The Attitudes of Prayer

Eph. 3:12-13

In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

In Whom we have boldness and access with confidence

Having completed our study of the first half of Ephesians 3, “The Explanation of the Mystery,” we come now to the second half, “The Encouragement to the Saints” (vs. 12‑21). As we pointed out at the end of our last chapter, verse 12 not only ends the first half, but it begins the second. The content of this closing passage is the second of the two prayers recorded in Ephesians.

The first, as we recall, is back in Ephesians 1:15‑23 where Paul prayed for four things. That first prayer can be summed up this way: a prayer for Appreciation; that is, Paul prayed that God’s people will realize and appreciate all the riches they have in Christ.

This second prayer can also be summarized: a prayer for Application; that is, Paul prayed that God’s people will put into practice what they now appreciate, that they would be what God desires them to be. It is impossible indeed to apply something to our lives if we do not appreciate it.

To illustrate, as an American, we should appreciate what that means. While it has lost some of its early glory, it is without doubt the most unique nation that has ever existed on Earth. Its principles of liberty and how that liberty came about transcend anything on this planet. Only when we appreciate that can we, therefore, apply it. Only then can we live out the principles of what it means to be an American. Infinitely beyond that should we appreciate and apply our riches in Christ.

One commentator contrasts these two prayers by writing:

[Paul’s] first prayer is for believers to know their power; the second is for them to use it. Two things a pastor should be most concerned about are telling his people who they are in Christ and then urging them to live like it. In other words, the pastor helps members of the flock understand their spiritual power, and then he motivates them to use it. Like the apostle Paul in this letter, the faithful pastor seeks to bring his people to the place of maximum power as full–functioning Christians.[1]

It’s one thing to tell the people something, but it’s quite another to help them use it. As we saw back in our study of preaching, this is what preaching is all about—the exposition and application of Truth. That is what the pastor is called to do.

We should also note something very significant in the recorded prayers of Paul. The most important prayers of Paul are called “Paul’s prison prayers,” those recorded in the Prison Epistles. Two of them are here in Ephesians, one is found in Philippians 1:9‑11, and one more appears in Colossians 1:9-12. The point here is that these deal with spiritual realities rather than material needs. While there is nothing wrong with praying for physical needs, we need to recognize that this is often the only thing our prayers involve. Much of the teaching on prayer today is shallow because it fails to point out that prayer should ultimately lead to spiritual results. In fact, when we do see Paul pray for something physical, we find that the final result is actually spiritual.

We turn now to our text. Verses 12 and 13 are not actually part of Paul’s prayer. Rather, they are more of a “prelude” to the prayer that follows. The reason for the prelude is because after their reading about the sublime purpose of the Church, Paul fears that his readers might be so overcome by awe that they might shrink away from personally applying this truth to their own lives. Perhaps they were thinking, “How can these amazing truths, these sublime realities, these unreachable riches, these grand mysteries apply to us?” Therefore, Paul reassures his readers with what these truths mean to all believers personally.

Now, while verses 12 and 13 are not part of the prayer itself, they are still part of the context on prayer. For this reason we include them in the fourfold thrust of the passage. In this chapter, and the ones following, we will examine this fourfold thrust:

· The Attitudes of Prayer (vs. 12‑13)

· The Approach to Prayer (vs. 14‑15)

· The Appeal of Prayer (vs. 16‑19)

· The Ascription of Praise (vs. 20‑21)

Let us now examine the three attitudes of prayer: Boldness, Access, and Confidence. How are we to pray? What is at the very foundation of prayer? When we understand these attitudes, they will transform our prayer life.

I. Boldness (v. 12a)

In whom we have boldness

The Greek for boldness is parrēsia. In Classical Greek this word was important in political situations. It meant “the right to say anything, an openness to truth, candor.” Taken to extremes it took on the negative sense of “insolence,” being disrespectful. This word is used some thirty-one times in the New Testament and is used for the speech of the Lord Jesus, the Apostles, and other believers. In each case, the basic idea was that the person had the right to speak and spoke the Truth openly. As noted in the last chapter, the word is actually made up of two words, pas (all) and rēsis (the act of speaking), so the most literal idea is “to tell all.” In other words, we can come before our Father with total freedom of speech, pour out our hearts, and tell Him everything. What a blessed privilege God has granted us!

Ponder this meaning in light of our text. Because of Jesus Christ, we can speak to God without fear and may speak openly and candidly. The book of Hebrews is most vivid in speaking of this (read 4:14‑16 and 10:19). In Judaism only the High Priest could enter God’s presence in the Holy of Holies, and he could only do that once a year on the Day of Atonement. But now, because of the blood of Christ, we can come directly to God and speak openly.

At this point we must sound a warning: boldness does not mean insolence. We recall that “insolence” is the negative sense of the Greek parrēsia. There is a growing amount of disrespect of God in today’s various teachings on prayer. While boldness does mean that we need not have any inhibitions as we come before God, we must still never forget that God is God. The “buddy‑buddy” attitude that many have of God and man is truly blasphemous as it brings God down to man’s level. God must be respected and worshipped as God. He is not our “buddy” or our “pal;” He is our Father and our God. We may indeed come before Him openly, candidly, and without fear, but we must also come before Him in reverence, respect, and worship.

II. Access (v. 12b)

In whom we have . . . access.

The Greek word translated access (prosagōgē) is the same word used back in Ephesians 2:18: “For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.” Found only in these two instances and in Romans 5:2, the word means “to open a way of access.” A similar word was used in ancient times to describe a person who gave someone else admittance to see the king. The person who wanted to see the king had no right to do so; rather someone else had to give him admittance, had to make the introduction. So, may we realize that we have no right to come before God, but have been granted a privilege of doing so. The French word entree perfectly translates the Greek as it means “admission.” This is the picture in the Greek; we have been granted “admission” into the Father’s presence. How arrogant is the thought and the teaching today that we have a right to come before God because of Jesus Christ. We have no right; we only have a privilege because of Christ. At this point we can translate our text thusly: “In Whom we have openness of thought and introduction.”

To go one step deeper, it’s significant that the Greek text has the definite article (“the”) before both “boldness” and access.[2] Literally, the verse says, “In whom we have the boldness and the access.” As one commentator writes of this significance, “The use of the article before both nouns signalizes them both as the elements of a distinctive and a possessed privilege.”[3] In other words, only the true Christian has the distinct privilege to come before God. Other religions claim they have access to God, but only those who come through Christ can truly do so (Jn. 14:6).

With all this in mind, we must also expand our earlier warning: boldness does not mean insolence, and access does not mean impetuosity. To be impetuous means to be impulsive, doing things hurriedly, or rushing about. Many of us are guilty of hastily and hurriedly coming before the Lord in prayer. We often rush before Him and ask, or even demand, something from Him. And, may we say again, how often we think we have a right to be before Him.

Oh, may we cease such dreadful actions! May we see that we have no right to come before God, but rather we have a marvelous privilege granted us by the introduction of our Savior. May we never again rush into His presence, hurriedly making our desires known. Rather, in our communion with Him may we come quietly, humbly, slowly, and deliberately before Him.

III. Confidence (v. 12c‑13)

In whom we have . . . confidence by the faith of him.

Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

The third attitude of prayer is confidence. As also noted in the last chapter, the Greek (pepoithesis) gives the idea of “trust, confidence, and total persuasion.” All these ideas are vitally important. In what are we to place our trust and confidence? About what are we totally persuaded? We are totally persuaded that we can come to the Father, trust Him to do His will, and be confident of the result.

Notice that we didn’t say that we trust God to do our will, rather His will. The very essence of prayer, in fact, is not getting our will done in heaven but getting God’s will done on earth. It is us coming into line with God’s will. Can we ask God for things? Of course, but we ask according to His will. Our Lord made this clear when He declared, “Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (Jn. 14:13). Our Lord didn’t mean here that we just tag our prayers with the words, “In Jesus’ name, Amen.” While we should do this, what this really means is that ask on behalf of Jesus, we ask in line with what He desires. Our requests must be in harmony with His will. It is, in fact, impossible to ask for something in Jesus’ that He does not want. The Apostle John picked up on this principle and wrote later: “If we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us” and only then do “we have the petitions that we desired of him” (1 John 5:14, 15).

Prayer is, indeed, a mystery that we do not understand, but it’s also a mystery that we know works. How prayer works we do not know, but we do know that God uses it. Does something depend upon my praying for it? No. It depends upon the sovereignty of God. Does God still use prayer? Yes. “But I don’t understand,” you say. Neither do I, but God does. All we need to know that it is all based upon God’s sovereignty, glory, and love for His children.

To complete the translation offered earlier, “In Whom we have openness of thought, introduction, and total trust.” We can say in our hearts, “I know that will bring about His will for His glory and my God, and I will trust Him for it unconditionally.”

This also brings us to the complete warning: boldness does not mean insolence, access does not mean impetuosity, and confidence does not mean arrogance. There is today, without doubt, a lot of arrogant prayer. There are many who pervert verses like Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ, Who strengtheneth me.” Many twist the meaning of the verse to say: “I can do anything I want because Christ gives me the strength,” when what it proclaims is that we shall always be given the power to do what God desires of us. Many today turn to this verse and others to prove their “self‑image” teaching and their “Christian success‑motivation” philosophies. But all this is nothing but humanistic arrogance with a Christian label pasted on it. Our trust and confidence must NEVER lie in “self.” Rather our trust and confidence lies only in Christ.

Verse 13 is an example of this truth: Wherefore, I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. Paul knew that some believers might become fearful by his extended imprisonment.[4] The Greek behind faint, in fact, is ekkakeō, which is a vivid word. Some modern translations miss this by translating it as “discouraged” (NIV) or “lose heart” (NASB and NKJV), both of which are weaker than the actual meaning, “to turn out to be a coward, to lose one’s courage, to faint or despond in view of trial,”[5] or even stronger, “to be utterly spiritless.”[6] It’s one thing to be discouraged, but quite another to faint in despondency.

With these words, then, Paul encourages believers not to faint, not to sink into despondency, not to become so dispirited and cowardly that they just quit. And how could they do this? By being confident in the Lord, trusting in His sovereignty, trusting in the fact that God was using all this to bring about His plan and purpose. What confidence Paul had in God! What if Paul had relied on self‑confidence? What would the result have been if Paul would have said, “I’ll just keep a stiff upper‑lip and will‑power will see me through?” What person could go to his death armed only with that attitude? Likewise, how could that early Reformer John Huss say, “You need not tie my hands to the stake; I will stand in the flames on my own?” It is because Paul, Huss, and many others had a power far beyond their own.

Paul adds that instead of these tribulations being dispiriting, they actually bring glory. As 4^th Century preacher John Chrysostom wrote,

How is it “for them?” How is it “their glory?” It is because God so loved them, as to give even the Son for them, and to afflict His servants for them: for it was in order that they might attain so many blessings, that Paul was in prison.

As Paul wrote to the Romans, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18). To memorize that verse is to transform our Christian living.

Dear Christian, do you have absolute confidence in God? If not, perhaps you are asking, “How can I acquire this kind of confidence?” Some today teach that it comes by chanting a certain prayer or through some mystical experience, but such teaching is not based in Scripture. Rather, how does one acquire confidence in any area of life? By the old fashioned method called: PRACTICE. To illustrate, most of us remember how we learned to ride a bicycle. Confidence came only through faithful practice, and as someone pointed out long ago, riding a bicycle is something we never forget. Likewise, we trust the Lord and have confidence in Him because we faithfully practice at it—we do it over and over again, day in and day out. And the day will come when we will not forget it. One commentator challenges us with these words:

Don’t put God in a box, or try to squeeze Him into limiting categories. God’s plans and purposes are multifaceted, and each facet reflects His complex wisdom and love. The more we glimpse of that complexity, the more we should be moved to worship and to praise.[7]

And may we add to that, the more confidence we will have in Him.

Perhaps you have heard of the Aeolian Harp, a popular 19^th Century musical instrument in which several equal length gut strings are stretched over a narrow oblong box. When placed in a focused current of air, such as in narrowly opened window, it produces eerie chords. The story is told that in Germany there stood two tall towers, each on the extreme end of a castle. The baron of the castle stretched huge wires from one tower to the other, thus constructing a giant Aeolian Harp. Ordinary winds produced no effect, but when fierce storms and wild winds came down from the mountains and rolled through the valleys, they produced majestic music on the harp. So it is in the Christian’s life. The soft breezes of easy living produce little growth. It’s when the storms of trials and tribulations come that we truly grow and sound out great praise and glory to God for what He is doing.[8]

Oh, may we have total and absolute confidence in the sovereign God!

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