5 December 2015 + Love Dare Day 7

Prayer
      3. Seeking Intimacy with Christ

Scripture:

• Ephesians 3:14-19

Observations:

Amen!

The heading for this passage, "Prayer for Spiritual Strength" is exactly where I am right now.

Paul is writing of his prayer to God in light of both his calling as missionary to the Gentiles and the suffering he is undergoing. He recognises that God is the archetypal Father, of whom all other fathers are imperfect reflections - though I am not sure of the reason for making the point in this context.

What is Paul praying for?

• That you [the church at Ephesus] may be strengthened by the power of the Holy Spirit residing within you, according to the richness of God's glory
• That, through your faith, Christ may dwell in your hearts
• That you may be rooted & grounded in God's love
• That you may understand the indescribable greatness of God's love
• That you may be filled with the fullness of God

So, how does that apply in fighting sin?

It has everything to do with it.

Sin is not something to be fought with external laws and actions. Sin is a matter of the heart. Here, we have the answer to sin: we need to be deeply and intimately rooted in God. As Christians, we should be seeking God, asking for strength from the Holy Spirit that resides in us. We should be driving deeper in our faith, rooting ourselves to Christ and the truth to the point that Christ is the stuff of our hearts, not our flesh. We should be praying that we would understand the greatness of his love for us.

The strength from the Holy Spirit allows us to overcome sin

Christ dwelling within our hearts gives us a new nature free from sin

Understanding the greatness of God's love drives us to reject our sin

Application:

In some ways, this is not new knowledge for me, but in other ways it is a new understanding.

In all ways, God is my source and my completion. In him, I find my victory.

He empowers me to combat my sin.

He frees me from my chains to sin

He changes my desire from sin

Nothing compares to the love of God for me

~ ~ ~

The Love Dare

Day 7: Love Believes the Best