https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/ToHimWhoIsAble.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Ephesians 3:13-21<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nI. Life happens. Things don’t always go smoothly. Problems arise, if for no other reason\nthan that we live in a problem filled world.\n
A. People get laid off. Homes are foreclosed. Bankruptcy might loom on the horizon.<\/p>\n
B. Families can be dysfunctional. Marriages strained. Children wayward.<\/p>\n C. Congregations struggle to reach the lost and have poor results. Members are lost\nfaster than they are gained. People aren’t interested in the gospel.\n
D. It is easy to look at a situation and feel hopeless.<\/p>\nII. When Paul wrote the Ephesian letter, he was in prison in Rome. He had been arrested in\nJerusalem and kept locked up for two years as those holding him awaited for a bribe to\nrelease him. He finally made an appeal to be tried by the highest court – to go before\nCaesar – and he now awaited that trial as a prisoner in Rome.\n A. But notice that Paul did not want the Ephesians to get discouraged over his situation –\nEphesians 3:13\n
B. Paul had a prayer on their behalf – Ephesians 3:14-19<\/p>\n
C. What a prayer on anyone’s behalf!<\/p>\n D. Paul was confident that God would answer his prayer, not in the manner in which\nhe asked, but in a way that would exceed Paul’s wildest imagination – Ephesians\n3:20-21\n E. I was talking to a young man about prayer. He wanted to know if it was proper to\npray that he find a beautiful wife, or that he’d be able to impress his girlfriend, or\nthings like that.\n 1. I pointed out that we often pray for the wrong things because we think to\nmaterialistically.\n 2. Is marriage about physical beauty or finding your life’s companion? After\nall physical beauty fades – Proverbs 31:30\n 3. Is being impressive important or finding someone who will help you\nthrough life’s journey and help you stay faithful?\n 4. Perhaps we should look deeper at what we really need and ask God for\nhelp there and not just simply state what we think we want.\n
III. When God answers prayers<\/p>\n
A. He is able<\/p>\n 1. We often set out on tasks with good intentions, but because we have so\nlittle control and so little time we can’t always accomplish what we desire.\n
2. Not so with God – Jeremiah 32:17<\/p>\n 3. Abraham understood. When God promises, He is able to deliver – Romans\n4:19-21\n 4. God has no constraints in accomplishing His will. He is bigger than all our\nproblems. Should I fear that He is not up to the task? – Psalm 77:11-15; 145:3-7\n 5. So when we face hard times, understand that God is able to bring you\nthrough to the other side.. \n
B. To do exceedingly abundantly<\/p>\n
1. God able to far more than you or I might expect.<\/p>\n
2. But then, God doesn’t think in limited terms as we do – Isaiah 55:6-11<\/p>\n
3. Think about God bringing the children of Israel out of Egyptian slavery<\/p>\n
a. He didn’t sneak them out under the cover of night.<\/p>\n b. He sent ten plagues which decimated the Egyptian’s religious\nbeliefs.\n c. He caused the Egyptians to be in so much awe of the Israelites, that\nthey gave them their wealth; thus Israel plundered Egypt without\nwar.\n d. He took them through the Red Sea and then destroyed the army of\nthe mightiest nation on earth at that time.\n e. Did He answer the Israelite’s prayers to ease their slavery? –\nExodus 3:7\n
(1) Oh, yes! And so much more!<\/p>\n (2) God doesn’t do things half-way or just completely, He goes\nbeyond all reasonable expectations\n
C. Beyond what we ask<\/p>\n
1. God knows our needs before we even ask – Matthew 6:8<\/p>\n
2. But God responds to our requests in ways we can’t imagine.<\/p>\n
a. Again think about the children of Israel.<\/p>\n (1) When they prayed, do you think they imagined going out in\nsuch a display of power?\n (2) Even when God’s plans were being implemented, the\nIsraelites thought things were being made worse for them,\nbut that is because they couldn’t see where things were\nheading.\n b. The answers to our prayers will likely come from directions we\nweren’t expecting. \n (1) But then, if we were expecting them, we wouldn’t think we\nwere in such difficulty\n c. The answers, in the end, will give us more than we even thought to ask\n– Matthew 7:7-11\n
D. Beyond what we think<\/p>\n 1. There have been times when I was at point A, I needed to get to point B,\nand knowing roughly how to get there, I would ask how to do the first part\nof my journey, thinking that once I get underway, I’ll be able to take it the\nrest of the way.\n a. But no, it didn’t work out. Because the person I asked didn’t know\nmy ultimate goal, they only gave me exactly what I asked for. It\nnever occurred to them that I was looking to cross the river. The\nbridge was out, but they didn’t mention it because it wasn’t\nimportant.\n b. Little did I know I was in a “you can’t get there from here\nsituation.”\n 2. That isn’t the way God answers us. He not only knows were we want to\ngo, but He also knows where we need to go beyond that – but we hadn’t\nthought that far ahead yet. God thinks on a far greater and vast scale than\nwe do.\n 3. I might be hoping I can pass the next course, God might be seeing that if I\nworked in a different field I’ll have more time for my children and raise\nthem better.\n a. I might be upset that I didn’t pass. I might wonder why God didn’t\nanswer my prayer.\n b. But all along God is responding to things in my life that I didn’t\neven think were factors at the moment and guiding me toward a\nlife better than I imagined.\n
E. According to the power in us<\/p>\n 1. Power? What power. We’re facing the lions of life and feeling pretty puny\nat the moment.\n
2. Paul talked about it earlier – Ephesians 1:18-20<\/p>\n a. God demonstrated His power in raising Christ Jesus from the dead,\nnot just as another person brought back to life only to die again\nlater, but spectacularly leaving no doubt and much evidence of His\npower.\n b. God’s same power saves us, raising us from the death of sin – I\nCorinthians 1:18\n
c. His power keeps us – Psalm 79:11<\/p>\n
d. Operating in ways we cannot fathom – I Corinthians 15:58<\/p>\n
IV. To Him be the Glory<\/p>\n
A. In the church<\/p>\n
1. God picks ways which goes against common thought – I Corinthians 1:26-31<\/p>\n 2. When things work out just right, we realize that it wasn’t man, but God –\nEphesians 3:8-12\n 3. When the church comes together to help one another, problems become\nless of an issue, and God gets the glory – Romans 15:5-9\n 4. God accomplishes His will through His people and thus is glorified – II\nCorinthians 4:15\n
B. In Christ Jesus<\/p>\n 1. But greater is the glory the Son of God brought to the Father of all through\nhis obedience – John 17:4-5\n
a. He received glory from God – II Peter 1:17<\/p>\n
2. When we teach the story of Christ, it gives God glory – I Peter 4:11<\/p>\n
3. Christ taught us how to live pleasing to God – Philippians 1:11<\/p>\n
4. Our faith in Christ is glory to God – Philippians 2:11<\/p>\n
C. Forever and ever<\/p>\n
1. God deserves nothing else by eternal glory – Philippians 4:19<\/p>\n
2. It belongs to God alone – I Timothy 1:17<\/p>\n
3. Throughout all eternity, God’s plans never fail.<\/p>\n
V. So, are you ready to escape the uncertainties of life?<\/p>\n
A. Whatever your problems are, you can stop worrying.<\/p>\n B. Put God first, by being His child, and He will take care of all your needs,\nexceedingly abundantly beyond all that you may ask or think, according to His\npower to save you this day.\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Ephesians 3:13-21 I. Life happens. Things don’t always go smoothly. Problems arise, if for no other reason than that we live in a problem filled world. A. People get laid off. Homes are foreclosed. Bankruptcy might loom on the horizon. B. Families can be dysfunctional. Marriages strained. Children wayward. C. Congregations struggle to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[90,1510],"class_list":["post-63614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-god","tag-prayers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":29411,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/drinking-in-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":63614,"position":0},"title":"Drinking in the Bible","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 4, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Old Testament Sermon with Audio: Drinking in the Old Testament Article: Old Testament Beverages New Testament Sermon with audio: Drinking in the New Testament Article: New Testament Beverages","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/scan0013_tif-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":83182,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-challenge\/","url_meta":{"origin":63614,"position":1},"title":"A Challenge","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Wafel Download Audio","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69824,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-relationship-with-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":63614,"position":2},"title":"A Relationship with God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 15, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Garry Floyd Download Audio","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68316,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/gods-mercy\/","url_meta":{"origin":63614,"position":3},"title":"God’s Mercy","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 9, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Download Audio by Austin Hausner","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68370,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-importance-of-fathers\/","url_meta":{"origin":63614,"position":4},"title":"The Importance of Fathers","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 16, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Download Audio by Raymond Warfel","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68945,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-rock-of-israel\/","url_meta":{"origin":63614,"position":5},"title":"The Rock of Israel","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 21, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Download Audio by Raymond Warfel","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63614\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}