“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Paul closed his intercessory prayer for these Ephesians, (and for every believer), with this grand and glorious doxology. He had already prayed that we would be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man. He had further prayed that Christ would dwell in our hearts by faith; and that we would be rooted and grounded in His astounding love for us! He continued on to intercede that we would be filled with all of the fullness of God. And having done that, the great Apostle began to break into passionate praises to our Lord and God who delights to answer the prayers of His beloved children.

Friend, as I taught ‘Christ-centered Evangelism’ to well over a 120 Indian pastors, church planters and Indian mission organization directors from 9 different states of the nation of India, my heart was overwhelmed with a similar doxology of praise, thanksgiving and worship to our God of amazing grace, marvelous mercy and astounding love! How can it be that a ‘formerly agnostic, arrogant, argumentative and nearly alcoholic’ rock and jazz drummer could be transformed into a follower of Christ? How is it possible that this ‘formerly thorough-going pagan’ would be sent out of our nation on over 190 foreign mission trips in 20 different nations? How could it be possible that a ‘formerly introverted person’ would be called to preach the Gospel and train pastors and church planters? The sole explanation is that the living God has done exceedingly, abundantly above all that I could have contemplated or even imagined! I can join in with the psalmist and proclaim, “Give praise to the Lord, proclaim His name; make known among the nations what He has done.”

 

John Newton wrote, “You are coming to a King; Large petitions with you bring; For His grace and power are such, That you can never ask too much!”

Perhaps, you are presently finding yourself in a situation in which there appears to be a spiritual drought. You may be experiencing the yearning heart of the psalmist, when he cried, “My soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory.” But friend, I am here with great rejoicing, to report that our God is still saving sinners! Our Lord is still multiplying His truth into the lives of other spiritual leaders, who are being faithful to teach others also!

 

You may be presently praying for someone or some situation; and the answer appears to be impossible. Oh, but friend, this precious verse reminds us that we are praying to the God whose power is eternal, universal and absolute. We are seeking an answer from the Lord who has all authority in the heavens and on the earth. God’s power is an omnipotence that is supernaturally extraordinary and inexhaustible, in its ability to accomplish enormously above and beyond what we can conceive! We must remind ourselves that the Lord and God, whom we are addressing, is the Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent King of the universe. As John Newton as well said, “You are coming to a King; large petitions with you bring; for His grace and power are such, that you can never ask too much!”

Every born again believer is welcomed to bring their most daring petitions, their most impossible requests and their most incredible desires to our Lord! For our Lord and God is perfectly capable of accomplishing all that He wills. Furthermore, it is a certain fact that He will attain all of His plans and purposes. We must not lose sight of our Lord’s absolute and universal authority to fulfill His great mission in this world. As Charles Spurgeon has well said, “The very invitation to pray implies that there are blessings waiting for us at the mercy-seat.” We must see each personal challenge and each specific burden as an invitation to pray! Our God is still accomplishing immeasurably more than you can even conceptualize!