A Man of Prayer Pastor Dan Korzep This morning we will study Paul's letter to the Ephesians - chapter 3:14.

When the men met for prayer, we were coming out, we heard the cry of a child, and we all looked at each other and said, "That's a nice sound." If someone doesn't like the sound on the tape, it's just too bad for them. We like the sound. Ephesians 3:14 (ESV)For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Let's pray. Father, what a joy it is this morning to come before you and to study your word. Give us understanding, Father. Open our hearts. Let us see fresh, new insights of your truth this morning. But not just see fresh, new insights, but use your truth to transform us because, once again, we want to be like Jesus, and we thank you for that. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. When I was in college I had a friend named Gene. We lived in the same house off campus. Gene was a pre-seminary student and he was a man of prayer. One day he had a financial problem, and he spent the whole night in prayer. The next day - no surprise to us - God answered his prayer. Well, Gene's bishop in the Methodist church offered him a summer internship. Gene became the pastor of a small, country Methodist church. About 20 people. Just right for a man to try his wings. Well, one day the bishop came to kind of observe Gene in action, and Gene got up to give the pastoral prayer. He lost track of time. He literally prayed before the congregation for 30 minutes. The bishop timed it, actually. [laughs] But that's Gene. He got so excited about being in the presence of the Lord that he forgot about time. I don't think anybody else minded but the bishop. In Ephesians chapter 3 verse 14 we see that Paul was a man of prayer. In this passage Paul takes time to pray for the Ephesians. Let's read together how he begins his prayer for the Ephesians: "For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being." Now this is Paul's second prayer. And if you remember from our studies from the past several months, the first prayer is back in chapter one verse 18. And remember Paul praying that they might have their eyes enlightened, so that they might know the hope of their calling, that they might know the riches of their inheritance, and that they might know the power of Christ in them. And then in Ephesians chapter 6, verses 10-20, Paul reminds the Ephesians that they're involved in spiritual battle, and Paul tells them in verse 18 that they are to enter this battle how? With constant prayer. And then in verse 19, Paul asked the Ephesians to pray for him. He asked them to pray that he would make the gospel clear, and preach in the power of the Spirit. Paul was a man of prayer. But I wish you would notice this phrase at the beginning of verse 14: For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father. Now this phrase for this reason takes us back to verse 7. And then in verse 7 Paul declared that he was a minister of the gospel. Now this is what Paul wants to communicate to us in verse 14, with verse 7 as the background: Paul wants you to understand that he is a minister of the gospel. And as a minister of the gospel, hes praying for the Ephesians. He prays that they might be strengthened. He prays. He bows before the Lord God in prayer for them. Now I think we all agree it would be a terrible thing, a terrible thing, for a pastor not to pray for the people under his care. I think wed all agree that it would be a terrible thing for a Christian parent not to pray for their children. And I think wed all agree it would be a terrible thing, a terrible thing for a Christian manager not to pray for their employees. Because we are to be people of prayer. But this is how God wants to change your life this morning. God wants you to be a man or a woman of prayer. Now prayer is Gods ordained means by which he changes things in this sinful world. And to me this is an exciting truth. God will use your prayers to make a difference in the people around you. He will use your prayers to make a difference in the people around you. Well, throughout the Bible we see Gods people were people of prayer. In 1 Samuel chapter 7 verse 5 we see that Samuel prayed for the people of Israel. He prayed that they would repent of their sins and return to the Lord. And in John 17:17 Jesus prayed that God would sanctify his disciples with the truth of Gods word. This morning were to look at how Paul prayed for the Ephesians, and then you will know how to be a man or woman of prayer, for if youre in Christ Jesus you want to be a person of prayer for His glory and His honor. How then did Paul pray for the Ephesians? There are two things I want you to observe in this passage. First, Paul prayed for the Ephesians with an attitude of humility. An attitude of humility. Now I want to share with you an important principle. Now this is the principle. Your posture often reveals your attitude. Did you catch what I said? Your posture

often not always, but often reveals your attitude. If you are a parent this morning, and youre sitting up straight in your chair listening to the teaching of Gods word, youre communicating to your children what? That the teaching of Gods word is important to you. Notice Pauls posture in verse 14. Paul kneels before God in prayer. Paul kneels before God with humility. For he knows that Lord God is a God almighty and his response to God is one of humility. Lets read together again in verse 14: For this reason I bow my knees before the Father. I get the idea in the text that Paul is speaking literally. Hes literally bowing on his knees. He is literally calling out to God for the Ephesians on his knees. Now we need to be careful were not saying that kneeling is the only posture for prayer. Were not saying that at all. In fact, the Jewish custom was actually to stand for prayer. But people in the Bible did kneel. In fact, there are 12 examples in the Bible of Gods people kneeling before God. And when Gods people kneel in prayer it shows a deep earnestness before God. Now, at this point some might say, Ok, Dan. But Hebrews 4:16 tells us we are to boldly enter Gods presence and make our requests known to him, right? Thats true. But theres only one reason why you can boldly enter into Gods presence for prayer. If you are in Christ Jesus you are then clothed in the righteousness of Jesus. And so with our boldness we come into his presence with a sense of humility, knowing that he is the Lord God Almighty, knowing that he is holy, righteous, and pure. And we bow before him, and declare that he is God, the one who can answer our prayers. Now Ill never forget my older sisters wedding. I was one of the ushers, and I was given the job of making sure Granddaddy Tessaseeka [sp] got in the right chair. I also like to tease that my sister didnt do very good she changed her name in marriage from Korzep to Tessaseeka. [laughs] Not much of a good change there, right? Well, when Granddaddy Tessaseeka came to the back of the church, I went then to usher him up to the front, and he was resistant. And in his broken Italian English I did not really understand what he was saying. I could hear him say Not yet, not yet. And I didnt know what to do, because I had to get him up there. [laughs] It was time to start. He walked to the back pew. He was in his late 70s. He struggled into the pew, went halfway down so no one could see him, dropped on his knees, and prayed. And every once in a while I could see his lips moving in prayer before God. He finally got up, struggled out of the pew, walked up and said, Now Im ready. Granddaddy Tessaseeka could not begin even a worship service without prayer. He could not even begin a wedding sermon, which by the way is a worship service, without prayer. He was so committed to prayer that he dropped to his knees, to the Lord God Almighty. Wow. I will never forget that. Let me raise this question to you this morning. What is your attitude when you enter God's presence for prayer? A prideful person sees himself as equal with God - "Hey dude, what's happening?" But if you're in Christ Jesus there's that sense of humility. You know that you have received a gift of salvation. You know you've done nothing to earn your salvation. And so you drop on your knees in humility for the Lord God Almighty. Now the Bible does not lay down rules about our posture when we pray. Yes, you can pray standing, sitting, walking, and even lying down. But there are times when we need to get home with God, when we need to get down to business with him, and drop on our knees and say, "God, we need your help." I like what Sinclair Ferguson stated about Paul's posture for prayer. "His kneeling is not a formal religious habit, but a deep instinct of someone who senses that the only appropriate position before a great God is to lower oneself before him in adoration and awe." Second, Paul prayed for the Ephesians with an attitude of confidence. First humility about himself, second confidence in the Lord. Now imagine for a moment that you are being raised in a rich home. You have access to the best education, the best clothes, the best vacations. You know that all your needs will be met because - why? Your father's rich. But if you're in Christ Jesus you have a greater privilege than even someone raised in a rich home, because if you're in Christ Jesus you can call the God of the universe your Father. Wow. If God is your Father, you can pray with confidence, for you know your Father will provide whats best for you. Listen carefully how Paul prays to God with confidence in verse 14: For this reason I bow my knees before the Father. Paul knew that God was his Father, and since God was his Father he could pray with confidence. Now lets go to something unusual in verse 15. Notice this phrase in verse 15, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. Now lets read again verses 14 and 15 together, and as we read those two verses together let me read for you the NIV. I believe the NIV will really clear this up, what Pauls communicating here. For this reason I bow my knee before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. Now let me suggest to you that Paul is not talking about all people, believers and unbelievers. By the family he is talking about the various groups in Gods family. Gentiles, Jews, those who have gone before us in heaven, and those who are still on the Earth. Only those who are in Christ Jesus can call God their Father.

Now listen carefully. Just as a father who adopts children gives his adopted children his last name, so the Lord God Almighty has made us part of his spiritual family, and you call him Father because you are part of a spiritual family. You are sons and daughters of the living God and you have all the resources of the Father available to you. In Toy Story 1, perhaps you remember Woody confronts Buzz Lightyear. And you remember he says to Buzz, "You're just a toy. You're not a space hero. You're an action figure!" Buzz refuses to listen until he tries to fly, and when he falls flat on the ground he begins to accept Woody's words. Woody then tries to pump Buzz back up, and then Woody says this to Buzz: "I think you're thinking wrongly. There's a kid who thinks you're the greatest back in that house. It's not because you're a space ranger or a space hero. It's because you belong to him." Buzz then lifts up his foot, and sees on the bottom of his foot in permanent black ink the name of the person who owns him - the name ANDY. And Buzz walks away with a big smile upon his face because he knows he belongs to someone special, and someone who thinks he's special. If you belong to Christ Jesus, you belong to the Lord. It is as if God has taken his permanent black ink and he's written his name across your life. And since you belong to him, you can call him Father. And as a Father you can enter his presence at any time and make your needs known to him, and you do that with confidence. Perhaps you're a true believer, but if you were honest you would confess this morning that you really have trouble with the idea that God is your Father. You have trouble really believing that he really loves you. You have trouble believing that he really cares about you. Let me encourage you to look at the cross. Remember the words in Romans 5:8 that Christ demonstrated his love for us when we were yet sinners, and he did that on the cross. You see, for you to call God Father, it cost God something to make you part of his family. It cost God the death of his Son. Now think about it for a moment the Lord God Almighty gave up his Son to sacrifice so that we would be redeemed and be part of his family and call him Father. What a wonderful, wonderful thing. Jesus therefore says this in Matthew 7:9-11: Which one of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then who are evil know how to give good things, to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask. I always love to tell the story about my nephew Mark. Mark said to his mother one day that he wanted to get a dog. And my sister then responded to Mark by saying, Mark, you know your fathers a pastor. We dont have much money. We cant afford to buy you a dog. Now, Ill tell you what you do, Mark. You pray about it and well see what God does. And my sister thought she was off the hook. Mark prayed. A few weeks later someone called. They said, I have a dog for Mark. Whoops! But the interesting thing was it was exactly the type of dog Mark asked God for it was a dachshund. Now Im not trying to say every time you pray for a dog youre going to get one. [laughs] But I am saying this theres a Father who cares. He really, really, really loves you. And he has demonstrated that love for you on the cross. And therefore you can trust him this morning. So Paul enters into Gods presence for prayer for the Ephesians. He prays as a minister for his congregation thousands of miles away while hes in prison. And he prays with humility humility about himself. And he prays with confidence confidence in God. I assure you that He will answer your prayers according to His wishes and glory. He is not a stingy God. He is a generous God. And so I invite you this morning to place all your trust in Him. And perhaps this morning, if youre honest, and do not know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and youre not part of that spiritual family, this would be a great day to become part of that family by going to Him in prayer, confessing your sins, asking him to forgive you, and making him your Lord and Savior. But he is a generous God who gives good things to his people, and therefore he is worthy of our trust. Lets pray. Father God, what a joy it is that we can call you Father. Thank you that you change our hearts from being rebels to being sons and daughters. And thank you that you do not treat us as our sins deserve. Thank you that youre trustworthy and sure, and thank you that we can trust you to keep your promises. And thank you, God, that you will always do whats best for your people. In Christs name we pray. Amen.