"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you in power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith."
Ephesians 3:16, 17a (NIV)
Paul is praying for Christians. That is, he is praying for people who have already "asked Jesus into their heart". So many of us parents pray for the day that our children come to that place of praying and asking Jesus to come into their heart, and it is a glorious day, isn't it! But it isn't full glory.
Paul is demonstrating through his prayer that the act of salvation (hearing/believing/receiving), is not the destination, it is only the first step. His prayer is not that Christ may be invited, but that Christ may dwell. To have Christ Jesus dwell, mean He lives and rules in every aspect of our lives, through His Spirit. He will only dwell where He is welcome and comfortable. Unless we as Christians purposefully surrender each area of our lives, He will not dwell with us. This takes faith. It takes hearing the Word and obeying the Word - one decision at a time, area after area in our lives.
Faith requires God's power at work within us! So let's pray like Paul did. Let's ask the God of miracles to do miracles in our hearts and in our children's hearts!
Change our hearts Oh Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment