A Prayer for the Church: Part 1-2

Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem.

Knowledge that doesn't lead to changed living leads instead to pride and religious arrogance. In Ephesians 1 15-23, Paul prays for the church, making requests far beyond the temporal wants and needs that sometimes hold our focus in prayer. Paul asked that God would open the eyes of their hearts, that the church would gain a fuller grasp of what was already theirs in Christ, how fully we can live and thrive in light of all that God has lavished on us. May we be eager to embrace His Word, not just with our minds, but with our hearts as well.

This is the second part of Pastor Rich's sermon titled, A Prayer for the Church, preached on May 28, 2017 at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. Not only does He thank the Lord for their faith, but He also thanks the Lord for their love. Their love. Their love is a manifestation of their faith.

They are living out what the apostle John wrote in 1 John chapter 5. Everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of Him. Everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of Him. If God is my Father, and I love Him, and He is your Father, and you're born of Him, and you love God, then it only makes sense that if we share the same Father, then I share the same love with you. That's the Church.

That's who we are. And when that love is manifested, then we fulfill what Jesus prayed in the Garden. Remember, in the Garden of Gethsemane, John 17, it was the night of His betrayal, the night before Jesus was to be crucified. And He prayed to His Father, Father, I pray that they will be one in us.

A people drawing near to each other with genuine care and bold compassion, living in the outflow of the love of Christ. That's the hallmark of the Church. Did you know that? By this all will know that you are my disciples.

How? Because you go to church three times a week. Is that what it says?

No. Of course, I invite you to, but by this they will know that you are my disciples because you love one another. It's the hallmark. It's the character of Christ manifested. And so here Paul is praying.

So now let me challenge you. Let's bring this now back to a practical and applicable level, your prayer life. First of all, are you praying for the Church? What are you praying for the Church? Do you begin by giving thanks to God for the Church? Do you acknowledge, do you recognize the colossal blessing that the Church is? Do you give thanks? And I call you to this.

I encourage you to this. To give thanks to God every day for faithful examples that God has placed in your life. People whose faith you can learn from. Are you thanking God for them? Do you acknowledge these examples of faith that God has brought into your life? Thank God for them. Not only that, but also thank God for those who've loved you with care and presence. Who loved you with care and presence. Thank God for them. Do you acknowledge the people, God's people that He has placed in your life who have loved you with care and with presence?

Think about that. This is how Paul begins his prayer. I do not cease to give thanks for you because of their faith and their love for all the saints. And then he says, making mention of you in my prayers. So now he's making requests. He begins with thanks. He begins with gratitude. And then he moves on to making requests. And here's what he says in verse 17.

And, you know, this is a run on sentence. He just he's just going and going and going and going. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. That the eyes of your understanding being enlightened. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened. That you may know.

It takes so long to unpack all of this because he's just going on and on. But his request comes down to this, that God will open the eyes of your heart. That's the word in the New King James understanding, but the eyes of your heart. That God will open the eyes of your heart.

Think about that. That choice of words, the eyes of your heart. In other words, your heart is the seed of mind, will and emotion. But he doesn't want your faith just to be an emotional thing. He wants your faith to be one that is built on your understanding of God. That God will open the eyes of your heart to know him. Are you in pursuit of God? Is your faith a walk of desiring to know him? To know him more, to love him more deeply, to understand him more fully.

Apart from that, we're going to drift and it becomes a drudgery of daily routine. But Paul's prayer for the church is that God will open the eyes of your heart to know him. Pray that, would you please? For yourself, for all of us, that God will open the eyes of our hearts to know him. I like what Simon Austin said about this as he introduces into Paul's prayer here. He says, we must pray that the truths which are proclaimed and this is what we have in verses three through 14. You need to know, listen, you need to know Ephesians one, three to 14.

You need to know that. This is what's true of you. This is what's true of God. We must pray that the truths which are proclaimed do not remain as lifeless doctrine. Knowledge that does not result in changed living leads only to pride and religious arrogance. And I think you might agree with me, we see more than enough of that today, don't we?

Let's not participate in that. If you're experiencing pride and religious arrogance, it's because the truths of scripture have become lifeless doctrine. Truth, which is rightly taught and rightly heard, leads to godliness. Rightly taught, that's a huge task that has been trusted to some of us in the church. And if there is great responsibility that comes with that, James makes that clear.

And we need to take that very seriously, but rightly heard is a different matter altogether. That's your responsibility. Do you come with expectancy? Do you come before the word of God with humility? Do you come to the banquet table expecting to receive the nourishment of God's word?

For the forming and the molding and the nourishment of your soul. Truth, which is rightly taught and rightly heard, leads to godliness. Rightly heard is an active thing.

It's not a passive thing. You're not just sitting back absorbing. Rightly heard, there's active listening. Seeking God in the words that are proclaimed from his self-disclosure. How is this truth brought to bear upon my life? How will this truth mold me? How does this truth manifest the character and the purpose of God? How does this truth declare the riches of his grace? Rightly heard leads to godliness. What Paul is asking for is that God's people will have a fuller grasp of what is already theirs in Christ.

Do you know what you have? Do you know who you are in Christ? That's why he's given us his self-disclosure. And you're not going to understand the fullness of the blessing that is yours if you just read a paragraph or a verse every morning. I encourage you people, please get in the habit of reading large chunks of scripture. Read the word of God. Consume the word of God. His self-disclosure to you so that you will know what is already yours in Christ.

The word here, know, is epignosis. It means a true, accurate, thorough and full knowledge. Do you have an accurate and full grasp of all that God has for you? We often pray asking for new blessings. Lord, I need you to show yourself. Lord, I need this. Really, God, are you there?

And we ask for new blessings oblivious to every spiritual blessing that has already been lavished on us in Christ. Maybe that describes you this morning. You need to know who you are.

You need to know all that God has lavished on you. It's kind of like many of us, most of us probably, have smartphones. It's amazing what that smartphone can do, isn't it?

It's amazing. You know, and if I gave you a smartphone or let's say you gave me a smartphone and I just, oh wow, it's a phone. So I bring it up and all I do with it is just call people.

That's all I do. I have no idea that this phone can do anything else. I have no idea that Google is out there. That this can be a GPS and it can help me find my location, my destination where I'm going to. That it has all this information on there, that all these people that I can connect with on this smartphone. I have no idea that it can do all that.

So I'm just, all I do is just call people and then I'm on the road and I'm taking a trip and I've got my smartphone with me and I have no idea how that smartphone can help me. Does maybe this describe your knowledge of God? Do you know what you have in Christ? Are you still praying for new and fresh blessings oblivious to all the blessings that God has lavished on you in Christ that are yours today and now that He is leading you towards in fullness and absolute satisfaction? You've been listening to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, lead pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. Visit our church website to see upcoming events or to listen to more messages at www.gbcwinston.com. To discover how to live by grace, tune in with us on weekdays at 10 a.m.