Ephesians 1:16
16 Cease [pauo] not [ou] to give thanks [eucharisteo]
for [huper] you, [humon] making [poieo] mention [mneia] of you [humon] in [epi] my [mou] prayers; [proseuche] KJV-Interlinear
16 do
not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; NASB
Prayer is one of, if not,
the most powerful tool you can possess.
Its power comes not in the words used, but in the power of the doctrine
that stands behind the words.
You and I are nothing
more than a pile of dust, with life imputed into that dust. Alone we are nothing more than useless and
powerless.
And into that essence of
nothingness, God places doctrine. And therein
is the real power placed at our disposal.
However, with all freedoms and privileges comes responsibility and
obligation. Abuse or disregard your
responsibilities, and you lose the privileges.
Prayer becomes effective
only as a result of the doctrine or power behind that prayer. And that doctrine must first be learned and
understood, and assimilated into something useful, before it can be applied.
Without the proper use
and application of prayer, it will be no more useful than talking to the wind.
First, all prayer belongs
to believers only. One must be inside of
the family of God, before you can speak with God. No unbeliever has access to the power of
prayer, with one exception, and that exception is when they believe in
Christ. That belief is in effect a
prayer to God for salvation, which is automatically granted when a person
believes in Christ.
After salvation, the door
for more effective prayer is blown wide open.
Second, all prayer must
be offered to God while in fellowship.
Confession of sin is a form of prayer as well, which gets you back into
fellowship when you have sinned and have been out of fellowship as a result of
that sin. Confession is granted
automatically as well.
After that, all prayer
becomes potential. God may or may not
grant your request. God does grant all
requests that will contribute to your spiritual growth. Confession is one of those types of prayer.
Third, all prayer must be
offered to God the Father. No prayer is ever offered to people, ancestors,
angels, planets, fish, rocks, idols of any sort, and so forth. Those folks or things do not have the power
to grant much less hear your prayers.
Fourth, all prayer must
be submitted to the Father in the name of Jesus Christ. Christ is the only means of access to the
Father. No one can approach the Father
except that they approach through Christ. That is His plan and mandate, and will. Anything else means that you reject His plan,
and authority and process, thus insulting Him and promoting your own arrogance,
in presuming that you can do things your way and not Gods way.
Fifth, all prayer must be
in conformity with Gods planned ages for history. You cannot go against the overall plan of God
for history.
Sixth, all prayer must be
in conformance with Gods plan for your specific life. Even though you may not become the next
president or lottery winner, there are certainly things that you can accomplish
in your life, namely through an education and/or effort of some sort.
But most importantly in
your life, Gods will is that you advance to spiritual maturity, and that option
too is granted, when you comply with Gods process for spiritual growth. And that process is clearly spelled out in
the scriptures, namely through daily study, learning, understanding,
application and so forth. Comply with
these mandates and your growth to maturity will succeed.
Beyond the obvious, God will
hear prayers for needs and desires to a certain degree, but realize too that
you cannot interfere with Gods plan for other people. Prayer for their help is legitimate, but a
great deal of their benefit is determined by their attitude toward God and
doctrine.
God has an overall plan
for history. All of mans desires and
efforts cannot change that plan. God has
a plan for your life, unfortunately your attitude can derail that plan if you
are indifferent or simply non-compliant.
In the next few verses, Paul
spells out the details of his prayer.
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