Prayer In Ephesians - sjanhunen/dokimazo GitHub Wiki

Motivation

Prayer as communication: communication is shaped by context (relationships)
Examples of prayer from Christian culture
I prayed a prayer for years that I never really understood
I have started praying a new prayer for understanding

The Lord's Prayer

Who was the Lord teaching? What was the time and place?

- - Refer to the Purpose diagram and show the time/place
- Understand how the prayer fits into the context
  - Our Father in heaven, hallowed by your name
    - Prayer is addressed to Father: this seems to be a universal pattern
  - Your kingdom come
    - The kingdom is not here yet: the hope is for it to come from heaven to earth
    - Recall Christ said, my kingdom is not of this world
    - We don't see the kingdom come in force until Rev 12:10: And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
  - Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven
    - A big part of God's eartly purpose is the mirroring of earth and heaven. We see this in a number of ways.
    - Earthly Priesthood, Heavenly Preisthood
    - Earthly Tabernacle, Heavenly Tabernacle
    - Earthly Jerusalem, Heavenly Jerusalem
    - The Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven (Mat 16:19) - whatever is bound on earth is bound in heaven, whatever is loosed on earth is loosed in heaven
    - The earth is patterened after heaven (Heb?)
  - Give us day by day our daily bread
    - Look at as literally as possible
    - Think about Israel in the wilderness and the manna that came down from heaven
    - Think about Christ feeding the 5000
    - TBD Revelation
  - Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us
    - This has the forgiveness of the king in view (conditional)
    - See Matt 18: the king, and the servant that was forgiven and didn't forgive: serious consequeces
    - See Matt 6:14: if you forgive, you will be forgiven, but if you don't forgive you won't be forgiven
    - Different motivation than Col 3:13
  - Do not lead us into temptation
    - A day of temptation in the past: the testing Israel went through in the wilderness (Heb 3:8)
    - A day of temptation in the future: (Rev 3:10) the hour of trial upon the whole earth and the deliverance from it
  - Deliver us from the evil one
    - Satan or the beast?
- Notice:
- When we understand where the prayer fits: we can go all the way with what it says
- The Father's willingness to answer

Paul's Prayer

Eph 1:17-19
- Read the prayer
- A few keywords we need to understand for this prayer: promise, calling, inheritance, hope
Calling and Hope
- Calling: A promise God makes about an inheritance. Hey I've got something for you!
- Hope: The one who was promised enters into the inheritance. That's the goal!
- Show on Diagrams
Consider the example of Abraham
- Gen 12: The Calling
- Gen 13: Exploring the inheritance
- The Hope: the Nation ultimately laying claim to the inheritance
- Show the Promise to Abraham
Consider Paul's Prayer
- We saw the words calling, inheritance, and hope, but what is the promise is in view?
- Eph 1:11 says we have been made a heritage, or in other words, we are God's inheritance
- Eph 1:20-23 shows the father working out what he promised to the son
- Eph 3:6 says we are partakers of His promise: I believe this is the promise of the Father to the Son
- Re-read the prayer in light of this
- Show this on the diagram
- Show the Promise to the Son
What is it like to be an inheritance?
- Consider the land that Israel will inherit in Ezekiel 36
- God talks to the mountains
- Show how we are His inheritance and how that is the best thing that could happen to us
- The resulting fullness caused the remaining heathen to know what God had done
- Compare this to Eph 1/3

Why Pray this prayer?

Eyes of understanding vs may be able to comprehend We need God's help to understand (Christ opening understanding of scriptures, parables): it's one thing for something to be revealed, it's another to be understood The Disciples needed help

- - To understand the scriptures
  - To understand the Mysteries of the Kingdom
  - To know how to pray
- We have barely scratched the surface of the Mystery
- Power that raised Christ versus power that works in us
- The Father's ability to answer
- The is the key to the walk that we want
- will revealed => will understood => will acted out (walk worthy)
- If we pray for the walk without praying for the understanding, we are attacking symptoms, not the root cause; this is a hopelessly frustrating battle

Conclusion

The Lord's Prayer is a prayer that looks forward to Revelation Paul's Prayers in Ephesians look upwards to far above all, where Christ is seated If we pray "thy kingdom come" and "thy will be done on earth" when we have be translated into the kingdom and God is working out a purpose in the superheavenlies, we are confused! The prayer tracks with the promise Are you going to inherit the earth or are you His inheritance far above all? If you want to know more: ask Him! Does God care if we understand?

Notes

Consider Luke 11 "Lord, teach us to pray" as an example. Jesus first illustrates a prayer for the disciples. This is relevant prayer for the kingdom. Notice how "ask", "seek", "knock" and the answer is assured after this. This kingdom prayer is a prayer that the Father was willing and able to answer. Also notice the Holy Spirit and the Father's willingness to give in v13. This pattern is shared with the prayers in Ephesians. Paul sets an example of relevant prayer in Eph 1:18-20 and Eph 3:14-19. Paul shows the willingness and ability of the Father to answer this prayer in Eph 3:20-21.
Christ taught His disciples how to pray after he began speaking in parables. How is this significant?
Christ talks about seeing with eyes and hearing with ears and then understanding with the heart. In Ephesians, Paul talks about the "eyes of the mind" being directly enlightened. This understanding has nothing to do with the external senses.
Notice how the disciples asked Christ about the meaning of the parables in Mat 13:36. It's one thing for a secret to be uttered, but it's another to really understand. The disciples needed the Lord's help in understanding the Mysteries of the Kingdom. Doesn't it make sense if we ask for His help to understand The Mystery?
It takes incredible power for us to understand and know the love of Christ (which passes knowledge). What are examples of how power is applied in Ephesians?
A question: what is relevant prayer for today? What does it look like? Paul sets the example here.
In order to to be "wise" according to Eph 5:15-17, we need to understand the "will" of the Lord. Can we do this without His help? In particular, we need to understand "the Mystery of His will" (Eph 1:9).
A necessary exercise: get really clear on the use of he and him (which is Father and which is Son)
Power in Ephesians: relationship in prayer
- Our eyes opened to the power towards us (Eph 1:19)
- Far above all power (Eph 1:21)
- Paul made a minister...by the effectual working of His power (Eph 3:7)
- Strengthened with power (Eph 3:16)
- Power that worketh in us (Eph 3:20)
Who's to say that The Mystery isn't the most powerful messages in the World? We must take this by faith.
In Hebrews it is said of Christ "I come to do thy will". It isn't a stretch to say that wherever Christ is and whatever He is doing, He is doing the will of God. If we learn more about Christ, we will learn more about God's will. Paul is praying that we would be filled with understanding of the amazing relationship that we can have with Christ as Head of All.