Adding To Your Faith
Adding to Your Faith is all about helping you understand biblical principals and workshop biblical practices in a way that shapes and forms us into the image of Jesus Christ.
Adding To Your Faith
Immeasurable Greatness ("Their Home" Day 3)
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Do you yearn to pray bigger prayers? Thank God for your brothers and sisters in Christ, and watch as those prayers inevitably lead to you to praise God for His immeasurable greatness. That's how Paul describes his own prayer life in Ephesians 1:15-23. In this episode, Rachael and Matt continue using the "From Their Home to Our Home" study method to further explore Ephesians. in the process they discover the keys to a more fulfilling and powerful prayer life.
Click Here for week three homework sheet
BEFORE this episode: Complete DAY THREE homework (Ephesians 1:15-23)
AFTER this episode: Complete DAY FOUR homework (Ephesians 2:1-10)
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
While it is important to know that you have everything you need to engage with God's Word if you simply have a Bible and the indwelling Holy Spirit, a few additional resources could be helpful in providing you clearer understanding of the spiritual and cultural context of the book of Ephesians. Click the links below if you'd like to explore these additional tools:
Longing For A Fruitful Christian Life
SPEAKER_00Do you ever feel like your life just isn't as productive or effective as it should be? As followers of Jesus, we want our short time on earth to have eternal impact, but often we feel like we're falling short. The good news is that Scripture gives us a promise, a life that's never ineffective or unproductive in knowing Jesus Christ. In 2 Peter 1, we're told to build on our faith, adding goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection, and love. As these qualities grow, they keep us fruitful and effective for God's kingdom.
Meet Matt And Rachel’s Study Approach
SPEAKER_00I'm Matt Morrow, and my wife Rachel and I have spent nearly 20 years teaching God's word and walking with people in every stage of faith. Our passion is to see lives permanently and radically transformed by Scripture applied. Adding to your faith is here to help you understand biblical truth, practice it daily, and grow to look more like Jesus. We're glad you're here. Let's walk this journey together.
SPEAKER_01Hello
Reading Ephesians 1:15–23 Aloud
SPEAKER_01and welcome. I'm Rachel and I'm here with Matt, and we are on day three of our homework in the method studying the Bible from their home to our home. And today we are in Ephesians 1, verses 15 through 23. So if you have not spent some time going through how to going through these verses with this method of from our home, from their home to our home, hit pause now and go spend some time in Ephesians 15 verses 15 through 23. Then if you find it helpful, you can come back and join our conversation. The whole point of this is just to encourage you and to encourage each other as we just work through and see what truths we can find in God's word as we spend time
Observing Paul’s Prayer For The Ephesians
SPEAKER_01meditating on it, as we spend time asking him to show us his glory, to show us the things in us that are not pleasing to him, and to ask us how we can apply his word to be more like him to ever-increasing glory. So spend some time doing that. It will be the best part of your day. I promise. And so as we dive in today, Matt, would you like to just open us with a word of prayer before we go into the word?
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. Let's go to the Lord. Lord, thank you so much for what you have already been doing through your word this week. And with each of these successive passages of Scripture in this letter to the Ephesian church, you continue to reinforce to us, Lord, your grand and glorious purpose, that you have given us tremendous benefit by inviting us into your family and into your inheritance, but that our salvation is about your glory first and foremost, above all else. And so, Lord, as we approach your word today, I pray that you will go ahead of us and that you will prepare our hearts to see this truth through your eyes, and that you will align our hearts and our desires with yours. And in it, Lord, we will just grow in deeper intimacy with you as we draw deeper into your word. Lord, we love you and we thank you for what you're about to do. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
SPEAKER_01All right. So today we are going to get a glimpse into the Apostle Paul's prayer life. We're going to actually get to read a prayer
From Gratitude To God’s Glory
SPEAKER_01and a prayer that he that he told the Ephesians he was praying for them. And so we're going to get to spend some time in that prayer and see what it teaches us about who we are as the church and who we are in Christ. So, Matt, would you like to read those uh verses for us?
SPEAKER_00I will do my best. This is another one that has many, many words in very few sentences. So I'm going to do my best here, but hang hang with me. I'm reading from the English Standard Version, Ephesians 1, 15 to 23. For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to
Breaking Down The Prayer’s Structure
SPEAKER_00come. And He put all things under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. It's a beautiful and glorious prayer, isn't it? I mean it's just It's just so rich, so rich. So that's where we start is we start by just observing, and honestly, this is I had more fun just identifying and pulling out observations in this prayer than probably I've had doing doing this this method yet this week. It's there's just so much here. Uh as I said, the first six verses is one sentence. Okay. But but there's just a lot going on here, and he starts with with saying that he is that he is giving thanks to the Lord because he's heard of the faith of the Ephesians in the Lord Jesus and of their love toward each other.
SPEAKER_01Right. And he starts with for this reason.
SPEAKER_00Right. Because of this.
SPEAKER_01Right, because of this. And anytime you you kind of see a because or a for in the Bible, it's always good to ask what that's referring to.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Right. And so, especially at this moment, you really can't separate it from the 14 verses that come before it.
SPEAKER_00Of course, right.
SPEAKER_01Right. I mean, he he is building this case that that God has chosen us, that we are his creation, that that we were called out of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight, that we were predestined to be adopted by sons in Christ Jesus, that that in accordance with his plan, we have every spiritual blessing in Christ, that we were chosen, that we were redeemed, that we were forgiven, right? That he revealed himself in his glory, that he then sealed us with the Holy Spirit to his praise and glory,
Timeless Truths: Power, Hope, Authority
SPEAKER_01right? So, so all of this that comes before, he's like, this is what Christ has done for you. This is who you are in Christ. And then for this reason, because I heard about your faith, because I heard about your love for the saints, right? I'm seeing this played out in you. And because of that, here's how I pray. Here's how I'm praying for you, right? I am giving thanks to God for you.
SPEAKER_00And I am remembering you in my own prayers. And what kinds of prayers am is he offering for the saints there in Ephesus? As he and I just I just love, again, the tr the Trinity, the whole Godhead is represented through here. He actually names them here, right? That God, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give who? Give you. So I'm remembering you and my prayers, that he may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, that you would have the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you. What are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints? This is just the beginning of what Paul is praying for these beloved believers in Ephesus. He's not, he's he, I mean, and again, we've talked before, when when you go deeper in God's word and you grow deeper intimacy, intimacy with him and you recognize his purposes, your prayers get bigger. And Paul is praying big prayers. Now, we are called throughout scripture, I want to be clear about this, to bring every care to the Lord. So there are no prayers that are too small to bring to him. But notice what Paul is focusing his attention on here. His attention and his prayers are eternal matters. Okay? These are things that are about the spiritual health and the spiritual future of these believers and followers
Church And Christ Are Inseparable
SPEAKER_00of Christ. And they are ultimately about the glory of God. That's what he's praying for in all of this. Because look where he shifts. This is the other thing. I can just watch this. So it's just it's just, he starts out praying for the people, and he can't help himself. His prayer just moves toward the glory of God. This is what happens next. So look, we've just been talking about what he's praying for these people, and then he's just, it's like he's almost in this sort of this euphoric move toward the glory of God, where he now all of a sudden what he's praying for is what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority. He's not, I mean, now he's really just exalting the glory of God in his prayer, right? This is what he's doing. He's on a roll now, power and dominion above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And then the and then the authority of Jesus is the close here. I mean he he he prays about how he puts all things under the feet of Jesus and gave him his head over all things of the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. He starts praying for his brothers and sisters, and he is praying fervent, eternal, big prayers for them, and his prayers naturally just gravitate toward the glory of God. It's what they do. And it's so, it's it's just again, it's just so consistent with what we've seen in the verses that lead up to it.
SPEAKER_01The thing, you know, when you think about just observing, like what do I see? One of the things that is helpful to me, especially in Paul's letters, is to break some of that down into its like parts. Okay. Because he writes such long thoughts, it's really hard for me to follow them sometimes. I get I get kind of lost in what he's actually, you know, when it says like, you know, what is he really trying to communicate? I So how do you do that?
SPEAKER_00Like when you I that sounds like a really great idea to me. How do you how do you think that's it?
SPEAKER_01Well, so I mean, it's some of it is just kind of taking it kind of a little bit at a time, right? So, I mean, one, like when he says for this reason, what's he talking about? Yeah, okay. You know, what what reason? And he says, right? I mean, it it is a reference back to what he has been saying, and then it's because I have heard it's also a reference forward, it's a reference forward, okay, right? So, I mean, one is to note that that
Applying The Text To Real Church Hurt
SPEAKER_01this is in response to hearing about their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and their love for the saints. So, in response to this salvation that he has been talking about before, when he sees it in him or in in the church in Ephesus, then he says, I can't stop giving thanks for you. Right. So that's kind of the first place that I stopped is that he is giving thanks for the believers, like for the for God's people. Okay. He's giving thanks to them.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01Right? He's remembering them.
SPEAKER_00He's thanking God for them.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, he's remembering them in his prayers. And then he's he tells us what he's asking on their behalf. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So his intercession.
SPEAKER_01So I mean, it's that the Lord God of our Jesus Christ, the Father of Gloria, and there's a lot of theology in there, right? May give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation. But that's what he's asking, right? That that the church will have the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God, right? In the knowledge of Christ. So that's the prayer. If you take all the other words away, you know, that they'll have a spirit of wisdom and revelation. And then what does that mean? Right? What's a spirit of wisdom and revelation to know God better? Well, then it's that the eyes of their hearts would be enlightened or opened, and then he he makes a list, right? So that they would know the inheritance that they have, right? That they know the hope to which they were called, that they know the inheritance that they have, that they would know God's power, right? And then he spends some time describing God's power and authority, right? But that they would know God's power, this incomparable power, he calls it, and then that they would know God's authority, right? That he has placed Jesus over all things, that Jesus is the head of the church, the church is his body, and he in his fullness has filled the church in every way with everything that they need. And so it helped me to kind of look at the categories, I guess, to say what is he praying, and then which which pieces of those describe that.
SPEAKER_00That helps me too.
Praying Bigger, Eternal Prayers
SPEAKER_00That that's very helpful, I think, to go through and do that. And and I want to pause here for a minute because what I can't help but notice, what he's praying for the believers in Ephesus is also what we pray every day for those who are in this study with us, right? We're we're praying for these very things to happen, that that we would have a spirit of wisdom and revelation, the knowledge in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of our hearts enlightened so that we can know what is that which is the hope that we've been called to, the glorious inheritance, all of that is the whole reason to learn to study the word better, right? The whole the whole point is to be able to draw deeper in intimacy with the Lord for these purposes, for these same purposes. I just I'm just struck by that. That's yeah, that's what we're doing too.
SPEAKER_01It is, right? Because if we know the hope to which we are called and and the inheritance that that brings, and if we know God's incomparable power, like the power that raised Jesus from the dead is what he's talking about here, right? And seated him at the right hand with all authority. Like if we know that power, and if we know that God has placed Jesus over all things, right? That he has authority, if we know that, we live differently.
SPEAKER_00We we do. Now I'm gonna I'm gonna pause because you and I are both getting excited here and we are we are really just still observing, but we're we can't help ourselves. We're jumping in to understand, we're jumping in to relate, we're jumping in to apply, all those things are there. But but at its core, at its simplest point, what do I see? I see, I see an explanation of the reason and the purpose of the prayers, what he's praying for those who who are in Ephesus, and what and what he sees and and recounts to them about the glory and person of Jesus Christ and and God the Father and the Holy Spirit all at once. Like all of this is what's playing out here as he describes his prayer for his fellow believers in Ephesus. So what does it mean? What does it mean as we try to take that next step of understand it? What do as we observe all these things, and there's a lot going on here, and it is it's exciting, but as we observe that, what does
From Reading To Prayer And Memorization
SPEAKER_00it mean?
SPEAKER_01I mean I I put simply like Paul it gives thanks and praise for those who believe that they will that the Father will give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation to know him better.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I wrote down that that Paul's prayers are big. Like these are big eternal prayers. He doesn't, he doesn't, and please hear me with I'm I don't want to I don't want to miscommunicate here, but he's he is much more interested in the eternal in the eternal condition of the believers in Ephesus than he is on on their temporal circumstances. Now I'm not saying that Paul doesn't pray for their for their immediate circumstances and their you know physical protection, probably for sickness and for all those other things, but what drives his prayers is not the temporal, it's the eternal. He has big prayers. And I also can't help but notice that his gratitude for grace, his gratitude for salvation leads to this just outpouring of praise and worship directed toward the Godhead. That there's something here, and it relates exactly to what we were reading yesterday and in the in the preceding verses, which is that that the salvation, he is the he knows he is the beneficiary of his salvation,
Closing Prayer And Next Assignment
SPEAKER_00but he also knows the purpose of his salvation is the glory of God. And so he lives his redeemed life that's been given to him for that purpose. And so when he starts praying and and gets on a roll, he can't help himself. He is just he he starts with gratitude for the grace and salvation and and just leads inevitably to this outpouring of praise and worship for the Almighty God, who is the center of all and who's the purpose of that salvation. What else do you pick up on here in in terms of just understanding what it means?
SPEAKER_01Well, I mean, Paul is clearly saying that through the church we can know the power that raised Jesus from the dead and set him at the right hand of the Father. That that power is available through Christ to his people.
SPEAKER_00And his church is is a part of that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00That's that's how it comes.
SPEAKER_01And and he is clearly stating that all authority belongs to Christ, right? That everything is under his feet, and that he right is head over all things, including the church. That he's head of everything to the church, which is his body, and then the church is the fullness of him.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. It's the full expression here of him.
SPEAKER_01Right. And that's a deep truth.
SPEAKER_00It is, which leads us to the next step, which is bring it back home. How does it relate? What are some of those times? Like you just said a timeless truth. Say it again. Yeah. And then we'll look at some others.
SPEAKER_01Right. I mean that the church, like Jesus is the head of the church and the church is his body, and the church then, his body is the fullness of him who fills all in all.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Right? That you cannot separate Jesus from his church.
SPEAKER_00So if if if you are have ever been tempted, or you've known someone who has been tempted to say something something like, I'm a Christian, I love Jesus, I don't need to go to church every week to be a part of that, right? That and and if you haven't ever said that or thought that, you've probably known somebody who has. And I think I think the theological term for that is hogwash from what we're looking at here. Because what he what Paul's writing is that's inseparable. That that's not that's not an option. Even in the even in his reason for praying for the Ephesians, he says that it's twofold. It's your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints. They're inseparable. Your your your relationship with him and your relationship with the church, with his bride, are inseparable.
SPEAKER_01The other thing, you know, and this probably I'll share it for application because it's actually it's an outgrowth of that, of what that what that meant to me.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Okay. Well, let's go there. Do you want to go to that next? Or do you have something else still in this section?
SPEAKER_01I mean, there are a lot, I think there are just a lot of truths that that we can rest on, right? That that we can ask God to open the eyes of our hearts so so that we can know the hope and the inheritance to which we are called. And and if you have questions about what that hope and inheritance are, read verses one through 14. Yeah. Right? It tells you what that hope and inheritance are. And so we we can know God better by knowing that hope and inheritance. That's part of how we grow in our knowledge of God. We can know the power that. Raise God from the dead. Like that is available to us.
SPEAKER_00And that's a timeless truth. Right. That's it's just as available to us as it was to them. Yeah, as it always will be. Right.
SPEAKER_01Because through Christ, He has put that power in his body. The power that raised Jesus from the dead and set him in glory at the right hand of the Father. I mean, there is no greater power than that. You know, there's there's nothing that stands against that kind of power. And that is the power that God has put in the church in Christ. And then we can know that that Jesus has authority over everything. That everything is under his feet. And he is the head of this body, his church. And so the church is his, and he is in his church, and his church is in him.
SPEAKER_00So based on those timeless truths that come from bring it back home, how does it relate? So we've talked about observe their home, what do I see, understand their home, what does it mean? Bring it back home, how does it relate? And then finally apply it in your home. What do I do? How will I respond to these truths and be changed permanently as a result of that? Who should I be? What, how should I think? What should I do? Is there some place I should go or someone I should teach? What kinds of applications are you seeing in the text here that you would just again? Now remember, not everyone's application is going to be the same at all because even though the timeless truths are universal, our application is a personal response to those truths. We we don't all we we aren't all called to respond in the same way because different things are going on in our lives. We're struggling with different sins, we're we're dealing with different circumstances or conditions. So just for you, Rachel, what was a what was an application that jumped out to you?
SPEAKER_01Well, at the time that this happened, uh, I was reading, you know, I was kind of scrolling on Facebook and and reading a post from from a mutual friend of ours that that basically was kind of, I guess, describing church hurt, that, you know, that they were very disillusioned with Christians and the church and and how they behave. And in the comments, there were a lot of a lot of comments in the vein of, you know, you can't look at at Christians, you can't look at the church, you really just have to, you know, separate Jesus out from that and think about who Jesus is. And and I underst like I understand the sentiment.
SPEAKER_00I I don't want people to judge Jesus based on my broken life. Right. Right.
SPEAKER_01And so I understand the sentiment, right? To say, well, you don't, you know, don't judge Jesus by his followers.
SPEAKER_00On the other hand.
SPEAKER_01But in reading this, I was really convicted because sometimes I fall into that thinking, right? Like that I would tell people, well, you know, you can't really, you know, you can't really do that. But and I and I have fallen into that thinking, and so I say this to myself, but after I was reading this passage, it I was really convicted that that is not really biblical. Like we can't separate Jesus from his church. And when we start doing that, we're stepping away from grace and from this, from what Christ has done, and we're putting it on our behavior. Right? So people who behave like Christians, however, I define how Christians behave.
SPEAKER_00Those are the ones who count.
SPEAKER_01Those are the ones who count, and all the others we can disregard.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Which of course is an absurd standard because none of us which and it's a very dangerous standard, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Right? Because then Christianity is defined by my behavior and what I think is right and what I think is wrong, it's not based in Christ. The whole point of the church is that Christ has redeemed broken, fallen sinners, and he is transforming them little by little, bit by bit, into his likeness as they follow him. And when we truly understand that, then the brokenness in the church doesn't cause us to say, well, you got to disregard the church and just think about Jesus. It draws us into to gratitude.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, it does, which is an application also.
SPEAKER_01Right. That Jesus has yeah, right. Like, yes, men and women are sinners. Yes, we hurt each other, yes, we like those things are true and and they they are not our calling.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_01Right? They're not what we're called to, they're they're not, but we are saved by the grace of God in this sinful state to to have that power to become more like Christ. And so I was just convicted that that kind of thinking minimizes what Christ has done and starts looking at at the works of man, which effectively robs God of the glory that he's due. Robs God of the glory and can lead to all kinds of error.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I mean, and you don't have to spend much time to see how we fall into the error of then defining Christianity by our own set of behavioral standards as opposed to those who are marked by the Holy Spirit. And and the Bible says those who are marked by the Holy Spirit, those who are in Christ, are part of Christ's body. And then there's a call to pray for the church, right? That that we pray that the church will have the eyes of its heart opened so that they will know the hope of their calling, right? So they'll know the inheritance that they have in Christ, so they'll know the power of God, that they'll know his authority. Then they will be transformed by him, right? As we know that, as we know who Christ is and what he's done for us, that changes us. And so our call is not to say, well, separate out the people from God.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_01Our call is to say, We are in him. That is what grace is, that God has saved these irredeemable sinners of which we are all one. Right. Right? It's not I'm better than you or you're better than them. It's that we are all these broken people in need of the grace of God, and we have received this grace of God, and then we pray for the church to know what it what it has in Christ and to live from that.
SPEAKER_00And and in that, it it seems to me, so that's a that's a big, big application, right? Big application, personal application to this. And out of that application, I don't know if, I mean, I'm just kind of thinking through, it seems like there are almost cascading applications that follow. Like I'm I'm gonna apply what you just said that way, and it also means that if I do, I'm gonna walk as a more as a redeemed child of God than as a Christian who's just trying to get things right, right? I'm gonna walk as a redeemed child of God who is next grateful, overwhelmingly grateful to be the beneficiary of my own salvation and to recognize the authority of the of the Son of God, of Jesus in bringing that and the purpose of that salvation. So I'm gonna walk differently, I'm gonna think differently as a result, and I'm gonna I'm gonna pray bigger prayers, I think. Just like Paul did. I'm gonna I'm going to pray bigger prayers that are better matched to God's heart for his glory and for his people, and less focused on probably the immediate and temporal things that are going on in my in my world and my circumstances. Those are all, I guess, almost almost cascading applications of the big application.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Okay. So so as you as you think this through, you're going to have your own personal application that comes from this. You're going to apply it in your own way. But then, of course, we want to move from reading to prayer. So we want we want the text and what we've drawn from it and what the Holy Spirit has given us in it in terms of timeless truths and applications. We want that to inform our prayer life. So, what from what you have seen should you praise God for or take before him in need? Do you have some thoughts on that one, Rachel?
SPEAKER_01I think that that I wanted to just pray for in myself was just I think a conviction of like, do I encourage the church? Do I love or do I pick at it? Do I love the church or am I one of those that kind of pick at the church?
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And and if I'm one who picks at it, that's probably a good indication in my heart that I that I'm moving out from under grace.
SPEAKER_00That's a warning sign.
SPEAKER_01It's a warning sign.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And and as soon as it like as soon as I start looking down on other people, I have forgotten the inheritance and the hope that I have in Christ. That I've forgotten that I have been saved by grace. I'm no longer looking at Christ. I'm looking at man. And and that's not ever where I want to be.
SPEAKER_00And I mean, let's think just think about this in really practical terms. If you love Jesus, you're go you're going to honor his bride, aren't you? I mean, if somebody says that they care about me and they dishonor you or they pick at you, they don't love me. That's a that's that's that's baloney. They're they're they there's something else going on. So we if we say we love Jesus, we have to honor his bride.
SPEAKER_01And I think I I underestimate the power of the church. I mean, you know, Paul says like clearly that that all things are under his authority and he has filled the church with himself.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Right? It's his body, his spirit, his authority, his power. He is in all like in all and through all. And I think sometimes I I get probably discouraged, and and instead of really believing the power that the church has, I start thinking about it in from my own perspective or in terms of of our own fleshly power. And that is not who the who the Bible says the church is at all. Like the church is the body of Christ and He has filled it with Himself. And that's why nothing stands against against Him.
SPEAKER_00So as I think about how this reading can shape my prayer life, this is kind of an almost too easy one because the because the reading is is a prayer. So part of me thought, well, you know, maybe what if over the course of the next week or two I just I just modeled my prayers after this? Like I'm I might not be praying for the believers in Ephesians or in Ephesus for the Ephesian believers, but I I am praying for my fellow believers, for my brothers and sisters in Christ, for people who are part of my church, for people who I who I know and love, family, friends. As I pray for them, why not pray for them this way? Like maybe I'll just just try out praying big prayers for them. And in the course of praying those big prayers, just cry out to the glory and the power and the authority and the might of the God who saves. Might that change my prayer life and the power of my prayers? I I think it might. And then if we want to move from reading to prayer, we also want to move from reading to meditation and memorization. And I'll just say for me at least, as I go, it's it's sort of the end here. It's he put all things under his feet, gave him his head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Those that's kind of the one that jumped out to me in terms of meditation, memorization. Is is it the same for you, or are there others, the other parts that really uh arose to the top for you, Rachel?
SPEAKER_01You know, I don't know that on this day I marked a particular verse.
SPEAKER_00Well, and again, it's such it's it's such a a full prayer that it's it's a little hard to do that, and you don't have to do it every day. So there are there are gonna be times where you're you're you're still really pulling through something from the day before, a couple of days, and you're really dwelling on that as well. But so anyway, that's gonna be a very personal response. We just encourage you to to take a look and and see how the Lord how the Lord leads. For me, in this case, it was really, you know, if I'm gonna I'm gonna pull one part and and really meditate on that, it's probably that piece on the authority of Christ, because I think I think in this text, that's kind of kind of what everything else flows out of. So so anyway, I I hope that this is a blessing to you. I hope that uh that you're more than more really than listening to how it's blessing us. I hope that that the word itself is blessing you as you as you spend your time there and continue to to get more and more comfortable with this particular methodology for uh for studying the word. And again, you're gonna have certain ones that work better for you or worse for you in different situations and circumstances, different types of literature, all that, but but we're hope hopeful and prayerful that this is something that's being a blessing to you.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I would say as those, you know, as those truths are blessings to you, make a note of them and share them when you know when we come back together.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, that's one of the best parts really of of doing this work is being able to encourage fellow believers in it. So so with your own small group, with with others who you're meeting with, if you're part of the class that we're teaching on this, then then please do. Please take advantage of that and and be an encouragement to others.
SPEAKER_01Yep. Encourage the church.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. That's one of the big messages today. So Rachel, would you like to lead us in prayer and just just uh just pray the power of the Spirit on those who are who are walking through this with us that they can be uh can be shaped and transformed by this word.
SPEAKER_01Our most gracious heavenly father, as we think about our faith family and we think about your church globally, we do give thanks for you. Father, we give thanks for your body, the church. We give thanks for those when we hear about faith and when we hear about those who are loving the saints and who are sharing your gospel with the lost. Father, we give thanks that your church is at work around the globe, that you have put your light on the nations. And Father, we do pray that that everyone who is part of your faith family, everyone who is marked by your Holy Spirit, will have a spirit of revelation and wisdom to know you better. Father, we pray that your people will know you better. Father, that they will just have the eyes of their heart opened, that you will enlighten them, that they'll know the hope to which they were called, the riches of your glorious inheritance that comes from the Father of all glory. Father, that they would know the incomparable power that is available to everyone who believes. The power that raised Jesus from the dead, the power that seated him at your right hand to rule over everything. That is the power that you have given to the church. And Father, we pray that you will remind us that God has placed Jesus, that you have placed Jesus over all things, that he is the head of the church, that this church is his body, that he is the fullness who fills everything in every way. That Father, that all of these blessings are ours in Christ. And so, Father, we pray for our fellow believers. We thank you for them, and we just pray, Father, that you will help them to know and to live from who they are in you. And we ask this in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00Amen. Amen. Amen. Um, well, we are excited to see where the Lord leads next in this study, and so tomorrow you'll be in Ephesians 2. Um, Ephesians 2, 1 through 10. So we're going to continue right where we left off and turn that page into the second chapter of Ephesians 2, 1 through 10. We hope that you will be richly blessed by what the Lord has awaiting for you in his word, and we look forward to returning back here tomorrow with more from their home to our home in the book of Ephesians.