This I pray...

 It was the summer of 1968 and Donald Jacobson took his son out for a baseball game. Donald, a believer, prayed on a whim, "Lord, it would sure be nice if I could get a baseball for my boy." Right after this prayer, a player hit a home run, and the ball whizzed straight to his feet. Regarding the event, he said, "Miracles are not always big. Sometimes it's the small ones that shout the loudest of God's love and care for each of us."

So - was it a miracle...? When I read the story I immediately thought, "Good for him, but it was probably just coincidence, right?" Why was I so quick to just write it off as happenstance? I mean, admittedly, prayer doesn't usually seem to yield such immediate results, AND God is not a genie who just grants our wishes - but...could that have been God's doing...?

We say we believe in the power of prayer - I say I believe in the power of prayer - but do we occasionally perhaps display a bit of a lack of faith? I'm not saying that perfectly timed baseball was or wasn't miraculous - but do we believe that God can and still does answer prayers in miraculous ways? Do we believe in the power of prayer? - And more importantly - the power of God behind those prayers?

In the main passage I want us to look at this morning, we find the Apostle Paul sending encouragement to the believers in the city of Ephesus by letting them know that he had not stopped praying for them. He explained that they were chosen by God, and then he writes...

Ephesians 1:15-19a (NIV)

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, (16) I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. (17) 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.

(18) 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, (19) and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

One thing we can see very plainly is that…

I. Paul prayed

Paul was absolutely committed to prayer - to speaking with God. Paul relied on God daily for his wisdom and strength. Are we committed to prayer? Do you regularly pray for the church? Do you pray for others within the congregation - not just for physical things or even healing, but for spiritual growth?

When you attend a worship service, do you spend any time praying for those who are serving, or leading or maybe even preaching? Before you attend a worship service, do you pray that God's Spirit would guide you in worship? Or - do you just attend and hope that this will be a good experience? That's something to think about...

Do you pray about the various ministries of our congregation? Do you pray for our church leaders and those who head up various ministries - that God will use them and us and that our ministries will be Spirit-led? Do you pray about our church finances? Do you seek the Lord's blessing in your own giving?

I know that's a lot - And I'm not piling on to guilt you into praying. But - are we planning to do all these things on our own - without God's blessing and power backing us up? Paul was committed to prayer because he knew…

A. Prayer is powerful

All of these people and areas I mentioned are always in need of prayer! If we don't bathe these things in prayer, then we can't really expect God's blessing on them. Without prayer, it's only us and our own resources. Prayer is essential in making the Church an instrument in the hands of God!

- Can you follow Jesus without prayer? Some try to get by with a minimal amount - or maybe they get busy and forget. Christians pray. One preacher said, "To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing."

We all may need occasional reminders to pray daily - but prayer flows most freely from a grateful heart. When you understand how much God has done for us and you are continually grateful for His blessings - prayer is the most natural response. The Apostle Paul was a man of prayer, and the prayer of Paul's letter was motivated by seeing faith lived out in the lives of other Christians. Notice again what he says in Ephesians 1:15-16 (NIV)...

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, (16) I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.

Prayer that flows out of a deep sense of gratitude is powerful! If we are thankful for the Church, the body of Christ, of which we have been made a part through the sacrifice of Christ, then we ought to pray for the Church! And let's look again at the second part of Paul's prayer...

Ephesians 1:17-18 (NIV)

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. (18) 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,

First, he prayed for "The Spirit of wisdom and revelation" and also "that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened." Notice that Paul prayed here for spiritual things. I'm not suggesting we shouldn't ever pray for material things or things we might consider small or 'unspiritual'. I said just last week that nothing is really 'big' to God. God wants to have open communication and does care about even 'the small things'. God wants to be a part of your everyday - the big, the small - the exciting and the mundane. He wants your focus on Him in everything - but do we focus more on the spiritual or the worldly concerns?

It seems like God gave that baseball to that guy who prayed for it -

why can't God give me a winning lottery ticket? That would be great, but would winning the lottery really benefit me eternally...? Again, it's not that we can't ask God for things like that - but where's our focus? If our prayers are only about us and what we want - is that a prayer or a wish? Am I continually seeking God's will and His priorities or am I only focused on God serving me and my desires?

Paul prayed for his brothers and sisters in Christ - "so that they would know God better" and that "they may know the hope to which He has called them". Paul's prayer was not for things, but for wisdom and spiritual enlightenment for others - blessings that last beyond material things!

When we remember to focus more on spiritual things in our prayers…

B. Prayer changes lives

As we go through our day to day lives – we sometimes forget that we have access to the exact same power that completely transformed a man named Saul. He was a man who persecuted the Church, but God changed him into the Apostle Paul – one of the most influential believers ever! We serve the same God! - So there's still hope for me...

And we can also forget who we were before Jesus! Some of us have had a bigger transformation than others – but thank God we've been changed! If you've been a part of the Church for a while – you can look back, you have seen young people and adults who came out of backgrounds and situations that were in - let's say 'extreme opposition' to the teachings of God's Word. We've seen the way that their "eyes of understanding" have been enlightened. We've seen people come to a knowledge of God's Word as they re-evaluated their lifestyle when convicted by God's Spirit, bringing about amazing change!

We all need to pray for the Church, for our brothers and sisters in Christ that we would become more aware of God's presence and leading in our lives. In verse 19 of that first passage again, Paul adds this thought…

Ephesians 1:19 (NIV)

and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

When we focus on spiritual things, when we demonstrate faith - prayer is powerful! We see that Paul prayed passionately for spiritual things. What if we made it a priority to do the same? And here's something to think about…

II. What if God answered?

Do we pray expecting an answer...? Or is it, we pray because that's what we're supposed to do – but would we actually be surprised if God answered in a miraculous way? "Well of course God didn't miraculously give that man a baseball, it was just coincidence – prayer doesn't work like that…" If you don't expect an answer - if you don't have faith that God is able to answer in a powerful way - why pray...?

I want us to look at a second passage in Ephesians, which is also a prayer of Paul's for the church. We read this passage just last week, but there's so much jammed in there that I wanted to read it again...

Ephesians 3:14-21 (NIV)

For this reason I kneel before the Father, (15) from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. (16) I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, (17) so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, (18) may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,

(19) and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (20) Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, (21) to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Can you imagine what our congregation might look like if God were to answer that prayer for us? And the reality is - God is ready and willing to do that right now if we are willing to respond to Him.

- There are all sorts of common characteristics you'll find if you look at growing Churches. But the spiritual growth of any church doesn't come from great programs, huge buildings or even brilliant preaching. It comes as a result of individual believers spending time with God in prayer! Programs and classes and studies are great – but without prayer they're just 'busy work'! It is vital that we understand…

A. God wants to bless us!

It's easy to continue on with things that have become habit and simply go from week to week doing the same things - and maybe even doing them so well that we don't even have to think about it much. We can become so caught up in our own comfort zone that we don't seriously seek God's guidance or blessing on our actions or our plans.

Paul's prayer is that we would be strengthened by the Spirit, live by faith, rooted in love, that we would grab hold of God's power and actively pursue what God wants to do in our lives! That's not about us doing our thing - but rather it's about God's presence, power and purpose in us!

When that happens - God will "do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine" as His power (not ours) works within us. Then He will receive the glory of the Church at work in this world. Shouldn't that be our prayer for the Church? Shouldn't that be our desire for the Body of Christ?

God wants to answer our prayers; God wants to bless His Church, but sometimes…

B. We get in the way

Sometimes we get in the way by not doing what God has asked us to do. He asks us to step out in faith, but frequently we hesitate – putting our trust in our power instead of His. And sometimes we ignore His commands but still expect Him to bless us. We don't follow the truths that He has revealed in His word and then wonder why life is so frustrating. God wants to bless us, but He also wants us to obey.

We can also get in the way of God's blessings by allowing ourselves to be distracted from our mission. Sometimes, as the Church, we get a bit short sighted and we argue over little things. "I'm not going to be involved in 'such and such' ministry because 'so and so' hurt my feelings." "I don't like the way 'so and so' did that project or ministry – what they should have done was…" "I didn't like the songs we sang today."

One speaker at a Church leadership conference made the comparison that many times we're just like a bunch of ducks - "quack, quack, quack"! We make a lot of noise but we don't really accomplish much. I don't want to be a duck! - But I'm afraid sometimes that comparison can be true about me...

If we would get excited about the things for which Paul prayed rather than the piddly little things that we squabble over and quack about - then the church would be a vibrant, active agent of change in our community! We would be seen and known as a people of faith!

So What?

- Back to the story at the beginning of Donald Jacobson praying for the baseball... Again, not saying it was or it wasn't a miracle...only God knows. But, if I don't believe that God has the power to do that simple miracle - I probably won't believe that God has the power to miraculous things in my life.

For many, church is something they attend to check a box and fulfill a religious obligation - and when it's over they're then free to get involved in things that are much more exciting. Maybe that's been the case with you. You're here and that's about it.

It doesn't have to be that way. God wants to make your relationship with His church The most engaging part of your life. He wants to show you, once you have the proper perspective - His perspective, everything else in your life will finally fit and make sense. You'll never be fully satisfied with your life if you don't seek God's purpose for your life.

Knowing some of you as I do – there are probably quite a few here who do a better job than I do in making prayer a priority. I want to encourage you to keep it up! Deep River needs the support and wisdom from God that comes when you pray! And for those whose prayer life has taken a back seat to others things – let's change that. I want to persuade you to recommit to God, to deliberately increase the time spent in and the focus of your prayers.

Here's the challenge – do what Paul did. This week - pray for somebody in the Church - and then tell them you prayed! Send them a text, or an email, or a phone call, or through Facebook messenger, or a letter - but pray for spiritual things for them, and then let them know you prayed for them! Look around and think of a name a write it down and pray this week!

You need to discover the power that God wants to demonstrate through your life. If every one of us were to catch God's vision for us and His church He will do more than we can ask or imagine!