Praying for the Fullness of the Spirit

[Boanerges]

March 8

Praying for the Fullness of the Spirit

That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height — to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Eph_3:16-19)
For those who are wondering how to be filled with the Spirit, the prayer in Ephesians 3 offers excellent insight. The precise relevance of this passage for our present subject is obvious, when the concluding purpose of the prayer is noted: "that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."
The opening phrases use the language of grace: "That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory." Grace is about God at work, giving us blessings we cannot deserve. These blessings are in proportion to His glorious spiritual riches. This perspective fits our studies on the Spirit perfectly, because when the Holy Spirit is at work, He pours out God's grace.
The initial request pertains to an inner working of the Spirit: "to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man." Note, this request is made on behalf of those who already have the Spirit residing in their hearts. The specific issue is about receiving new measures of spiritual power at the core of our being.
The desired result of this work of the Spirit is "that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith." Jesus is present in the heart of every believer. Here, He is being asked to settle down fully and make Himself at home. Jesus is being given free rein to rearrange our innermost being to fit His good pleasure. Allowing Jesus to rule our hearts requires the empowering work of the Holy Spirit to break past spiritual obstacles such as apathy, fear, self-focus, and temptations. To allow Jesus to lead us in His way, we need the Holy Spirit enabling us to stay in God's word, to pray without ceasing, to worship daily, and to fellowship regularly.
Then, as Jesus rearranges our inner life, He wants to anchor every aspect of our lives in God's love: "that you, being rooted and grounded in love." With this, He wants to us to experience the dimensions of His love, which are beyond mere head knowledge: "to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height — to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge." This Holy Spirit process is always leading to more spiritual fullness: "that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

Dear Father in heaven, I humbly cry out to You every word of this majestic prayer. I earnestly desire the reality of its every implication, all by your Holy Spirit, Amen.

Bob Hoekstra

 

[jiggyfly]

Good post Boanerges, this is one of my favorite scriptures, Paul's prayer for the Ephesus believers.

Ephesians 3:14-19
*When I think of the wisdom and scope of God’s plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,*the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. *I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit. *And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love. *And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.


I think we can all agree that there is a lack of this fulness in and among christians today. Few today seem to have a substantial measure of this fulness of life and power. But is it any wonder when the popular messages are carnal? Many of the largest christian congregations turn out to hear a gospel of self-help and natural prosperity. The encouragement is not to deny self but rather pamper self. Things like "have your best life now" and "biblical ways to success".
An easy gospel maybe good for drawing large crowds but it does nothing for spiritual growth.

Jesus said wherever your treasure is, thats where your heart is. In other words your treasure will reveal your passion. If your treasure is earthly then your passions are carnal, and in a like manner if your treasure is heavenly than your passions are spiritual.

Another common message is the religious and prideful gospel of works. This message demands that you must have certain actions to be pleasing to God but it is all outwardly and inwardly pride is seated and for the most part undisturbed. This line of thinking is also an enemy of the cross, and it allows the recipient to become deceived into carnal self-righteousness.

Bottom line here is For Jesus to be more and more at home in our hearts there must be less and less self. Trusting Jesus and His work on the cross has made me holy and blameless regardless of anything I do, say, or even think, and this reality being revealed and realized by the power of HolySpirit is the key. Self is denied when we realize that the very best that self can do is never going to be pleasing God, and that it is futile because Christ has already made us pleasing to God. No one can ever become more pleasing to God than what they are because of Christ's cross. The reality of the fulness of life and power is not the result of knowledge and understanding, it is the result of experiencing Christ's love not once or even twice but over and over again.

 

[Boanerges]

Amen my friend. May the Father Himself open our eyes to see how desperately we need total dependence on His Holy Spirit to lead, guide, empower and give revelation to us.

 

[stephen]

Jesus is present in the heart of every believer. Here, He is being asked to settle down fully and make Himself at home.

Jesus is being given free rein to rearrange our innermost being to fit His good pleasure. Allowing Jesus to rule our hearts requires the empowering work of the Holy Spirit to break past spiritual obstacles such as apathy, fear, self-focus, and temptations.

To allow Jesus to lead us in His way, we need the Holy Spirit enabling us to stay in God's word, to pray without ceasing, to worship daily, and to fellowship regularly.

A men brother.......To allow Jesus to lead us in His way, we need the Holy Spirit enabling us to stay in God's word, to pray without ceasing, to worship daily, and to fellowship regularly.