Title: Paul's Prayer (Ephesians 3:14-16)
Prayer is not unique to Christianity. There are other religions as well. That is why we need to think about what kind of prayer is prayed in the Bible. However, the prayers of the Korean church have made God truly poor. Why, then, is prayer limited to where? That prayer is filled with fleshly things. Whether you are asking for good money or getting stronger, you are filled with this kind of prayer. This is not to say that such prayers are unconditionally wrong. However, the purpose and goal of praying that prayer is gathered into it. So, what kind of God has God become? It has become a living spirit that satisfies human needs and desires. It was as if this ax was mine, and only one knew about it. To know God as such is truly an act of ignoring God.
God has a wish. It is God's will to create a new heaven and a new earth in the state that God first created. God listens to a prayer that meets such a wish, and if it goes against his will, he will not accept it. Look at 1 John 5:14. He said that if you ask for anything according to His will, He will hear you. However, today, prayer is being used as a tool to insist on and insist on one's will regardless of the Lord's will. In that sense, Paul's prayers in today's text remind us of our prayers again. Earlier, Paul prayed in chapter 1. However, looking at that prayer and the prayer of today's text, we can feel that there is no material prayer. What is Paul's prayer? “I want the Holy Spirit to strengthen your inner man with power.” What is the inner person here? Look at 2 Corinthians 4:17, it is said, "The outward man perishes, but the inward man is being renewed day by day." The outer man refers to all of us that will die and decay. In other words, the fleshly instincts, desires, and actions, but the inner man refers to the spirit born again by the Holy Spirit. Simply put, we are talking about our soul.
We did not do this prayer. Couldn't pray to kill me. We've been asking the world to change so that we can live. That person has to change, and this environment has to change. I have been praying that if that person changes, something will change in our church. However, the prayer that Paul asks for strength in the inner man is a prayer that I need to change. I am praying that I must die and that being denied is the true way. God's interest is in work, not in business. God is interested in people. God cares about who you are. For that, work is mobilized, events are mobilized, and service is mobilized. However, we are more interested in how the country succeeds and leaves a name than in itself. Why then do we not pray in this way?
Our interest is to go out into the world with something visible and try to prove the truth in form. With money or with the number of people, I want to say that this is the truth. This is the intention to strengthen the outward man. Our concern is not in the inner man, but in the outer man. I want to live with such power, environment, conditions, and strength that the world cannot take care of me. But Paul wants his inner man to become strong and live. Were any of the disciples of Jesus right? For example, did Peter preach on the day of Pentecost? Aren't people surprised when people think Peter is easy? From a worldly point of view, they were ugliness. But through it, the Lord delighted in preaching the gospel.
In the end, we can confirm how much our prayers were the struggles of our greed regardless of the Lord's will. To pray like that is to discover how much I have been interested in the world rather than God. There should be a prayer asking for such eyes to know that the suffering we are experiencing now cannot be compared with the eternal glory. Look at 2 Corinthians 4:17, 18, "We do not look at what is seen, but on the invisible, for what is seen is temporary, but what is not seen is eternal." is to do It is easy for us to think that we are blessed and blessed if we have no problems and live our lives comfortably without difficulties. But Woolley has to think about it. It is the fact that by living comfortably and without any problems, there is no opportunity to truly care about the inner person.
At this time, we had the idea that the world would change and that if I had the strength and possessed many things, I could endure any hardship, and that no matter what problems came, I would not be shaken and could live without being shaken. Especially in a world like these days where people with money can live in a world that only rich people can live in. However, instead of winning and living by that, the inner man is strong so that he can win victory through faith in this rough land. Turn once more, turn our attention to the inner person, and know that only living in Jesus Christ is a victory.