The Attitudes of Prayer (1)

As noted in our last installment, Ephesians 3:12-13—In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.—provide a “prelude” to the prayer of Paul that follows (vs. 14-21). Let us now examine the three attitudes of prayer: Boldness, Access, and Confidence. How are we to pray? What is at the very foundation of prayer? When we understand these attitudes, they will transform our prayer life.

First, we have boldness. The Greek word behind boldness (parresia) literal means “to tell all.” In other words, we can come before our Father with total freedom of speech, pour out our hearts, and tell Him everything. What a blessed privilege God has granted us! Because of Jesus Christ, we can speak to God without fear and may speak openly and candidly. The book of Hebrews is most vivid in speaking of this (read 4:14‑16 and 10:19). In Judaism only the High Priest could enter God’s presence in the Holy of Holies, and he could only do that once a year on the Day of Atonement. But now, because of the blood of Christ, we can come directly to God and speak openly.

At this point we must sound a warning: boldness does not mean insolence. We recall that “insolence” is the negative sense of the Greek parrēsia. There is a growing amount of disrespect of God in today’s various teachings on prayer. While boldness does mean that we need not have any inhibitions as we come before God, we must still never forget that God is God. The “buddy‑buddy” attitude that many have of God and man is truly blasphemous as it brings God down to man’s level. God must be respected and worshipped as God. He is not our “buddy” or our “pal;” He is our Father and our God. We may indeed come before Him openly, candidly, and without fear, but we must also come before Him in reverence, respect, and worship.

Second, we have access. The Greek here is (prosagoge). A similar word was used in ancient times to describe a person who gave someone else admittance to see the king. The person who wanted to see the king had no right to do so; rather someone else had to give him admittance, had to make the introduction. So, may we realize that we have no right to come before God, but have been granted a privilege of doing so. The French word entree perfectly translates the Greek as it means “admission.” This is the picture in the Greek; we have been granted “admission” into the Father’s presence. How arrogant is the thought and the teaching today that we have a right to come before God because of Jesus Christ. We have no right; we only have a privilege because of Christ. At this point we can translate our text thusly: “In Whom we have openness of thought and introduction.”

With this in mind, we must also expand our earlier warning: boldness does not mean insolence, and access does not mean impetuosity. To be impetuous means to be impulsive, doing things hurriedly, or rushing about. Many of us are guilty of hastily and hurriedly coming before the Lord in prayer. We often rush before Him and ask, or even demand, something from Him. And, may we say again, how often we think we have a right to be before Him.

Oh, may we cease such dreadful actions! May we see that we have no right to come before God, but rather we have a mar­velous privilege granted us by the introduction of our Savior. May we never again rush into His presence, hurriedly making our desires known. Rather, in our communion with Him may we come quietly, humbly, slowly, and deliberately before Him.

Paul’s Prelude to Prayer

The content of the closing passage of Ephesians 3 (vs. 12-21) is the second of the two prayers recorded in Ephesians. The first is back in 1:15‑23, where Paul prayed for four things. That first prayer can be summed up this way: a prayer for Appreciation; that is, Paul prayed that God’s people will realize and appreciate all the riches they have in Christ.

We can summarized the second prayer as a prayer for Application; that is, Paul prayed that God’s people will put into practice what they now appreciate, that they would be what God desires them to be. It is impossible indeed to apply something to our lives if we do not appreciate it.

To illustrate, as an American, we should appreciate what that means. While it has lost some of its early glory, it is without doubt the most unique nation that has ever existed on Earth. Its principles of liberty and how that liberty came about transcend anything on this planet. Only when we appreciate that, can we, therefore, apply it; only then can we live out the principles of what it means to be an American. Infinitely beyond that should we appreciate and apply our riches in Christ.

One commentator contrasts these two prayers by writing: “[Paul’s] first prayer is for believers to know their power; the second is for them to use it. Two things a pastor should be most concerned about are telling his people who they are in Christ and then urging them to live like it. In other words, the pastor helps members of the flock understand their spiritual power, and then he motivates them to use it. Like the apostle Paul in this letter, the faithful pastor seeks to bring his people to the place of maximum power as full-functioning Christians.”

It’s one thing to tell the people something, but it’s quite another to help them use it. As we saw back in our study of preaching, this is what preaching is all about—the exposition and application of Truth. That is what the pastor is called to do.

We should also note something very significant in the recorded prayers of Paul. The most important prayers of Paul are called “Paul’s prison prayers,” those recorded in the Prison Epistles. Two of them are here in Ephesians, one is found in Philippians 1:9‑11, and one more appears in Colossians 1:9­-12. The point here is that these deal with spiritual realities rather than material needs. While there is nothing wrong with praying for physical needs, we need to recognize that this is often the only thing our prayers involve. Much of the teaching on prayer today is shallow because it fails to point out that prayer should ultimately lead to spiritual results. In fact, when we do see Paul pray for something physical, we find that the final result is actually spiritual.

We turn now to our text: In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. Verses 12 and 13 are not actually part of Paul’s prayer. Rather, they are more of a “prelude” to the prayer that follows. The reason for the prelude is because after their reading about the sublime purpose of the Church, Paul fears that his readers might be so overcome by awe that they might shrink away from personally applying this truth to their own lives. Perhaps they were thinking, “How can these amazing truths, these sublime realities, these unreachable riches, these grand mysteries apply to us?” Therefore, Paul re­assures his readers with what these truths mean to all believers personally.

Now, while verses 12 and 13 are not part of the prayer itself, they are still part of the context on prayer. For this reason we include them in the fourfold thrust of the passage. In this installment, and the ones following, we will examine this fourfold thrust: The Attitudes of Prayer (vs. 12‑13); The Approach to Prayer (vs. 14‑15); The Appeal of Prayer (vs. 16‑19); The Ascription of Praise (vs. 20‑21). 

Do you Groan for America?

Once again I interrupt our study for a single post to insert a burden that weighs on my heart. I was also able to share this in my weekly column in our local newspaper.

A few posts back I mentioned Dr. David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who pastored Westminster Chapel in London from 1939 to 1968. He was one of the greatest Bible expositors the Church has ever known. In reading his biography, written by Englishman Ian Murray, I came across an incident that is appropriate for our times.

Lloyd-Jones was a Welshman by birth. While he condemned what he called “carnal nationalism,” which claims that one’s nation is the only one on earth that matters, he also opposed the idea that being a Christian erased one’s national identity or that he should leave the culture into which he was born. He was, indeed, a Welshman through and through. Though living in London and pastoring there, for example, he read Welsh newspapers and listened to Welsh radio. He also deplored the Welshman who tried to lose his accent to please his “English masters.”

Roger Weil, who was a member of Westminster Chapel, recalls seeing a side of his pastor’s character in a new light when he happened to visit the Lloyd-Joneses during one of their summer “holidays” (“vacations” to we Americans). They spoke together in the course of an evening on the state of the Welsh churches, past and present, and this was followed by family prayer, which, as usual, closed the day. The English visitor later wrote:

I will always remember the deep note of sadness in that part of his prayer when he interceded for Wales, that God who had so signally blessed her in days gone by would revive His work there once more. It was that tone of sadness that stuck in my mind at the time—I did not realize how it grieved his heart. I suppose it was memorable, too, because while on our knees there together we were privileged to glimpse him on a more personal level than ever we could in the services at the Chapel. It was not so much the words but something more like a groan in how he said what he said. (Ian Murray, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: The Fight of Faith, 1939–1981 [Banner of Truth Trust, 1990], 202)

I was struck profoundly by that last statement—his prayer was “more like a groan.” It immediately reminds us of our Lord weeping over Jerusalem and the prophet Jeremiah weeping over Judah. 

But what about America? As many are aware, former Arkansas governor (as well as former evangelical pastor) Mike Huckabee weighed in on the recent horrific tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut: “We ask why there is violence in our schools,” he said on Fox News, “but we have systematically removed God from our schools. Should we be so surprised that schools would become a place of carnage?” Addressing the Aurora, Colorado shootings a few weeks earlier, he added: “We don’t have a crime problem, a gun problem, or even a violence problem. What we have is a sin problem.”

He is right, and if anyone gets angry at what he says, that proves his point all the more. We don’t want to face the real truth. We have systematically, methodically, and steadily removed God from every aspect of our culture: schools, courtrooms, government, media, military, communities, public conversations, and, ironically enough, even many of our churches. We then, if I may be so blunt, have the unmitigated gall to ask where God is when some horror befalls us.

Please consider our Founding Fathers for a moment (although many politicians today view themselves as smarter than the Founders). Just one example of many is Fisher Ames, who, according to the Congressional Record of September 20, 1789, was the man who actually offered the final wording of the First Amendment (and didn’t view the Bible as a violation of that amendment, as our “much smarter” politicians do today). In an article in a national magazine dated January, 1801, Ames wrote of his concern about all the new textbooks that were appearing. He said that while these are good, the Bible still must never be replaced as the number one textbook in our schools: 

Why then, if these books for children must be retained, as they will be, should not the Bible regain the place it once held as a school book? Its morals are pure, its examples captivating and noble.

 So, what is the result of our defection from God and His Word? The United States of America (if that means anything anymore) is headed for economic ruin, political tyranny, and moral bankruptcy. Most important of all, it is headed for divine judgment. In fact, every nation in history that has fallen did so because they followed the same path that America is now proudly traveling.

Is there an answer to our headlong spiral into the abyss?  Yes. While said specifically to the nation of Israel, 2 Chronicles 7:14 applies to every nation: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” What’s the answer? What are God’s requirements for blessing?—humility, prayer, devotion, and repentance

My Dear Friend, do you groan for America?

The Results of Preaching (2)

Ephesians 3:11-12 give us two results of preaching and learning. First, verse 11 declares the Divine side there, which is God’s eternal purpose, His glory.

Second, in verse 12—In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him—we see the human side, man’s portion, which is his good. This verse is one of comfort. God here reassures us with what all this means to us personally. We have seen many awesome truths in Ephesians, truths that humble us and show us how depraved and low we are. But God gives an encouragement, a reassurance. He says that these truths, which we shall understand more and more as we preach their depths, give us boldness, access, and confidence.

The Greek behind boldness (parresia) doesn’t mean “presumptuous,” where we come barging into God’s presence demanding what we want, as prayer is sometimes viewed. Rather it means “freedom or frankness in speech.” The word is actually made up of two words, pas (all) and resis (the act of speaking), so the most literal idea is “to tell all.” In other words, we can come before our Father with total freedom of speech, pour out our hearts, and tell Him everything. What a privilege!

The word access (prosagoge), which we noted back in 2:18, is found only in these two verses and Romans 5:2. It literally means “to open a way of access.” A similar word was used in ancient times to describe a person who gave someone else admittance to see the King. Therefore, while we have no right to come before God, we have been granted the privilege by a proper introduction and know that we will be welcome.

Finally, confidence (pepoithesis) comes from peitho, “to persuade.” It comes from the perfect participial form which refers to a past process of being completely persuaded, with the present result that we are in a confirmed and settled state of utter confidence.

What a picture we have when we put all three of these words together! Because of Jesus Christ, we have been formally introduced to our Father-King and are welcomed into His very presence, where we may tell Him everything, having full confidence that He will listen, understand, and respond in love.

Preacher and commentator John Phillips captures a practical application. Picture yourself walking up to the door of your earthly father’s house, only to have a guard barring the door. You say, “Excuse me please,” but the guard brusquely asks, “Where do you think you’re going?” “I’m going in to see my father,” you answer, incredulous. But he defiantly responds, “No, you can’t do that! I’ll take your message to him. You can only approach him through me.” Fed up with this foolishness, you say, “Get out of my way, mister. My father loves me, and I’m his son, so I sure don’t need you or anyone else to come between us.” Likewise, neither do we need nor should we allow any person to come between us and our Father in Heaven. We have boldness, access, and confidence.

In closing this installment, let us observe that verse 12 is so important that it not only ends the first half of Ephesians 3 (The Explanation of the Mystery), but it also begins the second half (The Encouragement to the Saints). This verse actually begins Paul’s further thoughts on prayer and introduces the second prayer he offers for these believers.

Dear Christian, preaching is increasingly deemphasized today. I pray that we understand just how infinitely important preaching really is. Whether you are a preacher or a layman, may you be committed to the preaching ministry; if you’re a preacher, practice it; if you’re a layman, submit to it. 

The Results of Preaching (1)

Last time we considered the reason we are to preach in Ephesians 3:10: to make “known . . . the manifold wisdom of God.” Verses 11-12 go on to give us two results of this preaching and learning: According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

First, on the Divine side there is God’s eternal purpose, which is His glory (v. 11). Once again, we come back to one of the great themes of Ephesians God is working all things, especially the salvation he provided through Christ Jesus our Lord, to his ultimate purpose, which is His glory. Why, then, are we to preach? Because it brings glory to God. Those who deemphasize preaching today are actually taking away glory from God. As everything else, preaching is designed to glorify God.

The typical attitude today concerning “worship” is that the key to it is music, with other things, such as drama and entertainment, added on. But such an approach is absolutely foreign to Scripture. One key (if not the key) passage in understanding worship is John 4:20-24, where our Lord Himself declares, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (v. 24). There are many today who want to worship “in spirit,” which in their practice is actually more emotion and self-expression than anything else, but few who do so “in truth.” If we are to worship in truth, and the Word of God is truth, then we must worship out of an understanding of the Word of God. In-turn, if we’re going to truly worship God, we must understand Who He is, and the only place He has fully revealed Himself is in His Word. And that is why expository preaching, the systematic teaching and application of the Word of God, is number one. Any Church that does not have this as the core of their ministry is not a Biblical Church.

The vast majority of books written today on worship and Church ministry contain very little emphasis on preaching; sometime, in fact, it’s not mentioned at all, or if it is, it is given little importance. Neither do such books ever deal in any depth with the key passage we just mentioned—John 4:20-24. Many Christians today do, indeed, worship only in spirit with little truth—emotion with no depth.

In is book, Between Two Worlds, author John Stott writes this strong defense of the place of preaching in worship: Word and worship belong indissolubly to each other. All worship is an intelligent and loving response to the revelation of God, because it is the adoration of his Name. Therefore acceptable worship is impossible without preaching. For preaching is making known the Name of the Lord, and worship is praising the Name of the Lord made known. Far from being an alien intrusion into worship, the reading and preaching of the word are actually indispensable to it. The two cannot be divorced. Indeed, it is their unnatural divorce which accounts for the low level of so much contemporary worship. Our worship is poor because our knowledge of God is poor, and our knowledge of God is poor because our preaching is poor. But when the Word of God is expounded in its fullness, and the congregation begins to glimpse the glory of the living God, they bow down in solemn awe and joyful wonder before His throne. It is preaching which accomplishes this, the proclamation of the Word of God in the power of the Spirit of God. That is why preaching is unique and irreplaceable.”

The exposition of the Word of God, then, is essential to meaningful worship. To do less is to rob God of glory.

Why We Are to Preach

The essence of Ephesians 3:10 is, To the intent that now . . . might be known . . . the manifold wisdom of God. What is the reason for preaching? Why have we made such an issue of it? Why is this such a big deal? Simply stated, the main reason for preaching of the Word of God is to make known the manifold wisdom of God. Will a comedian, a stage play, or a music concert accomplish this? Hardly. None of these worldly methods can possible dig into and then make known the depth of God’s wisdom.

This truth demands careful study. May we first review the word wisdom, which we studied back in 1:8. The Greek is sophia, a word which was important to the Greeks; they thought and wrote much about it. It speaks of a quality or attitude rather than an action. Aristotle said of this word, “Knowledge of the most precious things.” So, this word refers to the intellectual understanding of ultimate realities such as life and death. In other words, sophia speaks of the knowledge of the things that really matter, the things that matter most.

Therefore, used in our text this word speaks of God’s understanding of ultimate realities. That is why preaching is a “big deal.” It is designed to make known God’s understanding of the things that matter most. And no other method of ministry will do that. But, as if this word were not enough, Paul adds an adjective.

Notice the word manifold; what a marvelous word it is! The Greek here is polupoikilos and is found only here in the New Testament. The literal meaning is “multi‑colored,” that is, marked with a great variety of colors as in a painting. So, in our text the word means “many‑faceted” or “most varied.” It’s also important to note that the simple form of the word is poikilos, meaning “various” (e.g., I Pet. 4:10). But Paul makes a compound verb by adding the prefix polo, from which is derived the English “poly,” many. So, again, the idea conveyed is “mufti‑faceted” or “most varied.”

Think of it! God’s knowledge and understanding are the most varied, the most multi-faceted. It’s not just that God’s knowledge and understanding are deep, which of course they are, but that these take on many forms and possess infinite diversity. We can never understand anything of God unless He reveals Himself.

This reminds us again of how varied God’s dealings have been with man through the ages. Through the ages, God’s working has been “mufti‑faceted,” “multi-colored.”  Commentator Albert Barnes writes this beautiful description: “It is like a landscape, or a panoramic view passing before the mind, with a great variety of phases and aspects, all tending to excite admiration. In the redemption of the church, there is not merely one form or one phase of wisdom. It is wisdom, ever-varying, ever-beautiful. There was wisdom manifested when the plan was formed; wisdom in the selection of the Redeemer; wisdom in the incarnation; wisdom in the atonement; wisdom in the means of renewing the heart, and sanctifying the soul; wisdom in the various dispensations by which the Church is sanctified, guided, and brought to glory. The wisdom thus shown is like the ever-varying beauty of changing clouds, when the sun is reflected on them at evening. Each aspect is full of beauty. One bright cloud differs in appearance from others; yet all tend to fill the mind with elevated views of God.”

That is why we preach! Only preaching explores the depths of God, only preaching delves into who He is, what He has done, what He is doing, and what He will ultimately accomplish. It is the absolute height of arrogance to say, as many today, “Preaching is not relevant, we’ve found a better method.” How could anyone possibly improve on what God ordained—the preaching of the manifold wisdom of God? 

The Substance of Preaching (2)

Continuing our thoughts on what pastors should be preaching today, first, our content should be the unsearchable riches of Christ (Eph. 3:8b).

Second, we are also to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ (v. 9). We recall that the Church was a mystery; before this age the Church was completely hidden.

In 1799, during Napoleon’s occupation of Egypt, some of his troops found a black basalt slab near the town of Rosetta in Lower Egypt. What came to be known as the Rosetta Stone now resides in the British Museum in London. It was inscribed in 196 BC with a decree praising the Egyptian king Ptolemy V, but what was startling was that the inscription was in three scripts: hieroglyphic, demotic (a simpler hieroglyphic), and Greek. Using the Greek as their key, scholars were able to decipher the never before understood hieroglyphic and demotic.

And so it is with the mystery of the Church; in a sense, it is God’s “Rosetta Stone.” As one expositor puts it, the Church is “the key to understanding what He promised in the Old Testament, what Christ did in the Gospels, what the early church did in the Book of Acts, what Paul and the other writers teach in the Epistles, and what God will do as recorded in the Book of Revelation.” Without an understanding of the Church (its meaning, it’s minister, and its ministry) we are clueless as to what God is doing today.

That little word all is also significant. Paul is saying that he was to preach and teach everything concerning the Church and was to teach it to everyone. To Paul the responsibility was given to preach (and write) about the origins, the organization, the officers, the duties, the ministry, the ordinances, the discipline, and everything else concerning the Church.

He goes on to say that he wanted all men to see these truths. The Greek here is photizō (English (“photo”), which we first encountered back in 1:18, where it is translated “enlightened.” Paul repeats his desire that all men, Jew and Gentile, understand God’s Truth.

Likewise, every preacher today is to preach everything concerning the Church to everyone in the Church so that they understand it. I am convinced that the reason for the state of the Church today is that preachers are not studying, much less preaching, the Biblical doctrine of the Church. The trends in church ministry today are the direct result of ignoring what the Bible says about the Church. To say, for example, that preaching and church ministry must appeal to the “unchurched” (one of the most popular views today) is to show a total, absolute, and all-encompassing ignorance of what the Church is about. It’s hard to put into words how incredulous this is! Virtually everything we have in the Church today is based on tradition and man’s ideas of ministry. Why? Why is the Church dominated by tradition  Why is the majority of ministry based on man’s ideas and programs? Why isn’t preaching the focal point of Christian ministry? The answer to all those questions and several others is that preachers are first not studying the Biblical doctrine of the Church and second are not preaching that doctrine. This fact became such a burden to me that I took six months to preach an in-depth series on the doctrine of the Church at Grace Bible when I first came 18 years ago, followed just a couple of years ago by an exposition of I Timothy.

Honestly speaking  the Church has become so undefined, convoluted, and nebulous down through Church History that it barely resembles the Church of the Book of Acts and the Epistles. For this reason, what we desperately need today is the preaching of the doctrine of the Church from the book of Acts and the Epistles; all that we do in our churches should be based only on that.

Oh, may we preach the unsearchable riches of Christ and the dispensation of the mystery. So encompassing are these to two categories, that all we will ever preach will fit into one or the other. And may we add once again, if preaching is not the primary ministry in a church, that church really has no ministry at all.