One of Paul's important prayer themes in the epistles was the prayer for strength. Apart from Ephesians 1:17-20 where Paul prayed for revelations and spirit of wisdom, the other prayers of Paul that seems to carry such power and import among believers today can be found in Ephesians 3:14-16 where Paul prayed for strength!
"For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of 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 by his Spirit in the inner man"(Ephesians 3:14-16)
Also in Colossians 1:10-11 Paul repeated the same prayer in another way but with the same central theme of strength: "For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increase in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;"
The purpose of this strength as revealed in this last scripture is to build endurance in us or put in another word, to build durability in us for long drawn out battles. It is a basic understanding that we are in constant warfare with the enemy and ultimately what determines our victory is the level of our strength. The wise man speaking in Proverbs 24:10 said, "If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small"(Proverbs 24:10). Life is constant warfare, only the strong are assured victory!
And especially in our case as believers where we are always at war with the enemy, we must always be guarded with strength. In 2 Corinthians 2:14 Paul said God always causes us to triumph.
‘Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place’
The word always suggests that we are always in constant warfare! And in a long drawn out battle, the ability to sustain the strength and the morale of your forces is the key to victory. Of the battle between the house of Saul and David, the Bible had this to record, ‘Now there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David: but David waxed stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker’(2 Samuel 3:1)
We all know who won this long drawn out battle: the house of David of course! And the key to that victory was STRENGTH!
Read full message here WHAT PAUL PRAYED FOR: STRENGHTH
"For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of 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 by his Spirit in the inner man"(Ephesians 3:14-16)
Also in Colossians 1:10-11 Paul repeated the same prayer in another way but with the same central theme of strength: "For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increase in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;"
The purpose of this strength as revealed in this last scripture is to build endurance in us or put in another word, to build durability in us for long drawn out battles. It is a basic understanding that we are in constant warfare with the enemy and ultimately what determines our victory is the level of our strength. The wise man speaking in Proverbs 24:10 said, "If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small"(Proverbs 24:10). Life is constant warfare, only the strong are assured victory!
And especially in our case as believers where we are always at war with the enemy, we must always be guarded with strength. In 2 Corinthians 2:14 Paul said God always causes us to triumph.
‘Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place’
The word always suggests that we are always in constant warfare! And in a long drawn out battle, the ability to sustain the strength and the morale of your forces is the key to victory. Of the battle between the house of Saul and David, the Bible had this to record, ‘Now there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David: but David waxed stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker’(2 Samuel 3:1)
We all know who won this long drawn out battle: the house of David of course! And the key to that victory was STRENGTH!
Read full message here WHAT PAUL PRAYED FOR: STRENGHTH
