Praying to our God - Brendan Hurley - 2nd Aug 2026

Well, if you keep your Bible there, it'd be great

to have it open at Ephesians 1. And let's pray.

Let's ask God for help as we dig into His Word

now. Gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you that

you speak to us. We thank you that you love us

and you care for us. And please, Father, help

us to see how good it is to know you. And we

ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, I want you

to imagine you were walking along the beach at

Yorkies knob and As you're walking along, you

know, it's a beautiful day. The Sun is out. It's

beaming down It's just warming your face. There's

that nice little breeze coming in It's beautiful

and you're walking along and as you walk along

you notice something glistening in the sand You

go over and you have a look and you dig around

and you see it's one of these like old timey

lamps and there's some writing on it that you

can't make out so you you take your sleeve and

you try and rub it and all of a sudden a genie

pops out and this genie does the whole usual

spiel you've got your three wishes don't kill

anyone you know can't make anyone fall in love

with you all that make your first wish what are

you wishing for? Now, I should say, you can't

do more wishes. He said that in the spiel. But

what are you wishing for? A never -ending pack

of Tim Tams? World peace? What are you wishing

for? What do you want? It's funny, I think in

movies and things like that, you often see this

common trope of someone finds a genie and they

get their wishes and the genie ends up being

quite naughty and twisting the wishes, don't

they? And so you get these people where they...

They didn't really know what they should be asking

for. And so they wish for things, but it ends

up biting them in the end. It actually reminds

me a bit of that show. Do you remember that show?

I think they made a movie of it as well. Let's

see if... Oh no, that's not working. That's okay.

It's a show called Fantasy Island. And people

go to this mysterious island where any wish can

be granted. But the wish doesn't go the way people

expect It actually ends really badly and there's

this like running theme through the show of be

careful what you wish for Because what you want

isn't always what's best for you. I Think we

often run into a similar problem when we pray

Now don't mishear me. God is a good father. He

gives us what's best for us He's not like a sneaky

genie or some mysterious island. And prayers

aren't wishes either. They're requests to God.

They're not magical commands. Yet when we pray,

and many of us here pray about many different

things, I think we don't always pray what's truly

best for us and for others. And because we don't,

I think it robs us of joy. peace and security

that could be ours. It often means our hearts

start longing for things, shallow things that

aren't really good for us. And so there's a sense

in which I want to say to you today, be careful

what you pray for. Be careful what you pray for.

Do you know what you and others really need?

Do you know what's really best for you? Is that

your heart's desire? Does What's best for you,

dominate your prayers. You know, if you're there

at growth group and someone says, you know, I'd

like prayer for this and this, what's the best

thing you can pray for them? What's the best

thing you can pray for yourself or your family?

Well, today I want to show you what that higher

thing is. And I want to tell you upfront, it's

not a never ending pack of Tim Tams. What is

it? What's the best thing you can pray for yourself

or someone else? Above all else, pray that we'd

know God better. Above all else, pray that we'd

know God better. If you've got your Bible there,

come with me to verses 15 to 17. Here's what

Paul says to the Ephesians. for this reason is

linking it back to the thing we looked at last

week, all the blessings, spiritual blessings

we have in Christ. For this reason, ever since

I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and

all your love for all God's people, a sign that

they're truly converted, I have not stopped giving

thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.

So he's consistent in his prayers. He's thankful

in his prayers. But what's he pray for them?

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus

Christ, the Glorious Father, may give you the

Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation, it's Trinitarian,

so that you may know Him better. It's all about

knowing God better. Last week I talked about,

actually not last week is it? Last fortnight,

because we had family camp last week. Last fortnight

I talked about the worst year of my life, and

if you didn't hear that one you can jump online

and listen to it. My wife got burned out, my

dad got prostate cancer, we had 13 people in

our small country church leave, you know, I got

chicken pox, my grandparents died, there was

a whole bunch of things that all happened in

this one horrible year. What do you pray for

when things like that happen? Well, yeah, I prayed

for my wife's recovery, but it was a good thing

I was preaching through this at the time because

I went, I need to pray that her and I would know

God better. My dad got prostate cancer. I prayed

for his healing, but you know what? I wanted

to pray that he would come to know God because

he doesn't. Oh yeah, it'd be good to pray for

those 13 people who left and that God would bring

more people, but you know what? The best thing

I could pray at that time was that we'd lean

on God more as a church. Knowing God better is

the best thing you can pray for. Now I know that

sounds really simple and basic but actually there's

some real depth to it and that's what we see

in this passage. There's three aspects to pray

about if we're going to pray that we know God

better. Pray that we know God better, so pray

that you know God's plan for us. Pray that you'd

know God's passion for us, His love. And pray

that you'd know God's power in us. And as I said,

this passage is connected by last week's passage

for this reason, and these blessings, these things

we're praying are actually they mirror the three

blessings that we looked at last week. So really,

if you go over and pray the passage we looked

at last week, you're kind of doing this already.

But let's have a look. Let's pray that we'd see

what we have in Christ clearly. Let's look at

the first one. Pray that we'd know God better,

that we'd know God's plan for us. Have a look

with me at verse 18. And there's two elements

here. There's calling and hope. and those two

have been put together. And it's saying all of

time, all of history is in our Father's hands.

If you're one of God's adopted children, God

chose you for glory. And God not only knows the

future, He determines it. Isn't that a comfort?

He's in total control of the future. The outcome

is certain. So you can know that you're chosen.

You can know that it's all going to plan. You

can know that the hope is going to be glorious

because it's going to be an unimaginable ending.

God will get you there. When you see that, when

the eyes of our hearts see these truths, wow,

it brings such joy and calm. And so Paul's praying

they know where they're headed. Know the hope

to which God has called you. Look forward to

the future that awaits you when you get to glory.

But know that God's the one who's getting you

there. He's holding onto you tighter than you're

holding onto Him. And it's nothing you've done,

it's by His gracious choice that you will get

there. When we pray this, Our assurance in God's

love and grace, our confidence that we are secure

because of what Jesus has done for us and in

God's election, it grows massively. It makes

us so calm and joyful. Which is good because

some days I feel like C -3PO. You know C -3PO

from Star Wars? Do you remember what he's like?

He's sort of jittery and he's going around and

he's always calculating the odds that something

horrible is going to happen. He's constantly

anxious and stressed and worried. And you know

what? C -3PO actually survives through all the

movies. And the good guys win. Imagine if C -3PO,

if his character could go speak to the creator,

to George Lucas. and read the script of what's

going on. I reckon he'd become a different person,

don't you? He'd be Chilpio. He'd be so different.

Now here's the thing, Christians get that. That's

what you get if you're a Christian. You have

the script for the universe. You know the Creator.

We know where it's all going. There's a plan

to everything. It's all going to be united in

the Lord Jesus. We know we are lovingly called

and chosen according to God's plan. We know that

God will turn our hope into a reality when Jesus

returns. Remembering there is a plan and that

God is making it happen gives us security, excitement,

joy and peace. And the cross, when we look at

the cross and go, wow, I've seen God work out

his plan before, you know, he was so in control

that people who murdered his son, he was using

that for the salvation of the world. Okay, I

know God's pretty good at executing plans. I've

got confidence he's gonna pull it off. Think

of those times where you feel like C -3PO. Where

you're worried about yourself, you're worried

about your family, you're worried about others.

What can you do? Pray. Pray. Pray that they know

God better. Father, help me to know you better.

Help me to see the bigger picture. Give me a

new perspective. Help me to see that even though

things are tough right now, even though I'm waiting

on those test results, even though work is hard

and, Lord, you know what my boss is like, Father,

help me to see that you've called me, that one

day I'm going to stand before you on the last

day, holy and blameless because of Jesus. Help

me to see that I'm your child and have been adopted

by you. Help me to see that heaven is going to

be better than anything I could ever imagine.

Amen. I need to pray more prayers like that.

That lift me above my circumstances and help

me see reality. We need to pray that we know

God's plan for us. But that's not all we need

to pray. We need to pray that we know God's passion

for us, his deep love for us. Take a look again

at verse 18 with me. I pray that the eyes of

your heart may be enlightened in order that you

may know the hope to which he has called you,

the riches of his glorious inheritance in his

holy people. Now, for all the Greek boffins out

there, there's a great debate about what's going

on here. Is the inheritance something we get

from God, or is it something we are? Are we the

inheritance that God gets? And I think, if you

put a gun to my head, I'd say it's the second

one, but biblically both are true. But the reason

I'd say it's probably the second one is especially

because in the Old Testament, that's how it talks

about it. Here's one example. Moses bowed to

the ground at once and worshipped, Lord, he said,

if I've found favour in your eyes, then let the

Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff necked

people, forgive our wickedness and our sin and

take us as your inheritance. But look, either

way, both are true. God gives us an inheritance.

We get the new heavens and the new earth. But

also we are an inheritance to God. And so we're

precious to God. Both God gives us riches and

we are riches to Him. You are unimaginably precious

to God. He treasures you dearly. The other day

Laura and I went away for our 16th wedding anniversary.

I wasn't really looking forward to it. I'd rather

be golfing. So I booked the cheapest, nastiest

hotel I could find. I picked up some corn things

from Kohl's for our dinner. And I watched golf

videos the whole time. Because, you know, who

cares? No, no, that's true, by the way. Just

so you can breathe now, yeah? Laura is so precious

to me. So I was looking forward to our night

away for weeks. I found the best hotel and dinner

that I could afford. I planned little surprises.

I tried to make it really special. Because Laura

is very special to me, just so you know sweetheart.

So, she's feeling embarrassed now. But it's a

joy to be with her. And that's what it's like

for God with his people. Not because they deserve

it. but because He's so gracious and loving and

He sets His love on them and He goes, I love

them and I want to treasure them. I treasure

them so much that I would send my Son to bear

my wrath, my holy righteous anger, so that I

can spend eternity with them. That's how much

God loves you. It's incredible how much He loves

you. Now, what's the payoff of that? Well, some

of us here struggle with low self -esteem and

low self -worth. What would the secular world

say? They'd say, just tell yourself, you are

enough. And you know what? That's half right.

But the problem is, there are days where I don't

feel like I'm enough. Where I fail. where I'm

rejected, where I'm weak. And here's the thing,

when I look at the cross, when I see what Jesus

gave me, when I didn't deserve it, when I see

myself as God now sees me, I can say, I am enough.

Why? Not because I'm enough in myself. but because

the cross was enough. I'm loved. God deeply cares

for me so much that he gave his own son for me.

Jesus was willing to pay hell on the cross so

that I wouldn't have to for eternity. It's a

wonderful thing seeing how loved you are. So

if you want to build your self -worth, can I

suggest there's lots of things you can do, but

the best way you can do that is to look at the

cross and to pray that you'd see how precious

you are. Do it daily. Pray, Father, thank you

so much that you sent Jesus to die for me. Thank

you that I am your treasured possession. Thank

you that I've got eternal life awaiting me. Thank

you that you were willing to send your son and

experience that horrible wrath so that I wouldn't

have to. Help me to see how precious I am to

you. Amen. It's an amazing thing to see how loved

you are. Do you pray that, that you would see

it? Have you seen it? But there's one more aspect

we need to see as well. We not only need to see

God's passion for us, but we need to know God's

power in us and pray that we know God's power

in us. Look again at verses 18 and 19. There

is a great power at work in the lives of believers.

I don't see it. Can you? Is it under the chair

somewhere? You can have a look if you like. Well,

it can't be working, can it? Because, I mean,

Paul who's writing this, he's writing and he's

in chains. Is there really a great power going

on? Well, verse 19 and 20 reveal more about this

power. That power is the same as the mighty strength

he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead

and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly

realms. Okay, so it's the same as the mighty

strength at the resurrection. This is resurrection

power. This is not everyday sort of power. And

the rest of the letter shows us that this power

is not just for us, but it's in us. It's that

God is giving us a spiritual resurrection now

that will one day become a physical resurrection.

I mean, Ephesians 2 is great on this where it

talks about we were dead in our sins and trespasses

and He made us alive in Christ and He seated

us in the heavenly realms with Him. We have had

a spiritual resurrection if you believe in Jesus

And the point of verses 21 to 23 is don't underestimate

this power It's that Jesus is far above all rule

and authority power and dominion every name that

is invoked You know God place all things under

his feet. He's head over the church. I mean It's

just trying to lift our eyes and see the greatness

and glory of Jesus. He's stronger than armies

and politicians He's stronger than Satan because

the spirit who raised Jesus to be resurrected

Lord of all He's at work in you who believe He's

made you spiritually alive, and he's making you

more like Christ So don't don't doubt that don't

don't lose heart See the power that's at work

in you. He will get you to glory. Nothing, nothing

can overcome God's power. When I was a kid, I

played AFL. Don't hold that against me. But one

week, we played this team in our comp. And I

don't know what happened. Maybe they were like

under 12s and we were under 14s and there was

a schedule. I don't know. But what happened was

we won 397 to 2. It was a slaughter. I kicked

five goals. I'm not very good and I was not even

the top goal scorer. I think there was one guy

who kicked like 13 on the day. It was pretty

epic. It was so brutal. It got so bad at half

time they put other kids, like put kids from

our team on the other team and that was still

the score line. I mean, I can't think of anything

that's so completely one -sided other than that

game. There was no way we were going to lose.

And the thing is, when we turned up to the game,

we didn't know it would go like this, but as

we played, it was awesome. We were all convinced

we weren't going to lose, and do you know what

it meant? It meant we were all going, yeah, let's

play bolder, let's be more confident, let's try

some things, you know, and we played better and

better and better because we knew we couldn't

lose, and we had a lot of fun doing it. Well,

you know what? It's the same with Christians.

I mean, I think it's so easy to get discouraged

and lose heart during the Christian life. I mean,

think about what Christians face in the Christian

life. There's suffering, persecution, fears,

doubts, divisions, discouragements. There's temptations,

false teachers, our sinful nature, ruts and sinful

habits that we have that feel unbeatable at times.

We might have a difficult marriage. We might

be struggling with singleness. We might have

kids and... Workplaces that are difficult. And

hey, not to mention there's Satan and his forces

and his schemes. And you know what? Sometimes

it feels like too much. Until we see the power

that's working toward us and in us and for us

in Jesus. I think sometimes the Christian life

feels like we're on that other team that's losing.

Actually it's not. It's that we're on the team

that can't lose. Because God is for us. He's

risen Christ over everything. He's at work in

us. It's one -sided, all right, but it's His

side that's 397. It's bold. It's so good, isn't

it? When you see this, you become bold and joyful,

and you want to try things and take risks. Yet,

I know my heart easily loses sight of all this.

And that's why we've got to pray. Pray in every

circumstance, constantly. Pray that God's Spirit

might impress the reality of God's power on my

heart. That He'd give me the strength to know

Christ's love for me and to trust that He will

be victorious. And we need to rely on that. Look

to that so that we joyfully obey and resist temptation.

So that when we're hurt, we maintain Christian

unity. The unity that Christ created in his death.

You know, Satan's real power, his real weapon

is actually just lies, isn't it? When Christians

believe the lies that they're losing, that Satan's

winning. That's when the Christian life becomes

a struggle. But prayer opens our eyes. It helps

us see reality. So, can I encourage you, pray

on your own, that you'd know God better, that

you'd know His power at work in you. Not only

just on your own though. Come along to Revive

prayer meeting on Friday morning, 7 o 'clock

at 119 Camarunga Road. Come pray with us there.

Come pray at the boiler room at 8 .30 every Sunday

here at church and pray together with others

that we'd see God's power so that it changes

our lives. Alright, let's sum up. What should

we pray for? What's the best thing to pray for?

Well, I mean, like always, there's lots of good

things to pray for. But I hope you've seen today

that each of those things should always be tied

to the greatest thing, knowing God better. Above

all else, pray that we'd know God better. And

there were three things we looked at. To pray

pray that we know God better how by praying that

we know God's plan for us by praying that we

know God's Passion his love for us and pray that

we know God's power in us So that's what we looked

at but let's get real what's this mean for us

here today Well, there are some of us here who

don't yet know God And we are so glad you're

here, if that's you. So glad you've turned up

to church today. Can I encourage you to pray?

Pray that you'd want to know God. Pray that God

would reveal Himself to you. Pray that He'd show

you whether He's true or not. Ask Him. Ask Him

to show you how wonderful it is to be His child.

If you're not sure how to do this or if you want

to talk more with someone, come up the front.

I think we've got Steve up here this morning

who can pray with people. So please come and

pray with Steve or come find me and I'd love

to pray with you too. But if you're hearing you're

a Christian, I hope this will be a shot in the

arm for your prayer life. I hope that you'll

try praying like this for a month or two. Just

try and get in the routine and the rhythm of

it. Pray that we'd know God better. Link your

other prayers to this and see what happens in

your heart. And maybe you need a reminder, maybe

you need to set something in your phone. Yep,

what am I doing? Oh yeah, I'm going to pray that

I'd know God better. Maybe you need to tell a

friend, hey, can we meet up just every month

and check in on me? How are you going with your

prayer life? How are you going? Yeah, cool. I'm

praying that I'd know God better. And have you

found that? And just talk about it with another

Christian from church here. But find ways to

make sure that you pray to know God better. And

here's the thing. If we do that, I reckon God

will do amazing things through our prayers. I

actually reckon he'd do things better than we

could imagine or wish for. Yes, be careful what

you pray for, but if we are, I think God's gonna

do things far better than we could have ever

expected. So linking my prayers to knowing God,

that's awesome. And I say that as someone who's

gone through it. that awful year in Broken Hill,

and I happened to just be preaching on this,

it helped me cope in one of the darkest seasons

of my life. It was so good for me and for others

around me to be praying that myself and them

would know God better. Will you pray like that?

Let's pray now. Gracious Heavenly Father, we

thank you so much that through the death of the

Lord Jesus we are able to be your treasured possession.

We thank you so much that you've chosen us and

elected us to be your children if we trust in

you. We thank you so much that we know that you're

in control and that you're holding on to us tighter

than we're holding on to you. And we thank you

that you've given us your spirit who's opened

our eyes to see how great and glorious you are.

We thank you that your spirit gives us great

assurance that we will not be overcome because

you are with us. Please help us to be people

who know you better and to be people who constantly

pray that we'd know you better. And we ask this

in Jesus' name. Amen.