Once again, it is a privilege to be able to share with you some encouragement from God’s word. We’ve been having a discussion of sorts—a discussion about what God wants us to be as a church. I think it’s an important one, don’t you? For my own part, I can say that when I come to worship with all of you on Sunday morning, I look forward to it. I look forward to it because I know I am among friends. More than that, I know I am among family. I know that you care deeply about me and you know that I care about you. That makes it a joy to be here.

That hasn’t always been my experience. I have belonged to church fellowships that were like a weekly episode of "As the Stomach Turns." One big soap opera, you know. I would come to church and my stomach would be in knots because the personal politics were so strong. It was all about who said what to whom and how offended they were and they were never speaking to each other again. It was one big drama club. That was an unhealthy place to be. In fact, in recent decades several best-selling books have been written with titles like The Toxic Church and Churches that Abuse.

At one point, I decided I had had it with the church: “I’m fed up with it. I’m better off on my own than worshipping with a bunch of inwardly-focused, self-righteous people who are more concerned with pointing a finger at each other than they are about living a life of love.” I was burnt out. But then God convicted me and brought me to this realization: “These people you’re so fed up with, they’re your family. Your brothers and sisters. And if I don’t give up on them, what gives you the right to abandon ship? They need you to love them, just as surely as you need them to love you. Billy, you are apart of the body of Christ.”

From that point on I began to see that the church was more than a church building, more than the collection of personalities that I had become so familiar with. The church is made up of millions of people—past, present, and future—called out from the world to serve the living God. We are the family of the eternal, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-seeing, ever-present, majestic ruler of heaven and earth. The great “I AM.” We have been called by Jesus the Christ to know this God personally and to serve him forever.

Ephesians chapter 2, verses 4-7 tell us, “Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”

That is amazing. What an amazing privilege we have to serve God, not only as individuals, but as a collective body of believers—as a church.

I said all that to say this: as we continue in this discussion of God’s vision for the church, this is something that truly comes out of a deep love, a passion, for God’s church. I can’t give up on the church anymore than God can give up on me. And so I put my heart and soul into this teaching and preaching ministry because I truly want us to be spiritually strong. I want us to be mature in our interactions with each other. I want us to be a fellowship that is Christ-centered, Spirit-filled. A church that loves extravagantly. A church of authentic righteousness versus phony religious convention. As a member of this body I want that, and I hope you do too. It’s the only way we are going to grow. We have to take hold of the vision; we have to make it our own. We simply cannot be satisfied with where we are at right now. We cannot let ourselves become stifled by tradition. We have to catch the bold and daring vision God has for us.

Turn to Ephesians chapter 1 once again—and let’s watch as the vision unfolds to even greater proportions. I want you to notice, when you read the words of Paul, they are spoken out of a deep love and concern for the church. Not just the church at Ephesus, but the church everywhere in every generation.

You can hear the great, driving passion he had in the prayer he prays in verses 15 through 19.

“For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.”

Paul was a praying man. You’ll find him offering prayers in almost every letter he writes to the churches of Christ. This tells you that prayer was not only a high priority in the life of the apostle Paul, it also tells you that prayer is an important ministry of the Holy Spirit in our life. It’s no mistake that as the Holy Spirit is unfolding God’s vision for the church in chapter 1 Paul takes a moment to offer up prayer on behalf of the church.

One version paraphrases the passage this way:

“That's why, when I heard of the solid trust you have in the Master Jesus and your outpouring of love to all the followers of Jesus, I couldn't stop thanking God for you—every time I prayed, I'd think of you and give thanks. But I do more than thank. I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!”

When was the last time you prayed like that? With earnestness? With clarity? With power? Wouldn’t you like to have that kind of focus every time you prayed? Let’s talk about prayer. God has a vision of a church that prays with persistence and with power.

The challenge that any minister has when it comes to the subject of prayer is how to get people excited about a very familiar subject. I mean, what more do we need to know about prayer than what we already know? You close your eyes, bow your head, say a few words to God, “Amen,” right?

What is prayer? Nearly everyone has some idea about what prayer is. Prayer is one of those words that’s imbedded in the American vocabulary. “He doesn’t have a prayer.” “Our hearts and prayers are with you.” “I pray that my flight isn’t delayed.” We talk about prayer quite a bit, actually. The problem, of course, is that people aren’t praying. And if they are praying, it’s as a last resort. It’s a bargaining tool for some. “Lord, if you will keep me from being caught and going to jail, I promise I’m going to be a better person.” For others, prayer is a sentimental religious tradition passed along to them by their parents or grandparents. A kind of wishful thinking—you hope that somehow somewhere someone is paying attention to your prayers and will intervene on your behalf. Still others view prayer as tapping into mystical spiritual forces that are beyond our comprehension.

Here is what Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, has to say about prayer, “Prayer is an active effort to communicate with a deity or spirit, including a monotheist God, Saints, gods within a pantheon, or others; either to offer praise, to make a request, or simply to express one's thoughts and emotions.” That definition is a good indication that our society has lost the true meaning of prayer.

Here is perhaps a better definition: Prayer is personal communication with the living God in which we bare our souls to him, share our deepest needs, and seek his highest good.

The first part of that is important. Prayer is something we personally engage in. Some unscrupulous televangelists claim that their prayers attract special favor from God—if the average prayer is like an AM radio signal to heaven, their prayers are like a digital signal. They claim an intimacy with God, unknown to the average Joe or Jane.

One evangelist in particular makes no qualms about lauding his credentials. His website declares, “The press has crowned him ‘Dr. Phil of prayer’ and ‘the next big thing in mass media religion.’ The ministry features a Miracle Center where people can receive prayers for healing, financial needs, and relationship problems. The website claims to have over 20,000 visitors a day, with over 40,000 email requests to the ministry daily. The ministry also claims to have an archive of over 2,000,000 praise reports of people who have received healings, financial prosperity, and restored marriages as a direct result of this ministry.

So what’s your problem, Billy? Can’t you see that this ministry is blessing people? Here’s what I see that bothers me. People are putting their faith in a person whom they have been convinced has special favor with God and, as a result, they are directing their prayers through him. Church, that completely undermines the fact that God is interested in a relationship with you.

Revelation 1:6 tells us Jesus “loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve” the eternal God. That’s what we are—a kingdom of priests. Do you realize what this means? Whereas in times past, you would have to bring your sacrifices to a priest and he would offer them up on your behalf to appease God for your sin, now you have direct access to the God by virtue of the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus offered up for sin.

Isn’t that great? You don’t need to be a spiritual superstar. There is no such a thing. You—the average, ordinary man or woman—can communicate with the Father, because you know the Son. “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” 1 Timothy 2:5-6, “who gave himself as a ransom for all men.”

I hope you are seeing prayer in a different way than the popular culture. It blows my mind to think about the kind of rich fellowship we can experience with the Almighty God through the avenue of prayer. Why then do we take it for granted? Perhaps because we have allowed it to become stale by familiarity and tradition. Perhaps our first exposure to prayer was in a church building so we identified prayer as something you could only do in a church and that it had to be led by a member of the clergy.

What I want to impress upon you this morning is that prayer is a gift that God gives to each one of us. If it’s his gift, then how do you think he wants us to use it? The first disciples of Jesus had the very same question. “Teach us to pray,” they asked him. Why did they need teaching? They were born into a rich heritage of prayer that laid claim to the prayers of Moses, David, and the Prophets. Yet something was missing in their daily ritual of prayer. Jesus showed them what they were missing.

He told them, when you pray, don’t pray like the heathens with their endless repetitions. They think God will hear them because of their many words. Neither should you pray like the pompous, self-sufficient religious leaders. They say their prayers loudly in the streets and synagogues to be heard of men. But you, disciples of Christ, you be different. You pray as an active participant in the plan and purposes of God. You pray for the advancement of God’s kingdom. You pray for God’s will to be done on earth just as it is in heaven.

What’s his point? His point is that our prayer life has got to be more than self-serving, more than a last resort when we’re in a jam. As God’s children here’s how we’re to view prayer: as a tool for partnering with God so that he can change the world through us. It’s an entirely different perspective on prayer, isn’t it? And if we will take hold of it--if we will make prayer a priority, individually and collectively--I guarantee you we’re going to see changes. Changes on a micro level and changes on a macro level.

Listen, when you humble yourself and pray with all the passion of a man or a woman who has been given a new start in Christ, a child of the living God who has been given a role in God’s eternal plan, you’re going to be changed. And as each one of us are changed, the church is going to be changed. And then the world is going to see that the changes aren’t phony, aren’t self-righteous pretense, and they are going to want to learn more. And then they’re going to be changed. That is what prayer is all about. It’s like a chain reaction.

And if the prayers of an individual Christian carry weight with God, think about the prayers of a united church. Powerful!

So what should we be praying for—back to Paul’s prayer. Take another look at Ephesians chapter 1, verses 15-17.

What’s the first thing you see the apostle doing? Verses 15 and 16. He’s giving thanks, isn’t he? In fact, he hasn’t stopped giving thanks for the Christians at Ephesus since he first heard about them. It is one thing to pray for a group of people you know, imagine praying for a group of people you’ve just heard of. Well, Paul did come to spend time with the Ephesians. In fact, he spent three years among them. And he writes years and years after he’s left them to tell them, I’m still praying for you. I haven’t given up on you. I thank God for you constantly.

How about you? Are you thanking God for this church? Are you thanking God that he has chosen you to be a part of his body? That he’s placed you here with these fellow travelers? Start thanking him. And here’s a thought: For the brother or sister you don’t necessarily see eye to eye with. You find it hard to get along. You hang out with them and it’s just like sand-paper—you know, harsh, abrasive. How about praying for him or her? I’m not talking about, “Lord, I don’t like them, please change them.” I’m asking you to follow the example laid out for us in our text this morning and to thank God for them. I promise you, you’ll see those people in an entirely new light. God will bless you with wisdom in your interactions with them and you will begin to love them in a way you never have before.

What’s the next thing he prays for? He says in verse 17, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.” We should be praying that we understand God in greater ways. Verse 18 and 19: “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.”

We should be praying that God will broaden our understanding of who he is, deepen our faith in what he can do, and strengthen our conviction and resolve to follow him. Think you know all there is to know about God? About this book? Think again!

When I was three years into my walk with Christ, I thought I knew this book inside and out. I thought I had my theology down pat. Facts memorized, doctrine systematized. I had my faith in a nice, neat box. Boy was I ever in for a surprise. The events and circumstances of life were about to rock my foundations. I was about to be tested, right down to the core of who I was. Thankfully, my faith withstood the test. But my attitude towards this book, toward God, changed dramatically. Now, I approach God, not as someone who is smug in his faith, but as a learner. There is so much I have to learn about God and when it comes to this book, I feel like I’m learning it all over again. And it is a wonderful place to be.

Have you lost the wonder and awe you once had about the things of God? You see a new believer excited about God’s plan for his life, can’t wait to open this book and learn something new, and you’re thinking to yourself, “You’ll get over that.” If the excitement has worn off, it’s not because God has changed. It’s because you’ve allowed yourself to become dulled by familiarity.

I hope 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago that I am as awed, as humbled, as excited by God and his fantastic plan for my life as I was when I was first saved. Don’t you want that? Amen!

Here’s one more thing we can learn from the prayer of Paul. When he wrote this letter, he was many, many miles away from the church at Ephesus. Most scholars, in fact, believe Paul wrote this about the same time as the letter to the Colossians, when he was a prisoner in Rome. He not only prayed for the Ephesian church, being a significant distance from them, he asked them to pray for him.

Look at chapter 6:19, “Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray for me,” verse 20, “that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”

Brothers and sisters, we need to be praying for the church in Eugene, but we need to also be praying for the church in Salem, in Portland, in Seattle, in Roseburg and Medford and Grants Pass. We need to pray for the church across America and around the world.

There are countries around the world where Christians risk death in order to worship according to the dictates of their conscience. In fact, they are being put to death right as we speak. Christianfreedom.org has a list of what it calls “The Dirty Dozen”—countries where Christians are being persecuted right now, today, for their faith in Christ. They include: Bangladesh, Burma, China, Eretria, Indonesia, Iran, Laos, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan.

Are you praying for them? Are you praying for the Christians in those countries? Are you praying for the leaders of those countries? For the political situation? That God would open doors there?

A few verses earlier we are given this charge in Ephesians 6:18: “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” How many of the saints? All the saints.

Pray for yourself, your circumstances, the people you love—yes—but then move your circle of influence outward to your coworkers, your school board, your community, your city council, your mayor, your governor, your house and senate representatives, your president, your nation, the church internationally, and the world.

Disturbed by the headlines? Pray! Disgusted every time you see Paris Hilton or Tom Cruise paraded around on TV? Stop and pray for them. I’m serious! Upset with your elected leaders? Keep them in your prayers.

Someone says, “Well, you pray, I’ll take action.” Well, wait a minute. It isn’t one or the other. It is prayer coupled with action. But how do you know what action to take until you have first prayed for wisdom, James 1:5, so that you may know what course of action to take?

Make prayer a priority and God will bless you. You will experience revival in your life--and just as exciting--God will put you to work to bring about revival in his church and redemption in his world. God has a vision for a praying church. There is so much more we could say about prayer.

Let me just close with a question. When we talk to God, when we pour out our hearts in prayer to him, what assurance do we have that he will hear us? What makes us believe that God pays the slightest attention to our prayers?

The clue to that is found in a little expression that we tag on to the end of our prayers: “in Jesus name.” God hears us because of our relationship with Jesus. The Bible says he is our mediator—as perfect and holy Son of God, Jesus stands between us and the Father and intercedes for us. When we pray, we pray in the name of Jesus, that is, by the power and authority of Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords. And let me tell you, the name of Jesus carries a lot of weight.

Philippians 4:9-11 declares, “God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” And now the Bible tells us that we can come boldly to the throne of grace to find grace to help in time of need. Will you pray with me?

© Copyright 2006 by William J. Sherman.

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