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The Light
Dr David Wood
MY PRAYER FOR YOU –
PART SEVEN
I extend greetings
from Eastern Gate Ministries International Inc., in the name of our precious
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The month of June is upon us seemingly too soon
but we have confidence that the plan of God for you and for us is unaltered. It
is a wonderful plan but we must know that and step into it according to His
Word. That is what this Ministry and these letter or articles are all about.
Praise His name, He is so good! This month I will continue our study of the
Apostle Paul’s prayer, recorded in the first chapter of Ephesians, to his
partners at Ephesus. This is our prayer for each of you. Let us review our
entire text then focus in on verse nineteen.
Ephesians 1:15-23 (KJV)
15 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus,
and love unto all the saints,
16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my
prayers;
17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may
give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know
what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his
inheritance in the saints,
19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward
who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and
set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion,
and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is
to come:
22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to
be the head over all things to the church,
23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
Paul starts by
commending these dear saints at Ephesus for their faith in the Lord Jesus and
that they are expressing love one to another. After all this expression of love
is how Jesus said that the world could tell that we were His.
John 13:34-35 (KJV)
34
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one
another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
35 By this
shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to
another.
Paul tells them that
he mentions them often before the throne of God and then he launches into the
reasons why. Remember that Paul is an Apostle and specifically the Apostle to
the gentiles. As he tells them later in this very book, he and others are gifts
given of God for the perfecting or maturing of the saints for the work of the
ministry.
Ephesians 4:11-12 (KJV)
11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some,
evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Paul tells them that
he has prayed that they have the spirit of wisdom. This means that he prays for
them to attain to the very highest use of knowledge and understanding,
particularly of the kingdom of God. He prays that they have revelation of the
person of Christ. Paul wants them all to have full discernment of who the son
of God is and what He accomplished specifically for them. Oh, what a deal for
he is talking about us as well. In verse eighteen Paul says he wants them and
us to have full illumination of this gospel. He says “that ye may know what the
hope of his calling,” Hope in Scripture is not a lottery like in the world
system. Bible hope is an earnest expectation of imminent manifestation
concerning the thing hoped for. His calling, the calling of God is to life
eternal. That calling is complete and total restoration into the kingdom of
God. Jesus bought back everything that Satan stole in his deception of Adam.
It is not all yet manifest but it is a done deal, praise the Lord! Then Paul
finishes the eighteenth verse telling us that we are God’s inheritance and it is
great, good and wonderful in His sight. We were bought with a price that is
beyond human calculation; we are the value of God, for God gave Himself for us.
What is the value of God, who can calculate?
This brings us to
verse nineteen.
Ephesians 1:19 (KJV)
19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward
who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
Although there is no
question mark, Paul is asking a question. Of course, the short answer is that
this power of God exerted on our behalf is unlimited. One of the attributes of
God is His omnipotence which means He is all powerful. His power is infinite in
its very nature. The word translated power first in this verse is the Greek
work dynamis meaning force, miraculous power, ability, and abundance (Strong’s
#1411). This is the power that God is exercising on our behalf every second of
our lives (eternity). As Paul continues we find out that this is the same power
that brought Jesus out from among the dead and restored Him to the Godhead.
More on this as we progress through this prayer. Now the later part of this
nineteenth verse says that the flow or control of this power (dynamis) is
“according to the working of his mighty power,” Now what is he saying? The word
working, speaks of efficiency, operation, strength and the idea of
effectiveness. So as we might expect of God, this power is effective and will
accomplish exactly the plan, the will of God. What or might we say who is His
mighty power? The word mighty speaks of ability and this word power (kratos)
speaks of dominion, might, power and strength.
For a moment let us
reflect on this a little different way. Let us examine the following verses.
Genesis 1:2-3 (KJV)
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was
upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the
waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Notice, Who was
present in the earth when God (Elohîm) spoke; “light be”? The Holy Spirit was
moving upon the face of the waters. He, the Holy Spirit was the “mighty power”
that caused physical light to be, praise His name. Just a brief side issue I
want you to consider. Notice in verse two of Genesis that “darkness was upon
the face of the deep.” This is the interface between our atmosphere and outer
space and this darkness was not just the absence of light but the presence of
Satan. Why was he there and not on the earth or the water? You will find the
complete answer in my books, Awake, Arise and Triumph but in short Satan
(Lucifer) had been thrown out of Heaven (God’s abode) and was wanting back but
of course he is out forever, praise the Lord. And as soon as we take hold of
the Covenant we have, purchased by the Son of God and put Satan and his bunch
underfoot he and they are out of here forever, praise the Lord.
Just as the Holy
Spirit was the One who caused the physical light to be in response to the Word
of God so is He the One at work in our lives waiting on our faith filled, love
powered words. What a deal! When you see this Greek word, kratos used it is
always speaking of resurrection power. That same power that raised Jesus from
the dead resides in us.
Romans 8:11 (KJV)
11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell
in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal
bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
As you continue in
Romans the eighth chapter you find out in verse twenty three that we will be
receiving a glorified body. That is our final salvation, praise the Lord! That
same Holy Spirit that called all matter to form in our physical universe and all
things created in Heaven abides in us and works on our behalf. Just think of it
and rejoice, rejoice exceedingly. Until next month.
Numbers 6:24-26 (KJV)
24 The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
25 The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
26 The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
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