The Prayer for Spiritual Power – Tony Evans Sermon

With every believer who places their faith in God, there is a power given to them which grants the ability to contact heaven in order to get help on earth. But unfortunately, many do not understand this gift granted to them and therefore do not end up utilizing it. In this message, Tony Evans will show you the spiritual power that you already possess and how prayer is the hidden key to accessing it. The Prayer for Spiritual Power – Sermon by Tony Evans #prayer #sermon #TonyEvans

faith must always precede sight

once you put sight in front of faith

you’ve negated faith

faith is based on what you do not see

if you’ve got to see it first you won’t

see it

the euphemism of walking in the bible

means to live according to because

you’re moving with the mind of christ

you’re not just doing that on sunday

morning when it’s church time because he

wants to know that you want him so if

you’re in distress don’t let that drive

you away draw you near

closer

so that you like jacob and say i’m not

gonna let you go

until you answer me so welcome to the

file

when you get close and want to live for

him want to please him want to honor him

want to exalt him want to draw near to

him then heaven opens up and he lets you

find him

he lets you find it

welcome to the fire

we’re talking about

igniting kingdom prayer

we’re talking about having heaven’s

power and authority

operating in your life

and in our

realm it is the divinely authorized

methodology

the divinely authorized methodology

to access heavenly authority for earthly

intervention

kingdom prayer is the divinely

authorized methodology

to access heavenly authority for earthly

intervention

god established prayer as the means

the primary means

to draw down from heaven

into history

one of the great prayers in the bible

about this subject

of what i’m calling kingdom prayer is

found in the familiar passage of

ephesians chapter 3.

beginning with verse 14. i want to walk

us through

this prayer

for power

this applies to all who are here

who need power want power

and you want heavenly authority for

earthly intervention

paul says in verse 14 for this reason i

bow my knees before the father

so he enters into the humble pasture of

prayer for what reason

well verse 13 he tells us

he doesn’t want them to lose heart

to lose heart means to become

discouraged

to lose heart means to throw in the

towel

to lose heart means to want to quit

give up

the person that

lives in a perpetual state of depression

has lost heart

the person who goes to artificial means

of surviving

drugs alcohol

something deeper is going on

they have lost heart

and a myriad other ways

of losing heart becoming

addicted to discouragement that’s what

it means to lose heart

perhaps it’s the marriage perhaps it’s

the singlehood but you’ve lost

heart

he says for this reason

because i don’t want you to lose heart

i bow my knee

to the father

i enter into a humble pasture of prayer

he says and i do this

from whom every family in heaven and on

earth derives its name

so if god is your father

you are a christian

this truth applies to you

if you’re a believer

and god is your spiritual father

then

paul says

my prayer you can pray

so this is not just for paul the apostle

it’s for joe blow christian

who needs power

who is battling with losing heart

discouragement

wanting to quit

tired

he gives three principles here

for experiencing

heavenly power heavenly authority

through

kingdom prayer this heavenly

authority for earthly intervention

the first principle is

that if you want heaven’s power you must

be cultivating spiritual intimacy

he says in verse

16 that he would grant you according to

the riches of his glory to be

strengthened with power

through the spirit in the inner man so

that christ may dwell in your hearts

through faith

he says if you’re going to experience

this power

there has to be an inner connection

if you’re not connected

intimately

then the flow of power can’t get to you

if you are a believer you don’t have a

power problem

but you could have a connection problem

and if the connection is not there the

power that you possess can’t flow

through

he says i pray

that you will be strengthened with power

but it is in the inner man

it must happen in the inner man in other

words

most of the time we pray for stuff we

need out there

when god says it starts with what you

need

in here

the inner

man

it is the degree to which the spiritual

is connected with god

that the flow of power from god

gets transferred to you so no matter how

much power you possess

if the connection is not right

the power that you possess won’t flow in

you and then through you to the

circumstances you’re in

he says it is the job of the holy spirit

in the inner man

to produce the power

he goes deeper to explain this he says

that christ may dwell in your hearts

through faith

the greek word for dwell

because you say well christ is already

in my heart i’m already saved

no that’s not quite what that means

the greek word dwell means

to make oneself at home

to make oneself at home so if you put

that phrase in the meaning of dwell the

word becomes more alive

if you want

power in the inner man

then christ must dwell

that is not only be in you but be at

home inside of you

jesus is inside every believer’s house

but he doesn’t necessarily feel welcome

there

in order for you to have power

christ must be at home

meaning the freedom to go into any room

of your life that he chooses

the holy spirit will never be free to

move if christ can’t be at home

that means

that he must be welcomed

into every room of your life and be free

to take a tour whenever he wants to

make yourself at home

but you say how can i ask jesus to make

himself at home

with a dirty closet

or a

chaotic garage

that’s why he wants you to make himself

at home there

so he can help you clean it up don’t

lock him out

invite him in

so that he can straighten things out and

transfer

power

in the inner man

so the first thing

is you must pray with

the priority of spiritual intimacy

you must be drawing near

scripture says draw dear to me and i

will draw near to you

so forget

power

and heavenly authority if you’re not

pursuing intimacy

but if you are pursuing intimacy that

leads to the second thing

that will give you

heavenly authority while you’re living

on earth

as you do kingdom prayer

he says

as you being second half of verse 17

rooted and grounded in love

may be able to comprehend with all the

saints

what is the breath the length the height

the depth to know the love of christ

which surpasses knowledge that you may

be filled to all the fullness of god

the first thing is spiritual intimacy

but the second thing is expanded

spiritual

capacity

that you might be filled to the fullness

of god

so that you will experience more of god

he says that this experience

comes in a context

being rooted and grounded

in love

the bible says that god is love

he is loved by nature

there is no such thing as love without

having an object to love

in other words love has to go somewhere

because god is a triune being

three persons

who are distinct in personality yet one

in essence

the godhead father son holy spirit

god has always had someone to love

god has never been alone

because of his triune nature

so he he’s always had somebody to love

and it’s built within his

nature

so when we are operating in a context of

love we’re operating in a context of god

because god is love

that is why god always wants you in a

context that’s why he’s going to end

this prayer with god the glory in the

church because one of the reasons god

expects every believer to be part of a

local church is to be in a context of

expressing love within his family

so god just doesn’t want you to come

here for you he wants you to come here

for you and for others

so that’s why if you want to be blessed

but are unwilling to be a blessing

you can’t be rooted and grounded in love

and if you’re not rooted and grounded in

love

you’re not expanding your capacity

so the first thing is to be intimate the

second thing is to expand your capacity

for god to do more for you and in you

the principle is simply this

god will only give you as much of god as

you can handle

god is not going to give you

what you can’t handle

so if there’s no spiritual intimacy and

expanded spiritual capacity then no

matter how much you pray it’ll stop

so the first principle

is you must prioritize spiritual

intimacy

you must make time for god

make time for his word make time for

prayer

then there must be expanded capacity

that’s why sharing god’s love sharing

god’s word praying for others is key to

expanding the capacity

if it’s only about you you’re not being

rooted and grounded in love

when you begin praying

for spiritual intimacy

and when you get expanded in spiritual

capacity

now

you’re ready to experience

spiritual power

notice the most popular verse in the

book

now to him who is able

to do far more abundantly beyond all

that you all that we ask or think

according to the power that works in us

here is one of the most potent

statements

about god’s power in the bible

let me say a few things about this power

first of all

his power is personal now unto him

this is personal power

because god is a person

he wants to be related to personally

he’s not the force

he’s not this impersonal

thing that people talk about he is a

personal god he’s got the whole trinity

in this passage now unto him

this is what we call a doxology

a doxology

is a praise a concluding praise

power is tied

to a person

it is relationally driven

his power is

potent

it’s personal

but it’s potent notice the superlatives

now unto him

who’s able

now i know we like to say ain’t he able

this refers to his ability

because of course we’re talking about

supernatural power

and i just talk about what earth can do

although much of what earth does depends

on the power of god but we’re talking

about what he’s able to do there are

many verses that talk about jesus ask a

blind man one day do you believe i’m

able to heal you

now to him who is able

but he’s able

to do

he’s functionally able not theoretically

able

he has the ability to perform his

ability

but then it gets gooder

because of the word far more

somebody say fall more

he’s not only filled with capacity and

ability

he’s filled with capacity and ability

that can perform

and when his capacity and ability

performs

it is far more abundant beyond all

that says in excess

of what you ask

so he assumes you ask

because we’re talking about kingdom

prayer

jesus says and maybe we’ll get into this

one of the other sermons you have not

because you asked not

he says

god is able to do far beyond what you

ask

now a name who’s able to do more than

you can ask or think

but then he gives you a condition

according to the power that works within

us

ah he didn’t do it just because you

asked

he checked one what was happening on the

inside before he did something on the

outside

see if he’s not prioritized in your life

if you just visit him give him a weekly

visit

he’s not roaming the rooms of your life

there’s no capacity it’s according to

the power

inside that determines how much is

happening outside

many people want god to do the

supernatural when there is nothing

inside

there is

no kingdom priority kingdom orientation

one time when we went to niagara falls

for vacation

our hotel was on the canadian side

we got there late at night

when we got into the hotel room i opened

the curtain and way out in the distance

you could see the falls because it’s lit

at night

and it was

a spectacle to behold

the next morning we went to the falls

on the canadian side of the falls as a

park

we stood in the park on the canadian

side of the falls

ah but this is was different than the

hotel room

because i could hear it

the thunder of the roar of the water

going over the falls and hitting the

basin of the falls

and so it hit with such force that the

wind would blow up little drops of water

even across the street to the park and

you would feel little drops of water

every now and then so in the hotel room

i was impressed by it but in the park i

got a little feel of it

because i was close enough to hear it

and every now and then

i got a drop of water on me

because i was not in the vicinity

but now there’s another way you can see

the falls

it’s called the maid of the mist

these are boats down in the basin of the

fall

now if you go to the boat in the basin

of the fall

they’re going to give you a raincoat and

an umbrella

because now you’re getting ready to get

drenched

because you’re down there in the basin

of the falls so you’re going to be

overwhelmed

with the power

see some christians

relate to jesus from the hotel room

of their lives

they’re impressed by him

at a distance

they don’t ever hear anything

god never speaks to them the

supernatural is rare if ever

but they’ll go to church because they’re

impressed with jesus

some christians relate to jesus

from the park

they’re a lot closer than the hotel room

and every now and again

they’ll get a drop here

and a drop there

but are those few who are not satisfied

with the hotel room

they’re those few who are not satisfied

with the park

because they want to get drenched

they want a raincoat and an umbrella

because they’re going to take the risk

of getting close

so the question on the floor today

is how much god do you want

because he will only give you as much of

god that you can handle

spiritual intimacy

should lead to expanded spiritual

capacity spiritual capacity brings on

more spiritual power

so that god gets glory as he blows your

mind

with the supernatural

so i invite you

to ignite kingdom prayer in your life

so that you can give testimony that he’s

real

he’s real

because i’ve seen him with my own eyes

[Music]

sometimes life can become weighty

the trials the tribulations

the struggles

the difficulties

can even feel oppressive at times

until the question becomes how can we

rise above it how can we

get over the hump of the

onslaught that we may be going through

in a particular season of our lives

well that’s where spiritual power comes

in

when your get up and go has gotten up

and gone

when you come to the end of yourself

that is the perfect opportunity

to see god

raise up

and show you

his ability to take you from where you

are

to where you need to be and more

importantly where he wants you to be

spiritual power

is tied

to your capacity

god will never give you more of him than

you can handle

but god doesn’t like wasting god

but if your capacity expands

and you’re able to take in more of him

he will give you more of him to deal

with

more of life

while we can’t control all that life

throws at us

i want you to remember that there is no

pit so deep that god is not deeper still

and in his omnipotence his

power

his ability to handle anything that you

individually or we collectively face

is

something that can change the equation

of your situation

if you and i will pursue an intimacy

with him we will expand our capacity for

him

and when we expand our capacity for him

we’ll experience more power

from him

and when you experience more power

you’ll know it’s him

because it will be beyond what you could

do

independently of him

you know when you’ve tried everything

you know to do

gone everybody you know to help you

can’t buy your way out of your situation

uh your influence and your influencers

can’t change the trajectory of your

situation

that’s where you call on spiritual power

that’s where you ask god to intervene in

your circumstances

and give you more

much more

than you could ever achieve on your own

and don’t forget

when god shows you how powerful he is in

the circumstance you face

to give him thanks

to let him know you know

where that

energizing

ability came from

when you

experience spiritual power

you will experience divine power working

on your behalf

[Music]

when you’re in the spirit

but the bible calls the spirit a wind

a wind it blows

my opinion nobody’s opinion when it

conflicts with god

is to be considered as truth the bible

says let god be true and every man a

liar

mother nature doesn’t work without daddy

god

that’s because truth

they’re the just

because if it comes from god it’s truth

because god has absolute standard by

which reality is measured

you