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