The first request Paul made was for the strengthening of the inner man. This is a prayer for the spiritual health of the Ephesian believers. Paul asked God to strengthen them according to His riches in grace. To give according to means to give based on what you have.

A millionaire who gives according to his income would give millions, while a billionaire would give billions, and a normal person, like us, would give less. But to give according is to give based off of what you have. The more you have, the more you give.

So when Paul prayed that God would strengthen the believer’s inner man according to His riches, he really was making a huge request. We already know, from Eph 3:8 that the riches of Christ are so great, that they are unsearchable! There’s no end to them. And Paul wants the believers to be this strong!

The next request comes as a result of the strengthening of the inner man, that Christ would dwell in their hearts. Now, this is not talking about salvation, because Christ already dwells in every believer, but rather about Christ’s rule and reign in their hearts.

Christ makes His home in the heart of every believer, but not every home is a clean or comfortable one. And he is our master if we’re saved, but not every servant is obedient! Paul prayed here for Christ to have rule over the Ephesian’s lives, so that they would be rooted and grounded in love. The more a tree grows, the deeper, and stronger its roots need to be. The more we let Christ dwell and rule in our hearts, the deeper and stronger we will be rooted and grounded in love!

The rooting and grounding in love would then, as Paul prayed, lead to the believers comprehending  and knowing the love of God and of Christ. But the astounding thing about this is that the love he speaks of passes our human understanding! He prayed for them to know the love of Christ which passeth all understanding! Amazing!

And we cannot understand all of God’s love for us, but we can, for sure, know what the Bible says about it! Verses such as Romans 8:35-39, Titus 3:4-5 and 1 John 3:16 are all pictures of Christ’s love for us. Paul prayed that they would know this love.

Finally, he prayed that they would be filled with the fullness of God, This means that, as a basket is filled with something, or a cup is filled with a drink, the believers would be filled with God’s love, and be totally full of Him! Col 2:9-10 tells us that we are complete in Him, and Paul is praying for the Ephesians to be full of that completeness, and living out, fully, the new creature Christ made them, according to 2 Corinthians 5:17.

So, Paul prayed that as the Ephesian’s inner man would be strengthened, Christ would dwell (rule) in their hearts and ground them in love, and as they came to know and comprehend this love, they would be filled with it, being complete in Christ! What an amazing prayer!

It’s amazing how he prayed for their spiritual needs more than anything. His total focus of this prayer was the spiritual maturity of the believers. This is how we ought to pray. Not that it is sin to pray for sick and dying folks, or for our needs (scripture tells us to do so) but this is the core of Christian maturity: growing in grace, knowing Christ, and showing His love in us.

Paul prayed for the believer’s spiritual maturity, but do we? Do we use God as a way to meet our physical needs, or do we look to Him to grow us spiritually as well? We should. He is not just our physical provider; He is, more importantly, our source of spiritual growth. Let’s pray more like Paul did!

The first thing we cal learn from this passage is the reason Paul prayed. Look at verse 14  ”For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…” He explicitly says there was a reason he was praying. And not just praying, but he made specific mention that he “bow(ed) the knee” 

Bowing the knee may not seem like a big deal to us, but in the Bible, we can clearly see that it is a significant thing.  In Matthew 27:29, the Roman soldiers mocked Jesus for being king of the Jews by kneeling to Him. In Daniel 6:10, Daniel kneeled in prayer during a very serious and emotional time. To bow the knee to someone is to show your submission to their sovereignty and authority. So when Paul bows to the Father, he submits to Him, and is trusting totally in God to answer this prayer.

The basis for the prayer can be found in Ephesians 3:6, where Paul writes, “That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel…”  This is the church! Because the Gentiles and Jews are coming together, and making this new, never before seen thing called a church.

See, the church was called a mystery (Eph 3:3) because it had never been seen before. In the Old Testament, the Lord was working with the nation of Israel, not the church. No one even had any idea that a thing called a church was coming. The Jews knew they were God’s chosen nation, which is fine. But it seems like they, even in the New Testament, were very hesitant (at first) to go to the Gentiles.

In Acts 10,  when Cornelius is coming on the scene and getting ready to get saved, God has to pretty much kick Peter in his rear to get him to talk to Cornelius. And once Cornelius does get saved, Peter seems to have the opinion of “Hey guys, God was moving. What was I supposed to do?” (Acts 10:9-16 & Acts 11:1-18) And while they eventually glorified God for this, it took a while to adjust all the way to it.

Even in Galatians 2:11-14, Paul again has to rebuke Peter and some other Jews, because they’re having an outbreak of racism against the gentiles! But after thousands of years of God working through Israel, and only Israel, it would be a hard transition to the gentiles and Jews getting on the scene equally, together. I’m not trying to make Peter look bad, because he’s an apostle, he wrote part of the Bible and he did greater things than I ever will. I’m just saying that it was a hard concept to adjust to: Gentiles equal in God’s plan with the Jews. This would be an extremely hard adjustment for any Jewish believer in that day!

No human or angel (cf. 3:10) would ever think that Jews and Gentiles could function together in one body. But with God’s power of love in each believer’s life, Paul was confident that Jewish and Gentile believers can function and love one another. This again shows us that Paul was trusting his prayers to God. He knew the church needed to be  unified, something that would be difficult. But he also knew that God was able to answer this prayer. He bowed to God, trusting his prayer to Him, knowing that He would answer it, even if it was a large task!

Paul prayed because of the church. Paul prayed because he was submitted to God. This is why (in this passage at least) he prayed. But what about us. Do we pray? Do we see the importance of the church, and pray for it? Do we trust God to answer prayers, and submit ourselves to Him?

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Does your devotional walk every become routine? Mechanical? Do you ever find yourself going through the motions, but rushing and not really enjoying personal fellowship with the Lord?

Each of us is responsible for developing our personal walk with God, and in doing so, I challenge you to keep it personal (be transparent before Him, He already knows you), keep it consistent (daily or close to it), and keep it fresh (do whatever you must do to keep from losing interest or falling into a boring routine.)

Along with those three suggestions, here is a quick list of 20 ideas that might help you break out of the mechanical and develop your walk with God in a new way:

1. Read the Bible in Places Where You Can Understand It—don’t be afraid to read another passage if you’re getting bogged down in a complex portion of the Bible.

2. Read Good Books about the Bible or Biblical Truths—lose yourself in a good book that contains a lot of scripture.

3. Use a Bible Software or Study Tools to Help You Understand—things like Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary of the Bible is free online. Take advantage of the insight of others.

4. Read the Bible from a Big Picture Perspective—read a whole book or lengthy passage, rather than just a short chapter.

5. Ask God to Teach You Something that You Need—expect Him to answer this prayer and speak to you.

6. Make a Record of the Things that God is Teaching You (Journal)—whether by hand or on computer, write down what God is teaching you.

7. Tell Someone Else Something that God Taught You (Godly Friends)—what a great use of social networking and a great conversation starter with a friend.

8. Talk to God Openly and Take Time to Listen to Him—don’t be afraid to sit quietly before the Lord and listen.

9. Literally Take a Walk with God and Talk to Him—walking will keep you awake and engaged.

10. Make a List of Prayer Requests and Record When They Are Answered—there’s something very special about looking back on all those answers.

11. Listen to Godly Music and Think about the Message—great Christian music will take your heart to a very special place with God.

12. Listen to Preaching or Teaching from Past Events—what a great use for an iPod.

13. Read Biographies of Great Christians—discover how others developed their lives for the Lord.

14. Spend Time with God in Places You Like—the beach? A park? If you enjoy being there, He will enjoy being there with you!

15. Include God on Other Activities of Life—God is with you all day, so He doesn’t mind if you talk to Him while you eat, fold laundry, exercise, or mow the lawn.

16. Give God the Time You Give to Some Other Form of Media—He’s vastly more enjoyable than Facebook, TV, cell phone, and video games all combined!

17. Give God Quiet, Uninterrupted, Unrushed Time—find moments when you aren’t in a hurry and give those to God.

18. Plan Specific Times to Spend More Time with God—have you ever set aside a larger chunk of time just for the Lord? Try a few hours or a half a day some time.

19. Write Out Scripture or Prayers/Letters to God—what a great way to place God’s Word into your heart and to record your walk with Him.

20. Don’t Quit if You Miss a Day—if you missed yesterday, that’s ok… God is still waiting to spend time with you today.

In verse 18, a great multitude has surrounded Jesus, no doubt a result of His recent miraculous healings, and some of them even feel up to trying to follow Him. One scribe wants to follow Him, but Jesus lets him know he doesn’t have a place to lay His head. We never hear of the scribe after that.  Another unnamed disciple wants to bury his dead father before following Jesus. He’s told to let the dead bury the dead, and instead follow Jesus. Harsh.

These people have, no doubt, seen all the great things Jesus has done, and are interested in seeing more. The leper, the servant and the mother in law all drew a great crowd, but being forced to sacrifice and commit to Jesus caused them all to leave.

In verse 23, the only people that followed Jesus were His disciple. Of all the multitude, only His disciples got onto the boat. Throngs of people swarmed Jesus looking to see a miracle, to see the next healing, to see the next blessing, but only the disciples got onto the boat.

Some wanted to have their needs met, to see miracles and healings, but some, a small band of men who would change the world, got onto a boat, faced great danger, and still saw amazing things! Only the men on the boat got to see Jesus calm the storm.

And this has really made me look at my own life, and my relationship and service to Jesus. I wonder in what ways I use Jesus to meet my desires and needs, instead of following Him wholeheartedly. Do I use Him to keep me out of legal troubles, and from hanging with the wrong crowd? Is He nothing more than a moral guide to me, showing me right and wrong with no other impact on me? Is He just some unseen name that I arbitrarily pray to, but have no real relationship with?

Or is He the Son of God who is everything to me? Is He who I love above all else, even if it means following Him into a typhoon and deadly seas? Is it worth following Him into financial peril? Placing my family and future into His hands, with no sure outcome or promise of what will happen?

Thousands of men and women gathered to leech off of Jesus, hoping to receive a welfare check of sorts in the form of a healing or miracle. Only a few were willing to follow Him into a stormy sea, unsure of the future.

What about you? What about your life?  Are you looking for a welfare check from Jesus, or do you truly want Him, and would do anything to follow Him with your life.

In verses 1 to 8, Jesus exhorts the listeners not to focus on man, but to focus on God, even if it means doing in in a closet where no one else can see you.

In verses 9 to 13/14 we have the Lord’s prayer, which begins by basically saying “God in heaven, I want your desires and what you want to happen on earth to come true.” The whole prayer can be summed up by saying “you’re God, I need you, please do what you want to do.” It’s all about God and His greatness. Even in asking for our needs to be met in the prayer (bread, deliverance etc…) we’re still admitting God is the provider of those things, not us.

Verses 19-23 all focus on doing good, and laying up heavenly treasure and not earthly treasure. The focus here is not on this life, but the one to come.

Verses 24-34 start with “No man can serve two masters,” and ends with “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. ” In between those two verses, Jesus tells the hearers they can’t serve two masters, that they shouldn’t worry about the things they are going to eat and drink, and in short, not to take too much thought for their own lives.

And throughout this entire chapter, Jesus is telling us to shift the focus from things on earth (other people, material gain, money, food and drink, clothing, and our own life, to things eternal and to the Lord.

And looking at the context of this entire chapter, verse 24 seems much ore potent than before:

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Looking at the context of this chapter, there’s a lot of things, besides mammon, that we can’t serve if we want to serve God. Money, other people, our own basic needs and our own life. 

Yeah, that’s a call for a serious commitment. But this isn’t really a surprise to us… or it shouldn’t be. When Jesus told us If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. (Luke 9:23-24) I really think he meant it.  

I think if we’re going to seek God’s kingdom first, it means not seeking other people, not seeking material gain, and not seeking our own lives and wellbeing. There’s no way to seek God’s kingdom and our own. We either seek His, or seek ours. We either serve Him, or serve ourselves. The choice is up to you. Who’s your master?

God lays out some pretty basic things for us here

1. Speak the truth
2. Execute (judge or carry out) truth
3. Don’t imagine evil in your heart
4. Don’t love false oaths

That’s about as simple as it can get, right there. God even says He hates evil in our hearts and false oaths. Ouch!  So when we think evil thoughts against our neighbors, whether it be jealousy, or envy, God hates that action. And when we ask God to get us out of a tight situation, and vow some ridiculous vow we know we can’t keep, He hates that too.

The first two on this list, speaking truth and carrying it out in our lives are an external showing, but the last two are more internally focused. And that’s showing me one thing, the way we are on the Be Level, who we really are, is just as important as what we do. We may look right, but our heart may not line up with that! What a shame! We need to be godly on the inside before we can truly be godly on the outside.

Of course, we know that it only possible because of what Jesus did for us on the cross! Before He saved us, all we could do was lie, judge falsely fill our hearts with evil and make false oaths. But because of Jesus, we are now able to speak truth, externally and live it internally!

This is a pretty strong indictment against the prophets of this day. Not only were they able to be confused with drunks, but lying seemed par for the course with them as well. This is exactly the opposite of the kind of man of God we need preaching in our pulpits today.

It is my desire to be a man who preaches the word of God as it is written, and lives a life that matches up to it.

I found that, as my team fell further behind in the score, and as I continued to play below my abilities (we all have off days) that I was becoming frustrated, and feeling insecure. Friendly jibes and jokes from the other team became more and more irritating, though they were meant nothing but jest and fun.

And, though I hate to admit it, I found myself sending some jokes and jesting back across the field, with a less than playful attitude. Before the end of the game, I had diminished to nothing more than throwing insults, aimed at the other team’s weakest and most vulnerable facets of their life. Not just on the field , but things off the field as well.

And as I drove away at the end of the day, I realized, and regretted, my conduct. At first, I thought my issue was that I can’t control my tongue, but I’ve come to realize that’s not the root issue. It’s the fruit, but it’s not the root cause of it.

A not so comfortable football game

The root, the deep-seated heart issue that I have is insecurity and bitterness. By allowing myself to base my security and identity on myself, and not being confident in who Christ has made me, I lend Satan all the tools and weapons he needs to defeat me, and cause me to dishonor Christ.

Basing my security on my performance, or the score of a football game is a huge mistake. Insecurity in who we are comes when we look to anything other than who we are in Christ for validity and security.  I look to my performance in a football game, and it may give me a false peace for a while, but eventually it will betray me. I look to my friends and family, and it may give a false peace for a while, but eventually they will let me down. I look to money, or possessions, and eventually they will not be there.

If I look to anything or anyone that is not Jesus Christ, and who I am in Him, I am finding my identity in something that is a lie. Now, there’s nothing wrong with friends, family, football or that kind of thing, but it can never be our identity.

As Christians, we let the Word of God dictate to us who we are.  Having a bad experience as I did yesterday is embarrassing, and leaves me with some regret and remorse, but it can also be a good thing. It makes me take an uncomfortable look at where my security lies, and where it does not lie.

And it may not be the most enjoyable thing to come to the point where I realize I don’t always find my security in Christ; it is still a great opportunity for me to work on this area.  As a result of this, I’m going to study out the phrase “in Christ” in the Bible, as well as pray for God’s help in this area.

If you’ve never heard of the story of the emperor’s new clothes, I’ll sum it up like this: a king continually asks his servants what they think of his new clothes, and they always say they’re amazing and elegant. Of course, it is important to mention that the king is never wearing any clothes! He’s imagining them all; and the servants are too afraid to speak the truth. The king goes out on parade, and is the laughingstock of the town for walking around in his undergarments.

Much like that king, I’ve been, unknowingly finding my security in myself, not Christ. And it took a humbling experience to figure it out, but I’m glad the Lord showed me this before it became an even bigger problem.

In my daily devotions, I’ve been reading through the book of Amos. Well, I finished today, and I learned a lot, but one of the things I noticed was what Amos attributes to God in terms of creation.   Here’s a short list of the highlights I’ve noticed as I read through Amos:

God forms mountains.

God creates the wind.

God declares to man what his thought is.

God makes the morning darkness.

God can make the sun go down at noon.

God can darken the earth in clear day.

God can touch the land and make it melt.

God builds stories in heaven.

God founded his troop in the earth.

God pours the water of the sea out upon the earth

The Lord is His name!

(Amos 4:13, 8:9 and 9:5-6 for bible references.)

What a mighty God we serve! He creates earth and heaven, and the might things man cannot do are nothing for God! Mountains, wind, darkness and the waters of the sea are all just a small part of God’s power in creation. What a mighty God we serve.