Prayer

Sermon from CCM:Gorton
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LISTEN

 

This sermon was preached by Andy Armstrong at the CCM:Gorton site of Christ Church Manchester on Sunday 7th January 2018.

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SERIES

 

This message was part of the ‘For Such a Time as This’ series, preached at Christ Church Manchester’s church in Gorton in late 2017. The full series included the following sermons:

 

BIBLE VERSES

 

This sermon was based on Ephesians 1:15-23.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

15For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

KEY POINTS

Paul prayed that the Ephesian church would have more wisdom and revelation

  • Paul had heard of the faith and love of this church, so what would we expect him to pray for? Maybe for more evangelism, miracles or giving? Instead he prays that God would give them two things: to be lead by the Spirit in wisdom and revelation that the eyes of their hearts may be opened.
  • Paul isn’t praying for anything new, but for eyes to see what they already had.
  • Wisdom is not something naturally attained and revelation is something hidden for a long time being suddenly revealed.
  • Wisdom and revelation open the curtains in our hearts to let light in and know clearly.

Christ has given us eyes to see

  • If we belong to Christ then the curtains have been opened to us to see clearly, but we can choose to close the curtains again, since there are different depths to our understanding.
  • We are to pray for the wisdom and revelation to delve into a deeper understanding of God. This is something we cannot attain ourselves, but must pray for.

To have wisdom and revelation results in knowing God better

  • What are the riches and hope referred to in verse 18? The hope is Jesus and the riches are Jesus.
  • The immense power within us in verse 19-20 is the Spirit who dwells within you, the One who transforms you.

MORE SERMONS

 

To see more sermons from Christ Church Manchester, you can visit our sermons page, or why not consider subscribing on iTunes.