Prayer is the Power

For the last time we get to watch that little video introduction, how many of y'all have enjoyed our study of Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus?

Yeah, I have enjoyed it too. Well, in honor of that, I'm going to re-preach all the sermons this morning that I've preached over the last few months.

Look, we should be out of here in about three hours, alright? So, it's alright.

Alright, the funny thing is, I am actually going to go back.

If you have come in in the middle of this series, or at the tail end, or you missed some along the way, that's okay.

I'm going to give you a little summary of each chapter as we prepare to wrap up this series in Ephesians.

So, if you'll take your Bibles and go to Ephesians 6, and if you'd like to turn all the way back to chapter 1 and go with me as we go chapter by chapter,

up to chapter 6, you can. But I'm going to be starting off talking about this book.

It's divided into two sections. Let's say it together. Ready?

Who we are, how we live. That's kind of the themes of the book of Ephesians,

written by the Apostle Paul, who wrote many, many books in the New Testament.

It was written around AD 62 from his setting in Roman imprisonment.

He was likely under house arrest at this time.

This was a church he was very familiar with.

He had been their pastor for approximately three years, and you can read all about that in Acts chapter 19.

Acts 19 · chapter mention

So, much of the study from this series was done from these two books,

as well as a few others kind of trickled in,

but the Christ-Centered Exposition series and the Bible Exposition Commentary.

Part 1, again, talks about who we are in Christ, who we are in Christ.

So, by way of review, let's dive into it.

Chapter 1, Ephesians chapter 1, we talked about understanding my identity in Christ causes real-life worship.

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

Y'all remember that?

Understanding my identity in Christ causes real-life worship.

Verse 7 of Ephesians 1, in Him, in Jesus, we have redemption through His blood,

the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace.

And in verse 6, it says, to the praise of His glorious grace.

So, when we understand all that God did for us,

all that He made us to be in spite of how bad we are,

God, you know, you know how bad you are, you know how bad I am.

You may not know how bad I am, but let me tell you, it's pretty bad, okay?

In spite of us, God loved us so much that He gave us real-life value.

He gave us real-life worth.

So much worth that it cost the blood of His own Son.

So, that understanding, that identity in Christ Jesus causes us to worship Him in real life.

Not just sing the songs, not just show up at church, but real-life worship, obedience, prayer,

taking time, setting time aside to dive into His Word where He reveals Himself to us.

Again, in chapter 1, it says, we studied several weeks ago,

my confidence grows as my intimate knowledge of God grows.

My confidence grows as my intimate knowledge of God grows.

Back in verse 18,

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened

so that you may know what is the hope of His calling,

what is the wealth of His glorious inheritance in the saints,

and what is His immeasurable greatness of power toward us who believed.

Our confidence in God can grow when we understand

and begin to gain a more intimate knowledge of how great God is,

how much better God is than we are,

how much mightier,

how much more faithful and reliable than our confidence in Him grows.

And then, since He has given us such worth and called us His children,

our confidence in ourselves can grow,

not in our flesh,

but in His Spirit,

which lives in us.

So, chapter 2.

Chapter 2.

A gospel-centered life gives me purpose.

A gospel-centered life gives me purpose.

What do we mean by that?

Whoa.

Sorry.

I jumped ahead a little bit.

Here we go.

I give up earthly privileges.

I give up earthly preferences.

I give up earthly priorities.

And I give up earthly passions.

Then, I daily trade my earthly identity for my heavenly identity.

So, this is kind of the theme of chapter 2.

All right?

Let's back up.

A gospel-centered life gives me purpose.

First of all,

you and I are always trying to find the purpose for our broad life,

the purpose for our year,

the purpose for our month,

the purpose for our day.

What will our purpose be today?

What will the purpose be of this conversation?

What will the purpose be of this task?

Our purpose should come from our gospel-centered life.

What do we mean by gospel-centered life?

It means that we are centering our life

in the decisions we make,

in the actions we make,

in the way we think.

We've been talking in Romans 12

about changing the way we think.

We've been talking about changing us

from self-centered to gospel-centered.

I recognize that my new identity in Christ

reframes my life to not be about me anymore.

Now it's about Jesus and what he did for me

and what he is making me to become.

So now the decisions I make are in that new mind,

toward that new man that God is creating in me.

So a gospel-centered life then gives me purpose.

Now I know what I should say to that person

who's mistreating me.

Now I know how I should respond to that person

when I want to respond one way,

but I know that my purpose

in this gospel-centered life

would be to respond how Jesus would.

So that means we have to give up earthly privileges

that we would otherwise hold tightly to.

We give up earthly preferences

that seem like the biggest thing in the world to us.

We give up earthly priorities.

You ever had somebody rearrange your priorities?

You ever had life rearrange your priorities?

You ever had life?

Moving along, trying to make as much money as you can,

trying to be as successful as you can,

and then all of a sudden a heart attack hits.

All of a sudden something stops you in your tracks

that rearranges your priorities.

The gospel can do that for you in the best of ways.

And then we give up our earthly passions.

What passions of the flesh are drawing you away

from the beautiful, beautiful future

that God has lined out for you?

So, we daily trade our earthly identity

for our heavenly identity.

And then, chapter 3,

we talked about a Christ-centered Christian.

How a Christ-centered Christian

is a willing prisoner of Christ.

A Christ-centered Christian understands

the mystery of Christ.

So willingly, we're surrendering to Christ

and saying,

God, I don't fully understand you

and everything about your mystery,

but I understand that it's a mystery.

Why did you love me so much?

Why did you send your son to die for me?

How did you know that I would be a sinner

and yet you chose me?

And yet you gave me the ability to respond to you

and the responsibility to say yes to your call.

We don't understand everything about the mystery of God,

but we understand that it's a beautiful mystery

and it has saved our souls.

What a wonderful thing.

And a Christ-centered Christian

is a servant of the gospel of Christ.

That's that rearranging of priorities.

We're no longer a servant to sin.

Now we are a servant to a much better master.

The gospel of Jesus.

The good news of Jesus that says,

hey, I'm a sinner.

You're a sinner.

We're all sinners.

But God, in his great love with which he loved us,

sent his only son, Jesus.

And that is the message that I will take

to anyone everywhere.

I will be a servant to that good news.

And because we're a servant of the gospel,

we proclaim the riches of Christ.

The wonderful riches.

Does your life reflect the riches of Christ?

Would your spouse say your life reflects the riches of Christ?

Would your kids say your life reflect the riches of Christ?

If not, we need to spend a little more time

thinking, praying, focusing on that gospel

and letting it change us from the inside out.

Letting it change the way we think.

And then people will believe us

when we proclaim the riches of Christ.

Say, hey, trust me.

God is so rich in mercy.

He's so rich in grace.

He's so rich in love.

And he wants to be that for you too.

And then a Christ-centered Christian

boldly accesses the Father.

In chapter 3,

a Christ-centered Christian

boldly accesses the Father.

We don't have to be ashamed to come to God

because despite all of our faults,

despite all of our shortcomings,

he welcomes us with open arms.

He never holds it over our head.

He welcomes us as a good father would to his child.

So,

for some reason,

this is not advancing anymore.

Can you take me to the next slide?

There we go.

Thank you.

I don't know why that's not working.

It was working.

So, continuing in chapter 3,

Jesus Christ himself,

y'all remember this part,

is the why behind the what

of me being a Christian.

Jesus is the why behind the what.

How many of you grew up in churches

that always talk to you,

whether it's this church or another one,

that so often talk to you

about what you should do

or what you should not do as a Christian.

I grew up like that.

Oftentimes,

and listen,

the Bible is full of those kinds of admonitions

of what we should do

and what we should not do as Christians.

However,

sometimes in churches,

probably more than sometimes,

we have missed the why behind the what.

We talked about this several weeks ago.

Jesus is the why behind the what.

Sometimes,

then,

in our efforts

to get people to conform

to how we think

a Christian ought to be,

we lack

telling them about the motivation.

We lack telling them

about the real reason

why

you shouldn't go out

and get drunk.

Why you shouldn't go out

and do the things

that your flesh tells you to do.

Why you should go

be faithful to be here

on Sundays in church

and not forsake the gathering

of the church body together.

All these things

that the Bible commands

a Christian to do,

the Bible is very clear

about the why.

But sometimes,

we've missed that.

So we've got to remind ourselves

that Jesus is the why

behind the what.

It says in verse 18 of chapter 3,

Through Him,

through Jesus Christ,

we both have access

in one spirit

to one Father.

So,

we talked about

powerful prayer.

Which is awesome

because in just a few minutes,

we're going to wrap up this book

at the end of chapter 6

and talk about

powerful prayer.

But there's a little preview

here in chapter 3.

It says,

Pray with humility.

Pray for God's full power

and full love.

Pray with great expectations.

Can you imagine

a prayer life

that looks like that?

Where we humbly

come before God?

Not thinking,

Man,

I'm a pretty good Christian.

God needs to listen to me

and He better do

what I want.

None of us would ever

say that, right?

But sometimes,

that's the attitude

we bring in prayer.

And then,

if God doesn't respond

exactly how we want Him to,

we get a little

bent out of shape sometimes.

But praying with humility

and praying for God's

full power

and full love.

Can you imagine

a prayer life like that?

Praying for God's

full power

and full love

in your life

or in the life

of someone you're praying for?

What a difference

that would make.

And praying

with great expectations.

It's an old missionary,

C.T. Stud,

who said,

expect great things

from God

and attempt great things

for God.

Pray with great expectations.

There is nothing

that God can't do.

There's no mountain

He won't move.

So we should pray

expecting nothing less

than God's greatness

to be at work.

And then,

well,

it's kind of working sometimes

and then not.

So if you'll take me

to the next one,

sorry,

thank you,

ask God to help you

take the next step

in your life.

What do we mean by that?

Ask God to help you

take the next step

in your life.

The second to last verse

of Ephesians 3,

now to Him

who is able to do

above and beyond

all that we ask

or think

according to the power

that works in us,

to Him be glory.

God can do everything

that we want Him to do

and so much more.

So sometimes

He doesn't answer us

exactly

as we want Him

to answer us

because He wants

to give us

that so much more part.

And in our mind,

that doesn't work,

right?

Because we're this

small-minded,

right here,

right now

kind of people.

We don't see it

from His perspective.

So God might be

wanting us

to take the next step

toward this beautiful ending

that He has for us.

And that might look

a little different

than what we have planned.

So we have to ask God,

God,

what is the next step

that I need to take

in my prayer life?

And then chapter,

well,

before we jump

into chapter 4,

we're launching

into part 2.

So that was our identity

in Christ,

who we are in Christ.

Part 2,

how we live

for Christ.

How we live

for Christ.

We said in chapter 4,

God's design

is diversity.

Satan's distraction

is division.

God's design

is the diversity

of the believers.

Look around this church.

Seriously,

look around for a minute.

Check around,

you know,

I'm giving you permission.

Look at everybody's outfits.

Judge not,

lest ye be judged.

Look around

at this diverse crowd

we got in here.

We got all kinds of people

from all kinds

of different walks of life,

right?

All kinds of different

experiences and backgrounds

in here.

That's God's design.

God's design

is diversity.

Diversity among races.

Diversity among genders.

Diversity among

financial standing.

Diversity among

family life.

Diversity among

experiences and backgrounds.

Diversity among future.

But God brings us

all together

under His banner.

His banner of love.

His banner of being

washed in His blood.

Washed clean

from all those sins

that separate us

from Him.

But Satan wants

to take that same concept

and distort it.

His distraction for us

is division.

God's design

was this beautiful

diverse body

gathering together

under His name.

Satan's distraction

is highlighting

those differences

to drive us apart.

And that happens

so often in churches.

Y'all,

I think it's incredible

that this church

has been around

since 1876.

Right?

Most churches

never last that long.

So,

chapter 4.

We walk worthy

before God

when we apply

the gospel

directly.

We're challenged

in chapter 4.

Live worthy

of the calling

you have received.

So,

when we apply

this gospel

of diversity,

when we apply

this gospel

of unity,

when we apply

this gospel

of not putting

ourselves above

everybody else,

then we walk

worthy of that

gospel that we've

received,

that we've received

because we're applying

it directly.

Can I tell you

the gospel of Jesus,

the good news

is Jesus,

of Jesus,

is not just good enough

to save you

from your sins,

it's good enough

to get you

through this life.

it's good enough

to help you

walk worthy

before God.

But you've got

to apply it.

Not just applying

it by putting

your faith in Jesus

and saying,

I trust Jesus

enough to save

me from my sin.

I trust Him

enough that He

died on the cross,

that He was buried,

that He didn't

stay dead,

He came up

out of the grave

and He's alive today.

He hears me

when I pray,

He hears me

when I sing to Him.

I believe,

I put my faith

in Him

for salvation.

That's good,

that's the starting place.

But you've got

to keep applying

the gospel

in all the days

that come after that

until He brings us home.

So many Christians

have been saved

for so many years.

Man,

that day

when you put your faith

in Jesus

was 20,

30,

40,

50,

60,

70 years ago.

But you haven't

applied that gospel

very many days

after that.

There's no other way

to walk worthy

before God

than when we apply

the gospel directly.

So what does that look like?

It looks like

a new creation

from conversion

to transformation.

We're not just staying

at the converted part.

Talking about

getting saved,

we call it.

Putting your faith

in Jesus

and saying,

I believe.

That makes you

a child of God.

That makes you

a Christian.

That's being converted

from death to life.

But then

the transformation

part happens.

Then the Holy Spirit

starts to transform you

and change you

from the inside out.

Once again,

we're hitting on churches again.

Sometimes churches

have tried to change people

from the outside in.

It doesn't work

very well,

does it?

You can get people

to conform

to the outside changes

you want them to make.

I've seen it happen.

I've seen it happen

in my own life.

But inwardly,

they're not changed.

Inwardly,

they're just as rotten

as you want their outside

to stop being.

God wants to transform you

from the outside,

from the inside out.

Romans 12,

once again,

he wants to change

the way you think.

So,

Romans 4,

I'm sorry,

Ephesians 4,

daily renew

my values

to reflect

my new nature

in Christ.

Y'all,

this is a daily

transformation.

It's not a one-time

pill

that you take

that makes you

look like Jesus

every day.

Doesn't work.

It is a daily renewal

saying,

going to God

in prayer

better than any pill

could be.

He's always there.

He's always effective.

And the side effects

are grace,

peace,

faith,

love,

hope,

joy,

long-suffering,

goodness,

patience,

meekness.

So,

we daily renew

our values

to reflect

our new nature

in Christ.

Your family knows

when you do this.

Your family knows

when you don't.

You know when you do this.

You know when you don't.

So,

that's our challenge.

Here's a question.

How often

do my words

and actions

cause grief

to the God

who loves me

so deeply?

How often

do my words

and actions

cause grief

to the God

who loves me

so deeply?

In the latter part

of Ephesians 4,

putting away lying,

speak truth,

each one,

to his neighbor.

Be angry

and do not sin.

Be kind

and compassionate

to one another,

forgiving one another

just as God

also forgave you

in Christ.

God laid so much

on the line.

He sacrificed everything.

He gave up

His one

and only Son,

His highest prize,

His highest treasure.

So,

why would we then

turn around

and hold back

so much from Him?

Why would we not

turn around

and forgive our neighbor?

Why would we not

show the same kind of love

that God showed to us?

My true nature

is revealed

in my words,

my actions,

and my attitudes

toward others.

That's what Ephesians 4

challenges us on

so much.

Be kind to each other.

Be gentle

with each other.

Share with each other.

Don't be stingy.

Don't be prideful.

Don't be arrogant.

Don't be hateful

and unkind.

Our true nature,

that daily renewal

of our attitudes,

our perspectives,

is revealed

in our words,

our actions,

and our attitudes

toward others.

So,

how often

does my path

stray from following

Jesus' footsteps?

The answer is

pretty often,

isn't it?

It's true.

The answer is

pretty often.

Chapter 5

challenges us

to imitate Jesus

when we walk in love,

light,

and wisdom.

Love,

light,

and wisdom.

Everything exposed

by the light

is made visible.

What makes everything

visible is light.

Get up,

sleeper.

Rise from the dead

and Christ

will shine on you.

Let the light

of Jesus

shine into

the dark corners

of your life.

Whether it's sin,

whether it's trauma

from the past,

whether it's

a broken relationship,

whatever the dark

corners of your mind

and your heart

and your life are,

God can shine there

and He can transform it.

He can bring hope

where there is no hope.

And He can help you

develop that new nature

that walks worthy

of Him

and His gospel.

So,

then we get into,

I want to make sure

we got,

there we go.

Then we get into

the last part

of chapter 5

and it talks about

mutual submission.

We pivot then

if we're talking about

being kind to each other,

treating each other well,

then we start

getting specific.

Paul starts highlighting

different relationships,

husband and wife,

bosses and employees,

parents and children.

And he introduces

this concept

of mutual submission.

We submit

to God's Spirit

in us

when we voluntarily

submit to each other.

This is not

lording it over each other.

This is not saying,

I'm in charge,

you better listen to me.

That's not at all

the Spirit

that Jesus taught

His disciples

and that's not at all

the Spirit

that Paul is teaching us.

He says,

submit one another

to one another,

submit yourselves

to each other.

So,

how does God

want to change

my thinking

to see my relationships

as He would see them?

You might have had

a different view

of your relationships,

but how are you

going to let God

influence how you view

your relationships?

Husbands,

are you going to let God

change the way

you think

about your home

and about your wife?

Wives,

are you going to let God

influence the way

you think about your husband?

Husbands,

we're supposed to love

our wives sacrificially,

lay down our life

for them

as Jesus did

for His church.

Husbands,

I mean,

wives,

you're supposed to

lovingly honor,

respect,

and follow your husband

as he follows Christ.

And as he follows Christ,

laying his life down

for you,

that is a picture

of mutual submission

to each other,

not one dominating

over the other.

Chapter 5 also says,

we submit to God's Spirit

in us when we voluntarily

submit to each other.

That's what it teaches

at the end of chapter 5.

Then,

we get into serving the Lord

by serving others.

In chapter 6,

it gets into parents

and children,

bosses and employees,

and this concept

continues on.

Less hierarchy,

more humility.

Less who's in charge,

and more,

how can I serve?

You understand

there's a mind shift?

Once again,

we're just going to

keep hitting on it.

Romans 12,

changing the way

you think.

That's why I referenced

this passage

time and time again

through our study

of Ephesians.

So the first part

of chapter 6,

we serve God

when we willingly

serve each other.

Parents serving children.

Sometimes that looks like

training them up

in the way they should go.

Teaching them.

To follow Jesus

in all of His teachings.

That's often how parents

can serve their kids.

But also,

not being cruel,

not being unkind,

not being impatient

is a way parents

can serve their kids.

Kids,

you can serve your parents

by honoring them,

by obeying them,

so your days would be long

on this land.

And then we got into

the last part

of chapter 6.

Last Sunday,

and we said,

know your enemy,

Satan himself,

see some passages,

some verses about that.

Our struggle is not

against flesh and blood.

It's against rulers,

authorities,

the cosmic powers

of this darkness,

against evil,

spiritual forces

in the heaven.

It's against all

the darkness of sin.

It's against all

the darkness

of lostness.

Wade in here.

Do you remember

when I said last Sunday,

our enemy is not

each other,

our enemy is

lostness,

being lost,

all the darkness,

spiritual darkness

out there of being lost

and not being saved.

I went to Wade's Bible study

the next night.

By the way,

men,

if you haven't had a chance

to attend Wade's Bible study

on Monday nights,

that's an awesome opportunity.

Jump in with that

if you can,

if your schedule allows.

And I went last week

and it's a great,

great time,

a fellowship,

Bible study,

prayer.

So I got there

and Wade had drawn

the Loch Ness Monster.

You know what they call

the Loch Ness Monster?

Nessie.

They call her Nessie sometimes.

Well, this was Lossie, right?

Lossie,

the lostness monster

instead of Loch Ness.

I'm just saying that

so it'll stick in your head,

all right?

So who's our enemy?

Lossie,

the lostness monster,

okay?

We're fighting against

lostness out there.

We're not fighting each other.

We're not fighting politics.

We're not fighting Hollywood.

We're fighting against sin.

And then you know

your equipment.

You know your enemy

and you know your equipment.

And we talked about

the armor of God.

Our enemy is the spiritual

darkness of lostness,

but our equipment

is the spiritual armor of God.

You see,

spiritual fights spiritual.

We can talk about gun control

and what kind of guns

we should be allowed to own

and all this,

but y'all,

that's not what we're fighting

this spiritual battle with.

We're fighting this spiritual battle

with the armor of God.

And we went through it last Sunday.

Every piece of protective armor,

the weapon,

which is the word of God,

that two-edged sword.

So we prepare for war

by putting on

the Lord Jesus himself.

All the armor,

all the weapons

that you can assemble

is nothing without Christ himself.

He's the one

that gives the power.

So,

in the last five minutes today,

we're going to close out

Ephesians 6.

Would you look with me

at verse 10?

If you're able to join us

in standing,

would you stand?

If you need to remain seated,

that's fine.

Ephesians 6,

and verse 10.

Finally,

be strengthened by the Lord

and by his vast strength.

Skip down to verse 18.

Pray at all times

in the Spirit

with every prayer and request.

Stay alert

with all perseverance

and intercession

for all the saints.

Pray also for me

that the message

may be given to me

when I open my mouth

to make known with boldness

the mystery of the gospel.

For this,

I am an ambassador in chains.

Pray that I might be bold enough

to speak about it

as I should.

And then he gives

his farewell address.

Tychicus,

our dearly loved brother

and faithful servant

in the Lord,

will tell you all the news

about me

so you can be informed.

I'm sending him to you

for this reason,

to let you know

how we are

and to encourage your hearts.

Peace to the brothers

and sisters

and love with faith

from God the Father

and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace be with all

who have undying love

for our Lord Jesus Christ.

You may be seated.

Prayer is the power.

How do we remember

who we are in Christ?

How do we wake up

every morning and say,

man, I'm not going to be upset.

I'm a child of God.

Prayer is the power.

Going to God first,

the start of each day.

Closing each day

by going back to God

before we go to sleep.

Doing as Jesus did

and praying before our meals.

Stopping along the way

to give thanks to God.

Stopping to bring problems

to Him.

Stopping to bring requests

to Him as needs arise.

Prayer is the power.

All the time,

everywhere,

for everything,

and everyone.

How are we supposed to pray?

Let's say it together.

Would you join me?

All the time,

everywhere,

for everything,

and everyone.

Let's do it again.

All the time,

everywhere,

for everything,

and everyone.

That's how we're supposed

to pray.

That's how we're supposed

to pray.

So can you and I

improve our prayer life?

Yeah?

Can you improve

your prayer life?

I know I can improve mine.

Y'all looking at me like,

no, I got this under control,

but I think you can.

Verse 18 tells us that.

Pray at all times

in the Spirit

with every prayer

and every request.

Okay?

That's our commission

from God.

1 Thessalonians 5, 17

gives a similar charge.

Pray constantly.

Give thanks in everything,

for this is God's will

for you in Christ Jesus.

Give thanks to God

in the good times.

Give thanks to God

in the bad times.

In every season,

for everything,

give thanks to God,

even when it breaks

your heart,

even when it's hard,

even when it's difficult.

Thank God you have someone

to run to in prayer.

Philippians 4, 6.

Don't worry about anything,

but in everything,

through prayer and petition,

with thanksgiving,

present your requests

to God.

D.L. Moody said it this way,

He who kneels the most

stands the best.

Thought that was one

of the best quotes

I've read on prayer.

He who kneels the most

in prayer

stands the best

in this life.

Number two,

pray for gospel advance.

This is what Paul

asked them to pray for.

At the end of this letter,

after everything

he'd given them,

all this incredible content

that came from

the Holy Spirit of God,

and it was preserved

for you and I

to read today,

Paul closes it out

by saying,

pray that I will share

the gospel.

Pray for the gospel

to flourish.

Y'all,

how many times

have we been guilty

of not praying

for the gospel?

Not praying

for the lost

to be saved.

Our enemy

is lostness.

We'll pray against

a lot of other things.

We'll pray for

a lot of other things,

but so often

we don't pray

for the gospel

to advance.

And we read about this

in verses 19 and 20.

Romans 10, 1,

Paul was all about this.

He said,

my heart's desire

and my prayer

for God,

to God,

is that they

would be saved.

He's talking about

the Israelites

who were lost,

his people,

his countrymen.

He wanted them

to be saved.

How many friends,

co-workers,

families,

neighbors,

how many people

do you know

in your life

that need to be saved?

And are we praying

for them?

Are we praying?

Is that our heart's

desire to God?

Matthew 9, 38,

Jesus said,

pray earnestly

to the Lord

of the harvest

to send out laborers

into his harvest.

We pray for the lost

to be saved

and we pray

for the saved

to be sent

out

as witnesses,

as missionaries

with his gospel,

people.

It's a hard quote,

y'all.

Paul Washer,

a pastor

who often tells it

like it is,

okay,

he said,

we spend more time

praying to keep

saints out of heaven

than we ever spend

praying to get

sinners into heaven.

I'm not saying

you shouldn't pray

for Aunt So-and-So's

heart attack

or whatever,

you fill in the blank

with the health concern,

but y'all,

is it true

that we probably

spend more time

praying to keep

saints on this earth

and out of heaven?

than we ever pray

to get sinners

into heaven.

God,

save my sister.

God,

save my brother.

Save my son.

Save my mom.

Save my boss.

Save my neighbor.

Save that person

that drives me nuts.

So finally,

verse 23 and 24.

we can be encouraged.

I don't want to leave you

just feeling guilty.

It's not how Paul left us

in Ephesians here.

Be encouraged by God's peace,

his love,

his faith,

and his grace.

Those four words

are found in the final two

verses of Ephesians.

God's peace,

love,

faith,

and grace.

God's peace.

So as we pray,

as we pray for all things,

for everyone,

at all times,

for the gospel to advance,

we know that God's got us.

We know that our faith in him,

that he bore in our hearts,

and we responded to

when he called our name.

And the love

that he continually

shows to us

and calls us

to show to each other.

And the grace

that he initially

showed us

in not sending us

to hell

to pay for our sins.

And the grace

that he continues

to show us every day

in withholding

so many things

from us

that our mistakes

and our failures

would otherwise

lead us into.

And the peace

that surpasses

all our understanding.

The peace

that is beyond explanation.

The peace

in the middle

of the storm.

These four things

will go with us.

As we go into

another sermon series,

as we leave today

and we go have lunch,

as we get up

and go to work tomorrow,

as we get up

and interact

with each other,

these four things

can carry us on.

God's peace,

his love,

his faith

that he gave to us

and his grace.

So the takeaway

for today,

God's great purpose

for me

starts with prayer.

Ephesians is all about

God's great purpose.

Who are we in Christ?

What are we supposed

to do for Christ?

Christ.

This is God's great purpose

for me.

For you

and for me,

it starts

with prayer.

So church,

I want to call us

into a season of prayer.

For the next several months,

you'll hear things

on the calendar

to try to enable that

and try to

provide opportunities

for us to pray

individually

and corporately

together as a church.

church.

But I would love

to call us

into an intentional

season of prayer

at First Baptist

Henrietta.

So would you,

with heads bowed

and eyes closed

in this moment,

would you start

that right now?

All of us together,

would we purpose

in our hearts

and say,

God,

maybe my prayer life

is better than it's been

in a long time?

Or maybe it's suffering.

Maybe I'm not praying

anywhere near

as much as I should.

Regardless of where

you find yourself

right now,

none of us are praying

as we ought to.

So would you take

a moment

in this quiet time

and ask God

to remind you

frequently

throughout the day

to turn to him

in prayer?

And then would you

take an extra step

and say,

God,

help me to schedule

a time

to pray.

Y'all,

I don't know about you,

but if I don't schedule

something,

it's probably not

going to get done.

You can talk to Joy

or Sarah

or any member

of the staff

and they'll tell you

if I don't put it

on my calendar,

I'm going to forget it.

Part of it.

Maybe you're like that too.

Whatever it takes

for you,

if it's putting it

on a calendar

on your phone

or on a paper calendar

or writing a sticky note

on your mirror,

whatever it takes

for you,

would you find a time

that you can schedule

to prayer?

Family prayer

is important.

Praying with best friends

is important.

But private,

individual,

one-on-one time

with God

is irreplaceable.

you can't replace

that.

That's where God

speaks to us

in ways that

we'll never

otherwise hear.

That's where God

opens His arms

and holds us close

and gives us

that peace

when we stop

and slow down

and pray.

That's where God

reveals His great

purpose to us.

So if you're struggling

a little bit,

whatever that is,

would you lay it

on Jesus

in prayer?

God,

right now,

would you work

in your church?

Would you work

in our hearts?

What a difference

could be made

in Henrietta,

Texas,

and beyond

if our church

was a church

committed to prayer?

Show us what steps

we need to take,

God,

in our own lives

and together

as a church.

We'll give you the glory

of God.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.