Pray for the church-2

⁴ 주 안에서 항상 기뻐하라 내가 다시 말하노니 기뻐하라 ⁵ 너희 관용을 모든 사람에게 알게 하라 주께서 가까우시니라 ⁶ 아무 것도 염려하지 말고 오직 모든 일에 기도와 간구로, 너희 구할 것을 감사함으로 하나님께 아뢰라 ⁷ 그리하면 모든 지각에 뛰어난 하나님의 평강이 그리스도 예수 안에서 너희 마음과 생각을 지키시리라. ⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. ⁵ Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; ⁶ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:4-7 ESV)

¹⁴ 이러하므로 내가 하늘과 땅에 있는 각 족속에게 ¹⁵ 이름을 주신 아버지 앞에 무릎을 꿇고 비노니 ¹⁶ 그 영광의 풍성을 따라 그의 성령으로 말미암아 너희 속 사람을 능력으로 강건하게 하옵시며 ¹⁷ 믿음으로 말미암아 그리스도께서 너희 마음에 계시게 하옵시고 너희가 사랑 가운데서 뿌리가 박히고 터가 굳어져서 ¹⁸ 능히 모든 성도와 함께 지식에 넘치는 그리스도의 사랑을 알아 ¹⁹ 그 넓이와 길이와 높이와 깊이가 어떠함을 깨달아 하나님의 모든 충만하신 것으로 너희에게 충만하게 하시기를 구하노라 ²⁰ 우리 가운데서 역사하시는 능력대로 우리의 온갖 구하는 것이나 생각하는 것에 더 넘치도록 능히 하실 이에게 ²¹ 교회 안에서와 그리스도 예수 안에서 영광이 대대로 영원 무궁하기를 원하노라 아멘. ¹⁴ For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, ¹⁶ that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith-- that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. ²⁰ Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Eph. 3:14-21 ESV)

FCF: We tend to forget to pray for the spiritual well-being or unity of the church.

주제: 하나님은 우리가 구하는 것 이상으로 응답하시기에 교회를 위해 우리의 주권자 아버지께 기도해야 합니다.

Theme: Because God answers more than we ask, we must pray to our sovereign Father for the church.

Introduction: Too many Christians today live a joyful and powerless life even though Christ has promised them abundant eternal life. What about your faith life? Is your Christian life filled with confidence and power or doubt and powerlessness? If you feel like dragging your feet to the church powerlessly, please, listen to this story. J. Wilbur Chapman once came to F. B. Meyer with the question, "나한테 무슨 문제가 있는 걸까? 나는 반쯤 공허해 보일 때가 너무 많고, 완전히 무력해 보일 때가 너무 많은데 무슨 일이죠?" “What is the matter with me? So many times I seem half empty, and so many times utterly powerless; what is the matter?” He put his hand on Chapman’s shoulder and answered, "한 번 숨을 들이마시지 않고 세 번 숨을 내쉬어 본 적이 있나요?" “Have you ever tried to breathe out three times without breathing in once?” Thinking it might be some new breathing exercise, Chapman answered, “I do not think I have.” “Well,” said Meyer, “try it.” So he breathed out once, and then he had to breathe in again. "마이어 박사는 "숨을 내쉬기 전에 항상 숨을 들이마셔야 하고, 숨을 내쉴 때 숨을 들이마시는 것과 비례한다는 사실을 모르십니까?"라고 말합니다. “Don’t you know,” said Dr. Meyer, “that you must always breathe in before you breathe out, and that your breathing out is in proportion to your breathing in?”

If you feel powerless in your daily walk, you must check whether you have a prayer talk with God in Christ or not. It is because prayer is like our spiritual breathing. If we don’t breathe in, we will soon die. Likewise, if we don’t pray, we will live a spiritually dead life. We must always fill the reservoir of our hearts with prayer. A powerful Christian life starts with prayer. Paul was a man of prayer. While being under house arrest in Rome, Paul prayed for the unity of the Ephesian church. The Ephesian church was struggling between its Gentle membership and its Jewish membership. Paul knew what they needed most and prayed God would meet their needs. In vv. 14-21, Paul teaches us that God our sovereign Father answers more than we ask or think. This truth demands us to pray to our sovereign Father for the church. Last Sunday, we covered the first point “pray to the sovereign Father,” in which we learnt the following three principles: 1) prayer is based on the relationship between God and us, 2) prayer is an act of submission to God, and 3) prayer is an act of reliance on God. Now, let’s turn to the second point, that is, “Pray for your inner person to be strong.”      

I.               주권자 아버지께 기도하세요.

Pray to the Sovereign Father.

II.             속사람이 강건해 지도록 기도하세요.

Pray for your inner person to be strong.

            Being convinced of God’s fatherly care and sovereign power, Paul states his three requests in vv. 16-19. In vv. 20-21, Paul closes his prayer with doxology. The first request Paul makes in v. 16 is: 그 영광의 풍성을 따라 그의 성령으로 말미암아 너희 속 사람을 능력으로 강건하게 하옵시며. “that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being.” He tells the Ephesian congregation about what he asks God to grant them: “inner strength through the Holy Spirit according to His glorious riches.” What Paul prays for the Ephesian church, that is what we need to pray for the church, that is, our fellow believers in the church. From Paul’s request for the Ephesian church in v. 16, we may learn some important principles related to our prayer for the church. I will discuss them by raising some questions related to them.

First, why did Paul ask God to grant the Ephesian believers to be strengthened with power in their inner persons? We can say that Paul has prayed for what the Ephesian church needed most in times of trials related to conflicts and splits in the church. They needed strong inner persons so that they could withstand the trouble of church split. The ESV translates the Greek phrase “ton eso anthropov” as “your inner being.” It literally refers to “the inner man.” Our Korean Bible expresses this idea. “The inner man” in the Bible refers to one’s heart or soul that carries out the faculty of intellect, emotion, and volition. The outer man refers to one’s physical body, whereas the inner man refers to one’s inner person.

We may find the answer to the question above by considering the context of division in the Ephesian church. The Gentile Christians were ignored by the Jewish Christians. They were rejected from table fellowship with the Jewish Christians. They must have felt they were second-class citizens in the kingdom of God. They were doubtful of their participation in the blessings of the New Covenant. But Paul has already taught them they were equal heirs with Jewish Christians, equal members of the body of Christ, and equal participants in the blessings of the New Covenant. Having taught them about their new status, new privileges, and responsibilities, Paul now prays for their inner persons to be strengthened with might through the Holy Spirit. It is because these Gentile believers were mistreated, looked down on, and discriminated against.

When their church was split according to ethnicity, culture, or religious heritage, they may have felt disdained, resentful, or hateful. They felt resentful against those who discriminated against them. They harbored hatred against the Jewish Christians in the church. They may have taken self-pity or felt inferior to their Jewish counterparts. They harbored chagrin or emotional hurts in their hearts. Paul at least knew these Gentile Christians didn’t feel peaceful with their Jewish brothers and sisters in the church. He sensed they felt uneasy with them. Paul thought through what they had in their hearts as a result of church split and discrimination. So, Paul taught them what they were in Christ, that is, their Christian identity, so that they would have their unshakable security in Christ. Paul prescribed “the strong inner person” for their insecure hearts hurt by the division and discrimination in the church.

So, Paul asked God to strengthen their inner persons so that they could fight all negative thoughts, feelings, or intentions against their Jewish Christians. Paul knew exactly what the Gentile Christians needed to work for reconciliation and harmony with the Jewish Christians: a healthy, strong, and sound inner person. The fact they felt inferior to or discriminated against the Jewish Christ indicates that they had a fragile inner person. They were not strong enough in their souls to reject all the negative words, arrogant attitudes, or self-centered arguments of the Jewish Christians against them. Their inner persons were resentful, hateful, or vengeful against their Jewish brothers and sisters, for whom Jesus Christ shed His precious blood to redeem them from the bondage of sin and death.

So, Paul prayed that God would grant them the power of joy, patience, or endurance, in their inner persons. If their inner persons were strong, they would embrace the Jewish Christians with the love of God in Christ. Paul’s prayer for their inner strength is quite understandable in the context of a church division. We feel sorrowful and resentful when we watch Christ’s churches split over petty issues. Internal struggles in the church are emotional, verbal, or interpersonal fights. They are not likely to involve physical wrestling even though their bodies may react to those interpersonal struggles. We tend to be emotionally and spiritually exhausted and wounded. Many may likely suffer indigestion, anxiety, sleep loss, panic attacks, and the like. In a time of church split, we surely need inner strength to overcome such harmful things. 

If we experience a split in our own church, we will feel the same negative emotions against the other party. We may be tired of false accusations and slanders. We may be angry with our slanderers, wishing to pay them back and prove our innocence to others. After all, our hearts will get hurt, needing divine healing through the Holy Spirit. Some want to flee from the assembly of the church. Others will hurl the darts of hateful words against their opponents. In so doing, they will hurt the body of Christ, which means they hurt themselves. So, they need a strong and healthy inner person who can withstand the negative attacks of their opponents and overcome all negative feelings against them. Surely, all of us need a strong inner person who refuses to get hurt by others and withstand any trial in life. We need inner strength to endure hardships such as false accusations, chronic diseases, financial straits, interpersonal struggles, uncertain futures, worries, or personal issues that strain our inner persons.

What about you today? What are you going through? Do you feel burnt out in life struggles or your church life? Do you wish to run away from your current plight? Do you long for freedom and peace of mind because you feel trapped in despair, hopelessness, or loss of direction in life? You may be carrying a suitcase of guilt in one hand and a sack of hurts in the other. There’s a heavy backpack of weariness slung over one shoulder and another bag of sadness on the other. The weariness! The stretched muscles! The strain on your cramped fingers and aching back. Are you longing for release? Is that the way you may describe yourself now? The reality in which we live may be burdensome. So, we need inner strength to endure such hardships in life. No one will bear them for us. We should bring them to our sovereign Father so that He may grant us inner strength to bear them with God-given power. Instead of asking God to remove them, we must learn humility, joy, or endurance through suffering in life as we pray for our inner persons to be strengthened.

Prayer is much needed for us to keep our inner persons healthy and sound. We primarily ask God to meet our physical needs. But modern people are emotionally wounded because of broken relationships, mental breakdowns, or physical ailments. Certainly, they need joy and peace in their inner persons. We can get them through prayer. In Preaching Today, Tony Campolo tells this story: I was in a church in Oregon not too long ago, and I prayed for a man who had cancer. In the middle of the week, I got a telephone call from his wife. She said, “You prayed for my husband. He had cancer.” I said, “Had?” Whoa, I thought, it’s happened. She said, “He died.” I felt terrible. She continued, "기분 나빠하지 마세요. 지난 일요일에 그 교회에 들어왔을 때 그는 분노로 가득 차 있었어요. 그는 자신이 곧 죽을 거라는 사실을 알았고 하나님을 미워했습니다. 그는 58세였고, 자녀와 손주들이 자라는 모습을 보고 싶었습니다. 그는 전능하신 하나님이 자신의 병을 없애지 않고 고쳐주지 않는 것에 화가 났습니다. 그는 침대에 누워 하나님을 저주했습니다. 신에 대한 분노가 커질수록 그는 주변 사람들에게 더 비참한 존재가 되었습니다. 그의 곁에 있는 것은 끔찍한 일이었습니다. 당신이 그를 위해 기도한 후, 그에게 평화가 찾아왔고 기쁨이 찾아왔습니다. 토니, 지난 3일 간은 우리 인생 최고의 날이었어요. 우리는 노래했고. 웃었습니다. 성경을 읽었습니다. 기도도 했어요. 정말 멋진 날들이었어요. 그리고 안수해 주시고 치유를 위해 기도해 주셔서 감사하다는 전화를 드렸어요." 그러자 그녀는 믿을 수 없을 정도로 심오한 말을 했습니다. "그는 치료되지는 않았지만 치유되었어요."라고 말했죠. “Don’t feel bad. When he came into that church last Sunday he was filled with anger. He knew he was going to be dead in a short period of time, and he hated God. He was 58 years old, and he wanted to see his children and grandchildren grow up. He was angry that this all-powerful God didn’t take away his sickness and heal him. He would lie in bed and curse God. The more his anger towards God grew, the more miserable he was to everybody around him. It was an awful thing to be in his presence. After you prayed for him, a peace had come over him and a joy had come into him. Tony, the last three days have been the best days of our lives. We’ve sung. We’ve laughed. We’ve read Scripture. We prayed. Oh, they’ve been wonderful days. And I called to thank you for laying your hands on him and praying for healing.” And then she said something incredibly profound. She said, “He wasn’t cured, but he was healed.” Prayer certainly heals our wounded inner persons.

The second question I want to raise is “What kind of inner strength does Paul talk about in v. 16? First, it is not something Buddhists try to reach through meditation. Monks attempt to remove all thoughts from their minds and reach the state of no thoughts because all thoughts are related to the things of this world and cause worries and heartaches. When they are in trouble, Buddhists repeat falling prostrate before the idol of Buddha. In so doing, they utter their petitions to Buddha, wishing him to help them. They desire to have peace of mind through prayer. Second, nor is it something some attempt to develop by strengthening their willpower. Some people try to enhance their willpower by following the guidelines of some self-help or self-fulfillment books. They try to increase their willpower to overcome their inner weaknesses and rule over their entangled hearts. Following the dictum of Friedrich Nietzsche, they attempt to will to power over themselves and the world.

The inner strength Paul prays for in v. 16 refers to the divine enablement of the inner person through the Holy Spirit. It is not something man attains in his own power. But it is something done to the inner man through the Holy Spirit by God. “The inner person” is the center of man’s existence. It controls all his activities. When the inner person is filled with faith, love, and hope, the inner person lives an abundant life. It must be born again. Its spiritual rebirth is done through the Holy Spirit. As soon as “the inner person” is born again, the Holy Spirit begins to dwell in the inner person. The inner person is a locus where the Holy Spirit dwells. The Holy Spirit works within, through, and for the inner person. The inner person is often called “the heart.” The heart is the seat of all man’s activities. The activities of “the inner person” are intellectual, emotional, and volitional. When the inner person is under the influence of the Holy Spirit, the thoughts, emotions, and decisions of the inner person coincide with God’s Word.

The inner person may be weak and sensitive. It may be easily swayed by external circumstances or influences. The Greek word “dynamis used in v. 16 refers not to the inner person’s innate power but to God’s own power. Paul here asks God to empower the inner person with divine power. When we feel so fragile in an unfortunate church split or conflict, we need God’s power to handle such a situation wisely and overcome it bravely. God gives us wisdom and courage to defeat variegated attacks against our inner persons. God strengthens our inner persons through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit regenerates, renews, refreshes, and reinvigorates our inner persons through the word of God so that we can live the abundant life Christ has promised us. He is the Spirit of truth. He reminds us of God’s truth. He sanctifies us and empowers our inner persons through God’s Word.

However, we simply say we trust the Holy Spirit but we don’t believe the power of the Holy Spirit. We try to rely on the church’s manpower, programs, or financial capabilities. For this reason, we are so powerless in our Christian walk. Unlike us, the early church had no buildings but met in homes. It had a minimum of organization, but it was infused with the Holy Spirit’s power. It puts us to shame insofar as spiritual results are concerned. Some minister said in a sermon that should the Holy Spirit suddenly be taken out of this world, 95 percent of what we are doing in our churches would continue. This is a shocking statement. This reveals our reliance on our own wisdom, power, or devices. With our numbers, wealth, and means of communication, if we surrendered to the Holy Spirit as did Paul, we could move the entire world toward God! The Holy Spirit is the source of all our spiritual power. He works on us through the word of God.

When we feel downcast, we can experience the uplifting power of God as we read Ps. 23: 여호와는 나의 목자시니 내가 부족함이 없으리로다 ² 그가 나를 푸른 초장에 누이시며 쉴만한 물 가으로 인도하시는도다 ³ 내 영혼을 소생시키시고 자기 이름을 위하여 의의 길로 인도하시는도다 ⁴ 내가 사망의 음침한 골짜기로 다닐찌라도 해를 두려워하지 않을 것은 주께서 나와 함께 하심이라 주의 지팡이와 막대기가 나를 안위하시나이다. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. ² He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. ³ He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. ⁴ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me (Ps. 23:1-4). So many Christians have found courage and peace in their hearts while suffering from all kinds of suffering. They have fought discrimination, mistreatment, adversity, loneliness, helplessness, or discouragement with the power of the Holy Spirit. We have found encouragement in God’s Word.

Having relied on the power of the Holy Spirit, Paul found refreshment in the Holy Spirit against all kinds of trials in his gospel ministry. Listen to what he says in 2 Cor. 4:16: 그러므로 우리가 낙심하지 아니하노니 겉사람은 후패하나 우리의 속은 날로 새롭도다. “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.” Paul knew God was the Source of power he needed to face fiery trials in his ministry. He already said to the Ephesian church: 그의 힘의 강력으로 역사하심을 따라 믿는 우리에게 베푸신 능력의 지극히 크심이 어떤 것을 너희로 알게 하시기를 구하노라. and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might (1:19).

The resurrection power of God is working within our inner persons through the Holy Spirit. So, we can work together for the unity of the church despite our differences. We can be patient with each other or endure hardships in our church ministries. Paul says in Col. 1:11: 그 영광의 힘을 좇아 모든 능력으로 능하게 하시며 기쁨으로 모든 견딤과 오래 참음에 이르게 하시고. “being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy.” We know what we need in a time of church split. Of course, we need the wisdom to figure out what’s happening and how to handle it. Also, we need “all endurance and patience with joy.” Too many Christians too easily give up fighting for the glory of God and the good of the church. They give up praying for the church.

More than anything else, we need the divine enablement of our inner persons through the Holy Spirit. God’s power is available to us in Christ through the Holy Spirit. So, Paul says, ¹⁰ 종말로 너희가 주 안에서와 그 힘의 능력으로 강건하여지고 ¹¹ 마귀의 궤계를 능히 대적하기 위하여 하나님의 전신갑주를 입으라 ¹² 우리의 씨름은 혈과 육에 대한 것이 아니요 정사와 권세와 이 어두움의 세상 주관자들과 하늘에 있는 악의 영들에게 대함이라 ¹³ 그러므로 하나님의 전신갑주를 취하라 이는 악한 날에 너희가 능히 대적하고 모든 일을 행한 후에 서기 위함이라. ¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. ¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm (Eph. 6:10-13). 

Finally, what should we do to experience divine enablement of our inner persons through the Holy Spirit? The answer to this question is that we must pray for God’s empowering of our inner persons through the Holy Spirit. As we all know, prayer is a means of grace whereby we experience God and receive His grace. Prayer is a spiritual exercise for our inner persons. Just as we must do physical exercise to stay healthy, so should we do our spiritual exercise to make our inner persons healthy. Apart from prayer, none of us can be a powerful Christian. Nor can we survive fiery trials in life. Nor can we receive divine enablement to resist the temptations of Satan, the power of our sinful nature, or the allurements of this wicked world. Apart from prayer, none of us can experience the infilling of the Holy Spirit. We must pray unceasingly to be filled with the Holy Spirit, who strengthens our hearts amid trouble. Prayer is a God-given means to form Christlikeness in our inner persons. Prayer is a God-given means to train, strengthen, and sanctify our inner persons.

In particular, when we suffer from divisive issues in the church, we must kneel before God for spiritual strength. We can attain spiritual strength in our inner persons through prayer to handle conflicts and divisions wisely and overcome them courageously. Of course, we can receive spiritual strength from God through prayer. As Paul says in the phrase “according to the riches of His glory,” God’s power and resources are limitless. God is always ready to answer our requests for spiritual power in our inner persons. Paul knew this truth. So, Paul asks God to strengthen the inner persons of the Gentile believers through the Holy Spirit. Certainly, prayer makes us experience spiritual strength from God’s unlimited resources because God answers our prayers abundantly more than we ask or think.

We need the Spirit-filled power in our inner persons to withstand the wiles of the evil ones. Prayer is the only way to lead us to the powerful infilling of the Holy Spirit. Our faith grows as much as we pray and our character deepens as much as we pray. Prayer is necessary for us to stay strong in our inner persons. Knowing this truth doesn’t mean that we indeed pray without ceasing. Many Christians say, “I don’t experience divine enablement or the filling of the Holy Spirit even though I pray.” They need to listen to the following words of the apostle James: ² 너희가 욕심을 내어도 얻지 못하고 살인하며 시기하여도 능히 취하지 못하나니 너희가 다투고 싸우는도다 너희가 얻지 못함은 구하지 아니함이요 ³ 구하여도 받지 못함은 정욕으로 쓰려고 잘못 구함이니라. ² You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. ³ You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions (Jas. 4:2-3).

We must pray for divine enablement with a proper motive. I have heard about some old-fashioned Christians who went up to a mountain and grabbed a tree while praying for divine enablement as if they were wrestling with it until they uprooted it. Indeed, some received it. They were able to perform miracles or heal the sick. Indeed, many Christian ministers, who felt a need for such power, frequented a prayer mountain to receive power from God. But some of them were mistaken in their motives, desiring to display their power and build their own reputation. They bragged about their mountain prayers or fasting. They drew people’s attention and approval to their religious fervor. Pride causes church split. If they get proud as a result of their experience of divine enablement, they should learn to be humble like Christ. So, the best use of spiritual strength in our inner persons is to transform our lowly character into Christlikeness.

We often pray that God changes our husbands, children, or fellow believers. But prayer changes us first. While praying, we learn to be poor in spirit, mourn, meek, compassionate, or peaceful. While praying, we experience peace that transcends our understanding. Listen to what Paul says in Phil. 4:6-7: ⁶ 아무 것도 염려하지 말고 오직 모든 일에 기도와 간구로, 너희 구할 것을 감사함으로 하나님께 아뢰라 ⁷ 그리하면 모든 지각에 뛰어난 하나님의 평강이 그리스도 예수 안에서 너희 마음과 생각을 지키시리라. ⁶ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” While struggling with others in the church, we are prone to suffer from negative feelings such as anxiety, anger, or hatred. We are prone to harbor emotional wounds in our hearts. We should kneel before our sovereign Father who can strengthen our inner persons and mold our inner character through the Holy Spirit.       

What is fueling the fire in our church’s furnace—a powerless program or a praying people? We don’t find a person who took a test without wanting to know what to study. Nor do we find a soldier who was willing to go into battle without his gun. Also, we don’t find a pilot who wanted to lose power while still in the air. But we see Christians who were perfectly willing to live their lives without God’s power. Why is this so? Possibly, there are some who are ignorant of how to tap into God’s vast resource of power. Others know about God’s power but would rather supply their own source of strength. 그리스도인으로서 하나님의 능력에 연결되지 못하면 그 결과는 우리의 삶의 방식에 그대로 드러납니다: 우리 안에 있는 열매가 상합니다. 우리는 하나님과의 관계를 단순한 종교로 전락시킵니다. 하나님의 능력이 없으면 기독교는 공허한 형식이 됩니다. 하나님의 능력이 없으면 구원의 기쁨은 사라집니다. 죄의 힘이 우리를 압도하고 삶은 즐거움이 아닌 참기가 되어 버립니다. 당신의 삶에 하나님의 능력, 죄를 정복하고 인생에서 승리할 수 있는 능력을 원하십니까? 하나님의 능력은 우리가 기도하는 법을 배울 때, 즉 지속적이고 열렬하게 기도할 때만 임할 것입니다. If we as Christians fail to plug into God’s power, the results spill out in how we live: The fruit within us spoils. We take our relationship with God and turn it into just a religion. Without the power of God, Christianity becomes an empty form. Without the power of God, the joy of salvation is gone. The power of sin overwhelms us, and life becomes an endurance, not something to be enjoyed. Do you want the power of God in your life, the power to conquer sin and to become victorious in life? God’s power will come only when we learn to pray—to pray consistently and fervently.

            What do you have in your inner person? Do you have anxiety, hatred, resentment, or hostility in your inner man? Or do you have the Holy Spirit and His fruit such as love, joy, peace, mercy, goodness, etc? Do you have faith, love, and hope as a result of your prayer? Hope is a golden cord connecting us to heaven. This cord helps us hold our heads up high, even when multiple trials are buffeting us. But the Lord says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Prayer brings us confidence in Christ’s presence and brings heaven to us. Without prayer, we can’t receive divine enablement of grace. Here is what we should do when we are in trouble: 소망 중에 즐거워하며 환난 중에 참으며 기도에 항상 힘쓰며. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer (Rom. 12:12). Please, kneel before the sovereign Father to ask Him to strengthen your inner person through the Holy Spirit. 

III.           그리스도께서 마음에 거하도록 기도하세요.

Pray for Christ to dwell in your heart.

IV.           그리스도의 사랑으로 충만해지도록 기도하세요.

Pray to be filled with the love of Christ.

V.             하나님의 영광을 위하여 기도하세요.  

Pray for the glory of God.

Conclusion: Surely, prayer moves the hand that moves the world! Prayer is the only power God grants to us. John Wesley said, "죄만 두려워하고 하나님만 사모하는 설교자 백 명을 내게 주시면 성직자든 평신도든 지푸라기라도 하나도 상관하지 않겠나니, 그런 사람만이 지옥의 문을 흔들고 천국을 이 땅에 세울 것이다. 하나님은 기도에 대한 응답으로만 일하십니다." “Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin, and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen; such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on earth. God does nothing but in answer to prayer.” One measure of man’s progress through the ages has been his discovery and use of power: muscular power of both humankind and animals, fire, wind, coal, gas and oil, steam, electricity, and nuclear. Yet strangely and unfortunately, comparatively few have recognized and utilized God’s spiritual power. He is omnipotent or all-powerful. Indeed, He is the source of all power. Wherever the Holy Spirit is mentioned in the Bible, He is related to power in one form or another, but the greater emphasis is on spiritual power.

When our inner persons are filled with the Spirit-filled assurance of salvation and divine enablement through prayer, we can say the following along with Paul: 내게 능력 주시는 자 안에서 내가 모든 것을 할 수 있느니라. I can do all things through him who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13). The source of power lies not in us, but in Christ. So, we must look to Christ by faith, who strengthens us through the Holy Spirit. Christ is our compassionate High Priest who makes intercession for us in heaven. When we feel down, we must remind ourselves of God’s constant intercession for us and bow our knees before our sovereign Father for our fellow believers to experience spiritual enablement against all trials in life. Christ not only died for us on the cross but also rose from the dead for us. Now, Christ intercedes for us. We must make this truth encourage us to pray for the church. We must pray for courage and strength against conflicts and divisions in the church. Robert Murray M’Cheyne said: "옆방에서 나를 위해 기도하는 그리스도의 음성을 들을 수 있다면 수많은 적을 두려워하지 않을 것입니다. 그분은 나를 위해 기도하고 계시니 거리는 아무런 차이가 없습니다." “If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million of enemies. Yet the distance makes no difference; he is praying for me.”

Let me leave you with the following text: 모든 기도와 간구로 하되 무시로 성령 안에서 기도하고 이를 위하여 깨어 구하기를 항상 힘쓰며 여러 성도를 위하여 구하고. praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints (Eph. 6:18). Let’s bow our heads in prayer for our church to be strengthened in their inner persons through the Holy Spirit!

Benediction: ²⁰ 우리 가운데서 역사하시는 능력대로 우리의 온갖 구하는 것이나 생각하는 것에 더 넘치도록 능히 하실 이에게 ²¹ 교회 안에서와 그리스도 예수 안에서 영광이 대대로 영원 무궁하기를 원하노라 아멘. ²⁰ Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Eph. 3:20-21)