. We have a future, a promise, hope and power. We have victories in our hand, many we have not yet imagined, and it does our hearts good to remember the victories and the rejoicing.

Read Deut 16 click on http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=dt%2016&version=NIV

Sow, Reap, Harvest: Be Incomparable – Gal 6:Deut 15

7/30/11  “It is no great thing to be humble when you are brought low; but to be humble when you are praised is a great and rare attainment.”  Bernard of Clairvaux   

Gal 6:3-9If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load. . .  Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Humility, the real thing not that false crumbly humble pie mentality that passes for humility in our society, is a character trait that shows we are becoming someone of true value to God. Our understanding of humility is so jumbled that many are confused when Paul says the person who thinks they are “all that and a bag of chips” is deceiving himself but then turns around and says that a person should take pride in himself. The difference is in the life examined and tested in accordance with God’s Word and value. The prideful, arrogant person compares themselves to others and tests themselves by the success of others and judges himself, and them, by his own standards of success – therefore deceiving himself. The person of humility judges his actions (not just good intentions) by what God has said and revealed to him and then obediently doing what he knows God desires him to do, carrying his own load.

Your “load” may be to work a manufacturing job, raise a family, teach a VBS class each summer or be a deacon at church and share with others what God has shown you whenever you have opportunity. On the other hand your “load” may be to enter into public speaking as a teacher, pastor, group leader, you may even gain a great following and write books that make people look up to you. Either way, if you are living the examined life God desires and holding yourself to His standards you should take pride in doing what God has given you to do and not be envious of others.

Don’t sow fields of sin – the sinful nature works are explained clearly in Galatians 5 – rather sow fields of righteousness and good works. Do what God puts into your hands to do with joy and trust, pursue faith and extend your trust in God to give you the power to do the miraculous and encourage all who He puts in your path. Reap a harvest of hope and trust, don’t get weary by looking at what others might be doing (or not doing). Just as Jesus told Peter that it wasn’t his business to worry about what John would harvest, it isn’t ours to look at others to compare them to us – compare yourself to Christ and His desires for you and you will be satisfied and content to do all for His glory.

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Deut 15:1-5 At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel the loan he has made to his fellow Israelite. He shall not require payment from his fellow Israelite or brother, because the Lord’s time for canceling debts has been proclaimed. You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your brother owes you. However, there should be no poor among you, for in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, if only you fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today. . . 9-11Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,” so that you do not show ill will toward your needy brother and give him nothing. He may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.

You will probably never go to an investment seminar and have the topic be Obedience and Blessing; Redemption and Forgiveness – a Healthy Investment Strategy to Gain Amazing Wealth. Let’s face facts, loaning money knowing that at the seven year mark you’ll be erasing the balance from your books isn’t good business (not the standard 7 year ARM mortgage loan here). But this was God’s plan for the Jews, loan to one another or even “buy” another Jew and you had six years to collect (or less because the actual seventh year was a set date). Then God adds the kicker, if you obey Him in this He will bless you so much that you won’t even have poor among you. In fact He will bless so much you will lend to nations and strangers and reap even greater wealth!

God’s no dummy though; He’s well acquainted with the failure of men to obey. He knows they doubt, they forget His promises, they don’t believe He will honor their obedience. He warns them about that too. He even says He knows there will always be poor to care for. Does that mean He set them up to fail? No, He just knows how easily we go our own way, forget to obey, fall prey to doubt and worry. Once again Israel gives us a great object lesson on how to live in the promise and how to miss the promise.

Many OT promises were to the Jews and don’t carry over to us but the principles do. When we obey what we know God has told us, even if it’s difficult and may cost us, He will bless us in ways we haven’t dreamed of. When we forgive debts that are owed to us we begin to enter into the grace and love of God in new ways. We begin to be able to understand His generosity to us and we begin to enter the blessings promised. We release money owed and find greater financial freedom and grace to the other person because we no longer feel the need to demand they pay us. We are blessed by the feelings of God’s power and love in our own hearts as we share that power and love with another who owes us a debt. We find it easy to be more generous because we have put the principle to the test and found God is faithful each time we put our faith and hope in His faithfulness. These are life-changing lessons to be learned and it is our responsibility to get on with entering into His glory in these areas.