Page 109 - Ephesians

I remember in Bible school where I knew even less than I know
now. I thought the way to enter in, was by the simple step of
prayer. So, we decided that the more we wanted to enter in, the
longer we would pray. Have you ever fallen into that? We
started off, having “sweet hours of prayer”. And then we had even
more, “sweet hours of prayer”. Then, when we got real spiritual,
we decided to pray all night. We wound up, praying ourselves
right out of faith. By the time 2 AM came, I was ready to say
“Amen”. Which really meant……. “I quit”!

Prayer is not a substitute for faith. Many times you pray yourself
right out of faith. Prayer should be, an expression of faith. The
more you go on in the Lord, the less you are going to pray.
There’s no question about that in my life. The more you go on in
Christ, the less you go through the motions of praying. The
legalistic prayers are going to drop off. That’s a ton and a half.
Then, your “pleases”, are going to become “thank you’s”.
Pleading becomes praise. You learn the attitude of prayer by just
“being”.

God will not allow any substitute for the simple step of faith. He
won’t accept surrender, service, diligence or Bible study. He’ll
only accept trusting Jesus. God tells you how rich you are in
Christ. Don’t say, “Really?” Say, “Amen”. That’s a simple step
of faith. And by that simple step of faith, you become an all-
dimensional Christian. By saying, “Amen,” He settles down and
lives in your heart by faith. He fills you with all the fullness of
God, and enables you to pray effectively for others.

Studying EPHESIANS to Know God

Chapter 20 Responsibility Unlimited 4:1-16

That brings us to the second half of the book, chapters 4-6. In
our outline of the book, you remember we titled chapters 1-3,
“Resources unlimited”. And chapters 4-6, “Responsibilities
unlimited”. Chapter 4:1, notice how this section begins,