In the sermon 'Prayer: The Power of the Gospel pt2,' Carl Provost explores Ephesians 3:14-21, focusing on Paul's prayer for the Ephesians. The sermon emphasizes the spiritual nature of Paul's petitions, which prioritize the strengthening of the 'inner man' over material concerns. The 'inner man' is highlighted as a key concept, representing the regenerate spirit that empowers believers to overcome the flesh. Provost underscores the importance of being rooted and grounded in love, which is essential for comprehending the vastness of Christ's love and for bearing spiritual fruit. The sermon also stresses the role of prayer in manifesting the power of the Gospel, as it aligns believers with God's will and strengthens them to endure trials. The doxology is presented as an expression of worship and acknowledgment of God's ability to work through His people, transforming individuals and communities through prayer and the Gospel.

Please take your copy of God's Word and turn to Ephesians chapter 3. Starting in verse 14. Starting in verse 14. 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, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all the ages, world without end.

Amen. Heavenly Father, we come before you, Father, as we look at this prayer that Paul had for the church at Ephesus. And Father, I pray that as we are to be a people of prayer that we would learn that you would teach us how we might pray for the power of the gospel in us and through us and for us. And we pray in your Son, Christ Jesus' name. Amen.

Well, last week we, I broke this prayer up into the first part being The first two verses there, 14 and 15, is we looked at the attitude of prayer, the posture of prayer, and the people of prayer. And then we come to this part of the prayer where we will look, particularly at the petitions that Paul brings forward in this prayer. We are a people that are supposed to be a people of prayer. But we are also a people that oftentimes need to be taught how to pray. We sometimes lose focus.

We are told in James that you have not because you ask not. But we are told that he answers the prayers of his people. But it's when we pray according to his will. A friend of mine one time had changed the Wednesday night prayer meeting to a Bible study. And I asked him why he had done this.

And he said, well, The prayer service has become about Grandma's big toe. And I was kind of laughed. And what he meant was that they had lost focus. And not that there was anything wrong with praying for grandma's big toe, but the problem was, was they were no longer focused on what God was focused on. Their prayers were no longer consistent with the prayers of the Bible.

What he should have done is probably taught the people how to pray, But what he was getting at was that there is a way that we should pray. There is a focus that we should have in prayer. It comes from those who worship a sovereign God. Those who understand the desires of God, the will of God, and those who pray according to the will of God. And so as we come to today's text, we're going to look at the petitions of Paul's prayer, and there's six of them in the text and then we'll look at what I'm calling the doxology of prayer which is those verses 20 and 21.

First I want to notice as we look at this text what Paul's petitions are not. See Paul does not pray for his circumstances. He didn't pray that his circumstances would change or that he might be free to preach to the Ephesians and return to them. Even though I'm sure he did pray for these things, but that's not what we see here. He does not pray for the particular circumstances of the Ephesians in their...

With the persecution that was coming on them because they now held allegiance to one who was outside of the Roman government. They held allegiance to Christ. One who had been hung upon a cross, tried as a criminal, those who had been persecuted for Christ's name's sake. But His prayer is focused more on preparing them for what they will be up against. For He knows that this is a part of being a people of Christ.

That we must suffer as Christ has suffered. And so He's praying a spiritually focused prayer that they would be strengthened to be able to endure the trials of this world. To be able to endure the persecutions of the evil one and the persecutions of the world. See, far too often our prayers are tied to the material world, or the physical ailments that we might have, or lack of things that we might need. And not that we can't pray for these things, but when we look throughout Scripture, we notice that There is an emphasis upon the spiritual needs that we have.

See, Paul's prayer is of a greater and more important nature in the lives of the Ephesians than their circumstances. Paul's petitions are spiritual. First I want to notice that Paul's prayer here particularly is spiritual, just like the characteristic of all biblical prayers of the Old and New Testament. Paul is concerned about the spiritual state of the Ephesians. And this is clearly demonstrated by Jesus when he's speaking to the apostles and the people and how they must trust in God for all things.

And right after teaching them the Lord's Prayer, which has a line about being provided daily bread, but yet He teaches them, And in Matthew 6, Jesus said, Therefore, take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For all these things do the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." What we see there in that passage is that if we truly understand that God is our Heavenly Father, if we truly understand that He provides for us what we need.

That we know that if we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, that God will direct our paths, He will direct our steps, He will provide for us, and that we don't need to be concerned about those things. We are told that if we keep our eyes fixed upon Christ Jesus, not looking to the left or the right, to the sense that so easily ensnare us, that we run the race with endurance. It's this type of praying. It's praying with our eyes fixed upon Christ, knowing that if we are seeking first the Kingdom of God, that all that we need will be provided for. So when we pray, we should not be consumed with our own circumstances or our ambitions, But we should be consumed with our spiritual state and condition.

I'm not saying that God's not concerned about our physical needs. In fact, one thing we clearly see in the ministry of Jesus was out of compassion for the people, he healed the sick. But even in healing the sick, we see that his ultimate concern for them was their spiritual condition. And not everybody's prayers are answered. We see Paul was left with a thorn in his side.

Something to remind him in his weakness of his dependence upon Christ Jesus. But when we pray rightly, we understand that even when God does not heal the sick, even when somebody dies in what seems to us like an untimely death, we trust and know that it is perfectly in God's time. And even when we are suffering with something, we understand that it's ordained of God and that God through prayer will strengthen us to endure. And that through the sufferings of this world that He is glorified. And that through the sufferings of this world that He is glorified and that through the sufferings of this world He shapes us and teaches us and makes us like Christ Jesus.

See Scripture does not promise that being a Christian will be easy. It does not promise that all of our problems will go away. But it does promise that He will always be with us. Christians are called to enter the kingdom of God through much tribulation. In Acts 14 22.

We are called to suffer for His sake. In Philippians 1 29. It says, Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." And so when we come to these petitions that Paul has here in Ephesians, this is what he has in mind. He has in mind that the Ephesians will be called to suffer as Christ suffered.

But yet, he wants them to be prepared. He wants them to be those who clearly demonstrate and exhibit the love of Christ to others. So let's look at verse 16 here, this first petition that Paul brings. It says that, He would grant you according to the riches of His glory to be strengthened with might by the Spirit and the inner man." First of all, Paul is pointing out that all things that we ask for, that we ask God to grant, are out according to the riches of His glory. If we want to pray according to the will of God, we must pray according to the riches of His glory.

God does things that glorify Himself. For the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. And some would have said that the chief end of God is to glorify Himself. Understanding that God displays His glory in the way that He answers the prayers of His people. And this is according to the riches of His glory, and He prays that they might be strengthened in the inner man.

So what is the inner man? It's kind of interesting reading through commentaries of the different views on this, but I think it's clear when you look at the way Paul uses this term. It's an important concept in the writings of Paul, this idea of an inner man. In 2 Corinthians, Paul said, For which cause we faint not, but through our outward man perish. Yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

See, Paul was recognizing that even with his failing health, he had been beaten, left for dead. It's believed that his eyesight was beginning to become poor. But yet, he says that his inner man is renewed day by day. He recognized that his real strength came from his inner man. That in his weakness, he was strong.

See, the inner man is that man that is brought to life inside each of us at regeneration. Paul speaks of this struggle between the inward and the outward man in Romans 7. Speaking of this war between the outward man and the inner man, Paul says in verse 21 of Romans 7, it says, I find then a law that when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man, but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. He speaks of that inner man who knows the right thing to do. That's the regenerate part of him, but he's talking about that struggle with the flesh.

And oftentimes he refers to the flesh and the desires of the flesh as those temptations that we still deal with because we are not glorified yet. We are being sanctified, but we are not glorified. And there are temptations that we struggle with in the flesh, but our inner man, our regenerate spirit in us, is where the power comes from to overcome the flesh. And he says, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. It's Christ Jesus that delivers us.

It's Christ Jesus in us by which we overcome that hour of man. So we see this concept of this inner man is where our strength comes from. It's the Holy Spirit in us, working in us. The unregenerate lacks this inner man. He is still spiritually dead.

We see this clearly in the world. He only lives for the outward man. He only lives for his passions. This is why Paul prays that the inner man be strengthened in the Ephesians. See the true power of the believer is in his inner man.

It is the inner man that allows us to overcome the flesh. It is the inner man that gives us victory over the evil one. Even though the outward man is failing, the inward man is strengthened day by day. And so we see that the Ephesians need to be prepared to grow. For We are told elsewhere in Scripture that when we come to regeneration, by faith in Christ Jesus, we start off as babes.

We start off as those that can only take the milk. We can't take the meat of the Word of God. But we are not to remain in that state, and we are to grow. And Paul is praying that their inner man is strengthened. It's strengthened for the trials that will come against them.

This brings us to the second petition. A Paul's prayer. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. So what does it mean that Christ dwells in their hearts. Some say, but wait a minute, aren't we speaking of believers here?

Why would He call for Christ to dwell in their hearts again? But we know that we've already seen that the Ephesians, the fact the letter is addressed to the saints in Ephesus. And he said that they were sealed in the Holy Spirit. And so what we see here are those who are regenerate, but yet Paul is praying that Christ may dwell in their hearts. See, the sealing of the Spirit is primarily a matter of assurance of salvation.

But here what Paul is speaking of is our relationship, our communion with Christ Jesus. See, when we come to the knowledge of somebody, when we meet them, we know them, but to fully know them takes time. It takes time in His Word, studying and learning about Christ Jesus. For Him to take up full residence in our hearts, It's a growing, it's a sanctifying time. It's sanctification that Paul is praying for here.

That Christ might dwell in a deeper way in their hearts. Paul in Galatians said, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. It's Christ in you. That is the goal of His prayer. He wants them to be able to say that is, nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ live within me.

He wants the Ephesians to not be ruled by their flesh, but to be ruled by Christ in them. See, when we pray that we are strengthened in our inner man, certain results will follow. We will begin to see our sin and sinfulness in a different way. We will discover our own vileness. We will begin to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.

It is at this point that we realize that there are certain things in our life that are incompatible with the indwelling Christ. This is what sanctification is. Some, the late James Montgomery Boyce once said that sanctification was us realizing how much unlike Christ we really are. And what he was saying there is as the illumination of the Holy Spirit shows us the mirror of Christ to our life. And we realize just how sinful and vile we are.

It breaks us and it brings us to the point of knowing just how dependent we must be upon the righteousness of Christ. For there is nothing good in us. Even our good works are His filthy rags. We must fully trust in Christ Jesus. And it's when we are in that state of recognizing that there is not anything in us, but solely Christ Jesus.

When we fully surrender to Him, that Christ, in a deeper sense, dwells in our hearts. And our hearts are in line with Christ Jesus. And we see others as Christ sees them. And people begin to see Christ in us. For we are Christian, meaning we are representatives of Christ Jesus here on this earth.

He wants us to feel utterly desperate and hopeless apart from Him, so that we can be fully dependent upon Him. We should not strive to be a good man or a holy man, but we should strive to know Jesus, to know Him more. Robert Dabney speaks of the threefold union of the believer with Christ. And that first fold that he talks about is our justification, where God imputes the righteousness of Christ to us. And that's when we understand that we are sinners, that we have no hope apart from Christ, and we trust in the finished work of Christ.

And all of His righteousness is imputed to us, and we are justified. We stand before a holy God because of the righteousness of Christ. And second, Dabney talks about the spiritual union that changes us. And that's this aspect that we're speaking of here, of Christ dwelling in us. That's that sanctification that takes place as He's dwelling in us and we become more and more like Christ.

But the third that Dabney speaks of is the communion of the saints. It is our union with everyone else that is united to Christ. See, we not only have fellowship with Christ, but we have fellowship with all that have ever been united with Christ. And it is this communion of the saints that leads us to this third petition of Paul's prayer. In verse 17.

That ye being rooted and grounded in love. See Paul mixes two metaphors here to help us understand where the strength of the Christian and the Christian community comes from. The first one that he uses is rooted in love. Kind of interesting when you think about it. Rooted in love.

Think about this in the terms of the metaphor he's given us. You've got a tree with roots. And the soil that it's growing in is the love of Christ. And just as a tree puts out roots and draws nutrients from the soil, it's saying that we as Christians and the Christian community should be those who have put our roots out into the love of Christ. And we are drawing from the love of Christ.

And that that is the strength of the church. I think of an arborist. If you hire an arborist, that's a tree specialist. And he'll come out and he'll look at your trees. And usually these guys are trained, they can tell you that tree is sick.

And you ask them, what do we need to do to strengthen the tree? And he doesn't come out and spray the tree with lots of things. I mean, maybe if there's a fungus or something. But if he really wants to strengthen the tree, he comes out and he pumps nutrients into the ground and he feeds the roots. He strengthens the tree by feeding the roots.

And that's what it's like in the Christian life and in the Christian community. Is that if our roots are deeply in the soil of the love of Christ, If we are drawing from Christ Jesus and His love, we are strong. See, the tree grows, And in love it bears the fruit of love. How do we know that we are rooted in the love of Christ? By the fruit that we bear.

The true motive for holy living is love. We are told that we show the love that we have for Christ by keeping His commandments. We are told that they will know that we are His disciples by the love that we have for one another. That's how we see the fruit that we are deeply rooted in the love of Christ. By the love that we have for one another.

That is the strength of the Christian walk. That is the strength of the church. Being rooted in the love of Christ. But Paul also gives us a second metaphor here. Grounded in love.

Actually, the word grounded can also mean to lay a foundation in love. And now we're thinking about the process of building or laying a foundation. This is the beginning process for building a house. We also see that a house is only as strong as its foundation. One that wants its house to stand for decades spends time on the foundation to make sure that it never shifts.

You've got to think about the construction also at this time. When you think about, they built with stone. And we see that even today within these nations with these old buildings that are built with stone. If the foundation ever shifts, they crumble and fall. And so the foundation is important for the security of the building.

In Luke's Gospel we see the parable of the two foundations. We are told that the one man dug down and built his house upon the rock. And there's another man who built his house upon the sand. And when storms came, the man's house that was upon sand washed away because his foundation was not sound. But the man who dug down and built his house upon the rock, it stood through the storm.

It's interesting when we think about Christ Jesus being the rock of our salvation. And that we build our foundation upon the love of Christ. And what is implied there in that parable is that we must dig down to the rock and start laying and building that foundation. And that means the foundation that we build in our lives, the foundation we build in our Christian community, the foundation that we build in our church should be built on love. For if we are built on love, we can endure the storms that come.

Churches, Christian lives that are built upon the sand are those that have no true roots, no true foundation, and When storms come, they collapse. Communities fall apart. Christians are those who profess faith in Christ, apostasize, because their foundation was not in the love of Christ. And so as Christians, we must be rooted and grounded in love. And being rooted and grounded in love also prepares us to see the greatness of the love of Christ.

Paul's fourth petition in verse 18. That ye being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height. Now some say that this is speaking of power and not of love, even though it's sandwiched between two verses that speak clearly of love. But whether you look at it as the power of God or the love of God, I'm going to say that the power of God is clearly displayed in the love of God. It is through the work of the Spirit that we are able to comprehend the vastness of Christ's love for us.

There are aspects of the love of God that we can't comprehend. What it means here by saying, the breadth and length and depth and height, is it's of such a vastness, as far as the east is from the west. It's such a vastness of the highest mountain to the deepest sea. It is impossible to completely comprehend the love of Christ. But yet, we are given the opportunity to comprehend what we are able to by the indwelling Holy Spirit in us.

And Paul is praying that they comprehend the love of Christ because He knows that it's the power of the Gospel is when they understand the love of Christ for them. When they understand that their sins have been atoned for, that they stand before a holy God just and righteous. That is the power of the Gospel, and that is the prayer that Paul has for them. See, the covenant of redemption for those that hold and have studied covenant theology is that covenant that's spoken of, of that covenant between the Godhead before the creation, before the beginning of time, where Christ agreed that He would come to earth as a man and redeem His people from the fall. We are told that our names were written in the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation of the world.

We are told that He knew us before we were born. We see this love displayed in His life, in the way that He cared for people, the compassion that He had. We see the love of Christ displayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. Where He prays that This cup may pass, but not My will, but Your will be done to the Father, knowing that He must take the wrath of His Father. A wrath that was reserved for us.

That He must take it upon Himself for those whom God had given Him, His people, that He must be separated from God upon the cross. He said, my Father, my Father, why have You forsaken me? And everything went dark. It's this love that's displayed, this love that is beyond our understanding. That is the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ.

It's this love that's displayed as He is beaten and mocked and spat upon for us. It's this love that's displayed when he hangs upon a cross, when he could have called a myriad of angels, a great multitude of angels, but yet, He willingly went there for us. We are told that greater love hath no man than this, than a man lay down his life for his friends." We are the friends of Jesus. No greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. See, do you know the love of Christ?

Do you know the love of Christ? Have you contemplated and meditated upon the breath and length and height and death of Christ in His love? If you are saved you are a product of this love. And this leads us to Paul's fifth petition in his prayer, for they build upon one another. And he prays also that you may know the love of Christ." See, Paul is praying that you would know the love of Christ in a deeper way.

See, it's one thing to look at what He has done and to ponder it. But do you know His love? Do you know what it's like to feel the love of the Father as He lovingly disciplines us? See, this is illustrated in the parable that Jesus gave on the prodigal son. We all know the parable.

The younger son, who is a true son, spurned the love of His Father. He asked for His inheritance and He went off to a foreign land and He wasted His inheritance, serving His flesh. When He was in the myre and muck of his sin, he remembered the love of his father. And he remembered not only the love of his father for a son, but he remembered the love of his father for the servants. And he desired even to go back to be a slave in his father's house.

And we are told that when his father saw him coming, that he ran out to meet Him. That He had the fatted calf butchered and they had a great celebration because His Son was returned to Him. See, This displays the love of Christ that He has for each of us. He will never leave us or forsake us. And even when we turn our back and spurn His love By sinning against Him, His love remains if we are true sons of God.

And this knowledge builds a longing for the loving arms of Jesus when we know that He will never leave us or forsake us. We see this demonstrated in the Psalms. It says, As a deer panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee. It's saying that when You truly know the love of Christ. When you have experienced the love of the Father who takes you when you are unworthy, who would send His firstborn Son to die for you while you were yet His enemies.

And He restores you to that place of honor because of the righteousness of Christ. We also see this says, Oh God, my soul thirsteth for God, for the living God. Does your soul thirst for God? In Psalms 84 it says, I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. This brings us to the last petition of Paul's prayer.

And This is the fruition of the first five petitions. He says, I pray that they might be filled with the fullness of God. This is a hard saying. We know that no man can contain the fullness of God, for God is infinite. And there's things that we just can't get our heads around and understand, but we are told that He prays that we might be filled with the fullness of God.

In speaking of Jesus, Paul said, it pleased the Father that in Him should all the fullness of God dwell. Paul also said in Colossians, For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. So in Christ Jesus dwells the fullness of God, and in us dwells Christ Jesus. And as I looked at this and I thought of this, what does this mean? The fullness of God dwelling in us.

And I believe that knowing that we could never fully comprehend the breath and length and height and death of God that we could also never fully be filled with the fullness of God. But yet, it is a filling. It is the fullness of God that overflows in us. Paul, I believe, is praying that we be overflowing with Christ and His love. He's praying that the power of the gospel be demonstrated through the love that we have for others.

This is the power of the Gospel that through the prayers and preaching of His people, through the preaching of the Gospel, the church is the instrument of righteousness applying the overflowing love of Christ to the world. The last part of this text I want to look at I call the doxology of prayer. If you look at commentators, commentators stop, rightly so, at verse 19 for the prayer. But what exactly is a doxology? And why is it here in the middle of the book?

A doxology means worship or praise of God. In a sense, it's a prayer of praise. And He breaks out right after this prayer for the Ephesians into this wonderful doxology. And I believe that this is actually an answer to His prayer in His own life as the overflowing love of Christ is coming out of His heart in this doxology. It says, "...Now unto him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly all that we ask or think.

See, Paul is acknowledging the power and desire of God to answer prayer. He's praying this prayer not hoping, but with any doubt in His mind. He's praying this prayer according to the will of God because He knows God desires that His people grow in Christ Jesus. That they are sanctified and set apart for His service. And he says that he's praying according, or in this doxology, according to the power that worketh in us.

Paul is acknowledging that it is the will of Christ in us that is bringing forth this prayer. He says unto him, be glory in the church by Christ Jesus through all ages. Here Paul is acknowledging that it is the will of the Father to reveal His glory in the church. God has chosen the foolish things of this world to display His glory, not the wise things of the world. And He brings the power of the gospel through the prayers and preaching of His people.

He transforms lives, He transforms communities, He transforms the world through the prayers and preaching of His people. We are the instrument of righteousness used by God to transform the world, to bring all creation into subjection of the Kingdom of Christ Jesus. And He finishes up world without end. Amen. See, Paul is acknowledging that God is the God of history and that He will bring about His plan through the church and His people.

So remember when we pray that we are praying that God would strengthen us and our inner man enable us to endure the trials of this world, endure the attacks of the devil. That Christ would dwell in us in a greater way. That when people look at us, that they would see Christ Jesus. That the fullness of God would be in us. And that we would be more aware of the great love that He had for us, and that we would understand that we are His, and that we should be sold out to Christ Jesus.

That we should seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness and let Him take care of the rest. Let's pray with power, knowing that our God is a God who answers prayer. Our God is a God who has already defeated the evil one. Sin and death defeated. That if you are in Christ Jesus, that we have all hope.

And that we can trust in Christ Jesus. The power of the Gospel is in prayer of His people and the proclamation of the Gospel. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we come before You. And Father, I pray that You would strengthen our inner man.

We pray that the Holy Spirit would work in us, sanctifying us. And that Christ would dwell in us in a mighty way. And Father, we pray that You would remind us daily of the goodness of your love, that we would be rooted and grounded in your love, and that we would be those who are known as your people by the love that we have for one another. I pray that you would strengthen this church so that we could stand and will stand against the attacks that will come. And Father, we pray that You would strengthen each of us in our homes, strengthen us in our prayers, help us to be a people who pray according to Your will.

We pray in Your precious Son, Christ Jesus' name, Amen. In Jesus' name, Amen.