January 4, 2006

 

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; they you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. --Ephesians 3:14-19

 

There are four questions I want to ask you regarding prayer:

 

·         Why do you pray? Some people pray to be seen and heard by others in public, out of habit or routine, out of fear, and out of greed. Our prayer lives should always be about building the kingdom of God. You should always pray to build up His church, reach the lost for Christ, and strengthen the body of believers (see Ephesians 2:20-22).

 

·         How do you pray? Always go before the Lord with the right attitude. Before you and I can ever win the spiritual war through prayer, we must first prepare by bowing before the Lord in His presence. And always practice good inward posture — bowing your heart in submission to the Lord.

 

·         For what do you pray? Pray for spiritual strength, power, depth, perspective, and fullness. So often our prayer lives are consumed with praying for physical or material needs, and while these things are good, we must also pray for our spiritual lives.

 

·         How do you pray? It’s taken me a long time to learn this, but I believe the greatest lesson I’ve ever learned regarding prayer is that it is far better to be an answer to prayer than to get an answer to prayer. Ephesians 3:20-21 says, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” God wants to answer some prayers through you according to the power of the Holy Spirit that works in you.

 

In your prayer life, know that you are seated with Christ in the heavens as a believer, walk in His Spirit of love, and stand in the battle against evil as a spiritual solder. Ask the Lord to strengthen your spiritual life today and help you build up His kingdom for His honor and glory.

 

YOUR PRAYER LIFE ON THE INSIDE DIRECTLY CORRESPONDS TO YOUR OUTWARD LIFESTYLE.