by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
One of my favorite verses on prayer is Ephesians 3:20. Notice the adjectives used. Taking out the adjectives, Paul said, “God is able to do…all we ask or think<\/em>.” Putting in the adjectives one at a time: God is able to do above <\/b>all we ask or think. Then, “God is able to do abundantly <\/b>above all we ask or think.” Then, “God is able to do exceeding <\/b>abundantly above all we ask or think.”<\/p>\n Do we realize what that means? For example, Paul asked the brethren at Ephesus to pray for Him while he was in chains at Rome (Ephesians 6:18-20). Shortly after writing this request, he wrote to the Philippians about how it “turned out” to further the gospel (Philippians 1:12-14). God turned a bad and limiting situation into a favorable situation that furthered the gospel. It was above all that the brethren at Ephesus asked or thought. It was abundantly above all they asked or thought. It was exceeding abundantly above all they asked or thought.<\/p>\n Putting our requests before the throne of God can lead to great things down the road. Don’t lose sight of the power of prayer! Are you on praying terms with God?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Terry Wane Benton One of my favorite verses on prayer is Ephesians 3:20. Notice the adjectives used. Taking out the adjectives, Paul said, “God is able to do…all we ask or think.” Putting in the adjectives one at a time: God is able to do above all we ask or think. Then, “God is…<\/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":[27],"tags":[90,1659,1510],"class_list":["post-70125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-god","tag-power","tag-prayers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":63614,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/to-him-who-is-able\/","url_meta":{"origin":70125,"position":0},"title":"To Him Who is Able","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 26, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Ephesians 3:13-21 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Life happens. Things don\u2019t always go smoothly. Problems arise, if for no other reason than that we live in a problem filled world. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0People get laid off. Homes are foreclosed. Bankruptcy might loom on the horizon. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Families can be dysfunctional. Marriages strained.\u2026","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":24980,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-bother-praying\/","url_meta":{"origin":70125,"position":1},"title":"Why bother praying?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 18, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If what you say is true, then why bother praying at all? You are more or less saying that God will do whatever He wants to do no matter what you pray for. If you are right, then please explain. Answer: I don't know which page you are referring\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56493,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/god-is-able\/","url_meta":{"origin":70125,"position":2},"title":"God Is Able","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 1, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Thurman via\u00a0Gospel Minutes, Vol. 58, No. 12, March 20, 2009. Times are hard right now. The economy is in a major recession, with no end in sight as I write this. Many people are facing factory layoffs. Many are looking at foreclosures and still others are thinking of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":82758,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/pray-at-the-proper-time\/","url_meta":{"origin":70125,"position":3},"title":"Pray at the Proper Time","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 1, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Andy Sochor via Unmasking Sophistry, Vol. 5, No. 1, January-March 2025 Zechariah prophesied of the future prosperity and deliverance of God's people. Much of this was tied to the coming of Christ (the Messiah). Despite the oppression from outside forces, they could look forward to peace. Regarding His plan\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":66377,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-everything-happen-for-a-reason\/","url_meta":{"origin":70125,"position":4},"title":"Does Everything Happen for a Reason?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 6, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by R. J. Evans Based upon how often we hear the expression \"everything happens for a reason,\" you would think the answer would be a definite \"yes.\" Some time back, while watching a professional football player on TV being interviewed and commenting on his team's loss, he remarked: \"I know\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46432,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/making-the-best-of-bad-situations\/","url_meta":{"origin":70125,"position":5},"title":"Making the Best of Bad Situations","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 18, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Philippians 1:12-18 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As much as we might wish it otherwise, we aren\u2019t often in control \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Things aren't always optimal \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Things don\u2019t always go our way II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Better than you might think \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Philippians had hear of Paul\u2019s imprisonment - Philippians 4:14 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Such would normally be\u2026","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\/70125","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=70125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70125\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}