15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your [f]understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality[g] and [h]power and [i]might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. Ephesians 1:15-23
The apostle Paul was a man of prayer. He understood the power of prayer and daily spent time interceding for those who he had led to Christ and the churches he had planted and started. He understood that it is only through prayer that true revelation, wisdom, knowledge, and understanding is released.
Often times we wonder why it seems the American church seems powerless. Yes we have churches that are filled with lights, loud music, and seem very entertaining. These churches even may draw huge crowds with many churches planted. But even though it seems things are growing, are they truly growing deeper in Christ or have we simply created an atmosphere of excitement.
I often sit and ponder this thought. As I think about ministries and leading a church the true thing that matters are we honoring the Lord. There are pastors out there who are very popular but their methods are not pleasing to the Lord. For when we simply appeal to the flesh because we are worried about numbers, we begin to compromise methods and the message we have been given to preach.
If our churches are to truly move in the power of the Holy Spirit then our churches and our lives must become a house of prayer. When prayer is the priority and we truly teach people how to pray, their hearts are prepared and expecting the Lord to move greatly in their lives and in their midst. But the reason it seems many of our churches have a form of godliness but are without power is because we are without prayer. We are more concerned with systems and technology than we are with knowing the heart of our Father in Heaven.
The Lord is far more powerful than we can understand with our limited understanding. The only way to grow in a deep understanding and revelation of God’s power is prayer. When we lead a congregation and when we have been given the honor to disciple people, we must be faithful to pray and intercede for them. For if we desire those we lead to understand the depths of God’s power and mighty, it is through prayer these things are released.
Jesus is the head over all. Everything has been placed under Christ and He has been given authority. He has given that authority unto us and has called us to walk in that authority. But the only way to understand how to truly walk in this authority is to walk with Him closely. He set the model with the twelve disciples. For three years they daily walked with Him. Sharing every moment. Spending time when the crowds had gone away to inquire and hear the Master speak of the depths of Heaven. So many times we simply follow Jesus from the crowd and fail to enter in to the secret place. But if our desire is to understand the depths of Christ and who He is, we must move beyond the crowd and spend extravagant time alone with our Savior.
The Father's Heart 