Prayer for Empowerment

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Ephesians 3:16

I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit 

(CSB)

Knowing the struggles and persecution the church would experience, Jesus commanded the early believers to gather together and wait for empowerment through the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-5).  Fortunately, the early disciples obeyed Jesus command and received the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4).  In a powerful demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit enabling one to minister effectively, we see once timid and fearful Peter stand up in front of a crowd that just a few days before, was calling for Jesus’ crucifixion (Acts 2:14-41). 

Unfortunately, many churches today have abandoned the call of Christ to make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20) and the command to wait for the empowerment and leading of the Holy Sprit prior to ministering (Acts 1:4-5).  In many ways, the church of today resembles the Church of Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-20).  Paul’s prayer for spiritual power in Ephesians 3:14-21 comes from a concern for the church at Ephesus losing its power and comprehension of the length, width, height, and depth of God’s love.  Unfortunately, it appears they did not maintain their connection to the power of God with the church at Ephesus among the seven churches in Revelation, mentioned as a church losing its first love (Revelation 2:1-7). 

Instead of gathering each week to worship in the empowerment of the Holy Spirit learning the truth of the immense love of God towards humanity, many churches worship wealth and materialism.  (1)  Instead of spreading the good news of the Gospel, the focus is on building and maintaining large facilities and preaching a health and wealth gospel as a means of getting members to give more in order to fund the expensive facilities.  A sex obsessed world that cannot even confirm a Supreme Court Justice without a trip through the gutter needs the church to detach from its infatuation with managing facilities and return to the message of the Gospel that brings transformation to a sinful world (Acts 17:6). 

The prayer for empowerment recorded in Ephesians 3:14-21 provides direction for the church returning to its once powerful world transforming position.  The process for this transformation involves,

1)      Prayer (Ephesians 3:4-16) – After teaching on the implements of the armor of God, the Apostle Paul concludes with urging us to pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, interceding for the saints.  Just as our cell phone is useless without the power of its battery, believers in Christ are powerless without the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives.  Prayer is an important spiritual discipline that connects a believer with God, their power source.  Intercessory prayer unleashes that power on others in need of salvation or a touch from God. 

2)      Empowerment of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 3:16) – The church is not a building and why churches lose their focus when they become overly concerned with management of their facilities rather than on God.  Instead the church is an assembling together of believers in Jesus Christ.  However, if these believers lack the empowerment of the Holy Spirit in their lives, they too can quickly lose their Christ-centered focus.  Prior to His ascension, Jesus commanded His followers to wait for the filing of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4).  This is also good advice for the church today keeping the church strong and uncompromising in the sinful world in which we live.    

3)      Faith (Ephesians 3:17) – While empowerment from the Holy Spirit is necessary, it is useless without faith for without faith we cannot please God.  In addition to pleasing God, faith is also a shield empowering believers to resist the attacks of the enemy (Ephesians 6:6-16). 

4)      Unity and love (Ephesians 3:17-18) – A politically divided world needs an example of unity and love.  Our love for one another within the church is that example to the world (John 13:34-35).  However, the enemy, Satan, has succeeded in causing divisions within the church, causing the church to appear no different to the world than any secular organization.  Jesus taught the woman at the well that true worshipers of Christ worship in Spirit and truth (John 4:23).  A dangerously divided world must see the example of the church, unified in love, and empowered by the Holy Spirit that declares the truth of the Gospel through empowered believers in Christ. 

5)      Centered on Christ (Ephesians 3:19-21) – What we treasure most in our hearts is what empowers us (Matthew 6:21).  When a church congregation becomes focused on management of a large facility, its empowerment comes through numbers attending services and contributions.  While these are vital to the church, the treasure and source of empowerment must remain a Christ-centered focus on spreading the Gospel and making disciples (Mark 16:15; Matthew 28:19-20).  My prayer for the church today is for a return to the Christ-centered focus like that of the early church in Ephesus and a return to the first love of the church, Jesus Christ.

Like the early church, the church today faces struggles and persecution.  However, a divided world is seeking something to bring unification and not finding it in politics or sinful pleasures.  May the church break free from its Laodicean tendencies and return to its Christ-centered focus that turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6), becoming an example of people unified behind the love and truth of the Gospel. 

1. Hevener, Dr. Fillmer. Is the Modern Christian Church a Second Laodicea? www.southsidemessenger.com. [Online] The Southside Messenger, October 27, 2016. [Cited: September 30, 2018.] http://southsidemessenger.com/is-the-modern-christian-church-a-second-laodicea/.