Don’t Pray for Power – Pray with Power
How often have you found yourself praying for power – the power to overcome this hurdle or that obstacle or this one particular sin that just won’t go away?!
Dear Lord give me the power to overcome …. whatever it is. One of the more common prayers I would have thought. God … God I just need the power!
So we believe in Jesus, but we don’t believe we have the power that we need to do what He wants us to do; to overcome the things that He wants us to overcome. Is that it?
What if I told you that if you believe in Jesus, you already have the power?
Hard to believe? Then feed on this for a bit. It’s Paul the Apostle writing to his friends in Ephesus back in the 1st century.
I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.
God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. (Ephesians 1:17-21)
So here’s Paul praying that we would know, amongst other things, the immeasurable greatness of God’s power for us who believe (transliterating the original Greek words – the hyperbalistic, megathonic, dynamic power – ya think the old Paul is trying to get a point across here?!) … in fact the very same power that raised Jesus from the dead and gave Him dominion over everyone and everything else in all creation!
According to Paul, we already have a power that’s completely beyond our comprehension … the power for a new life in Christ.
And Paul’s saying the Ephesians and to us – get a revelation! As you grow in the depth of your relationship with God, as He opens your eyes, I pray that you would come to realise how great this power truly is, this power that God has already given to you!
So maybe … just maybe, instead of praying for power, we should be praying with power.
Ya think?