Battling Spiritually and Clashing with the Unseen part 4 

Ephesians 6:10-18 Be Invincible In Battle

MANAGE OUR ADORNMENT

Our Attire Christ’s Strength                       be strong


Our Approval Christ’s Life                         in the Lord

Our Ability Christ’s Energy                        in the power


Our Ascendancy Christ’s Capability      of his might

Our Ability Christ’s Energy                        in the power


How is horsepower increased to produce more power?

The cylinder head is milled, or ground, as much as a twenty-thousandth of an inch to give a smaller cubic inch displacement in the cylinder head of the engine. This results in an increase in the compression ratio and a substantial increase in horsepower. The principle is simple, the greater the pressure, the greater the power.

When we try to build up our muscle density to increase our personal strength we exercise against resistance.  The more we exercise against resistance, work against opposition and train to overcome challenge, the better our development of muscle.

Pressure, grinding and resistance are the trappings engaged to show us our weakness in ourselves, and our need of finding our strength in the Lord.

In Ephesians 1:18-22, Paul asks us to comprehend our resources.  If we don’t know about our assets, we can’t cash in on them.              

And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us ward who believe

We need to learn to depend on God for everything & rely on the Lord for every ounce of power we need.

Taken from The Journal of David Brainerd we find that

David Brainerd was born in Connecticut in 1718; he faced extreme setbacks in his youth. Both his father and mother passed away when he was young and an older sister raised him.  He was plagued with variety of disorders including the measles and tuberculosis that ultimately killed him at 29.

Even so, as a young man, he developed an extraordinarily intense prayer life.  While walking through a forest at the age of twenty-one, as he put it, he was “endeavoring to pray” he felt God’s call on his life, as a “light dawning.” From that day forward he prepared to follow the Lord.

Motivated by the preaching of Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield, Brainerd went to Yale to prepare for the ministry.

He sensed a burden to reach the Native Americans, the tribes of the Mohegans, the Mahicans, the Delawares, and the Susquehannas.  He prayed, “send me to the ends of the earth, even to death itself, … if it will promote Your Kingdom.”  Often he would feel depressed, but said in his journal that he used prayer to overcome his great personal darkness.

Strengthened by prayer, Brainerd walked for thousands of miles to reach the Indians, sometimes going for months and never seeing a white face.  Many times he walked alone, unable to speak the language of the Indians, he spent extended time in prayer.

What was he praying for? He knew that he couldn’t reach the Indians; he did not understand their language. If he wanted to speak at all, he must find somebody who could interpret his thoughts; therefore he knew that anything he should do must be absolutely dependent upon the power of God.

So he continued in prayer, asking that the power of the Spirit might come upon him so unmistakably that these people would be reached. What was his answer? Once he preached and the interpreter was so intoxicated that he could hardly stand up. That was the best translator he could find. Yet scores were converted through that sermon. We can account for it only by the tremendous power of God behind him.

He became a living example for generations of missionaries in America. In describing his prayer life, Brainerd said he asked God continually to satisfy his inner deep and longing desire after God!

When his tuberculosis became more severe, it was Jonathan Edward’s daughter, Jerusha, to whom he had proposed marriage, who began to take care of him like a nurse.

The two returned to her parent’s home in Northampton where she nursed him along in his final days.

Jonathan Edwards later said that Brainerd’s prayer life was stunning even as he was facing death. Brainerd life was his prayer life, it was considered legendary, by John and Charles Wesley.

It was said by these two brothers that Brainerd’s prayer life was like the weaving of a shuttle; they weaved his life into their sermons, essays, and even the hymns they created for their evangelistic services.

To be strong in the Lord is to seek His power in connecting to the Lord in His Word, in prayer in the enabling of God’s Spirit.  Paul exhausts the Greek synonyms to describe the vastness of power in Christ available to our every need.

The Spirit speaks of the Greatness of God’s Power, Eph. 1:19-22 

     To Be Elevated to Comprehend God’s Remarkable Power

Greatest Power              exceeding greatness of his power 

The word exceeding is the Greek term hyperbole. It means to go far beyond, to surpass, too overdo.  It could be defined as immeasurable, inestimable, endless, immense, massive and colossal.  This could even be a reference to infinite.

The word greatness is the Greek term megathos where we get mega, which means big, high and wide.  The reference is to the sizableness, magnitude and immensity of God’s power.

The word power is the Greek term dynamis where we get dynamo.  A dynamo flows out with power for others.  God is our source might, strength, force, and capability.

Energizing Force                 to the working

The word working is the Greek term energia, meaning working, operation, and action and functioning.

Endowed Ability                   of his mighty

The word mighty is the Greek term ichys, meaning ability, aptitude, knack, and skill

Superior Enablement          power

The word power is the Greek term krotos, meaning manifested power, exhibited power in perfecting, completing and creating

Fill us with you presence, peace, power, & pleasure 

Make each step we take a walk in our new life in You