A Father's Blessing

Message

A FATHER’S BLESSING. Ephesians 3:14-4:3

Today is Father’s Day, a day we celebrate fathers and their impact on their children and families. So I decided to look at some Fathers in the bible and what better place to start than the beginning with Adam who had many sons and daughters. As we know, his first son was Cain and second son was Abel. In Genesis 4:8 we read, “Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.” 

Maybe starting with Adam wasn’t the best idea, so I decided to move to the next major father figure in the bible. In Genesis 6:9-10 we read, “Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. And Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.”

We all know the story, they all get on the boat, survive the flood and live happily ever after, right. Not exactly. Sometime after the flood Noah got drunk and Canaan, Ham’s son, was cursed.

So let's move on to the next father, Abram or Abraham as we know him. We know his sons Ishmael and Isaac. Well their descendants are still fighting today, so again maybe not a good example. 

How about Isaac’s sons Esau and Jacob? Jacob tricked Isaac into getting Esau’s birthright blessing. Well then what about Jacob, he had 12 sons, surely one must have turned out alright! Yeah, but the other 11 wanted to kill him and even sold him into slavery.

As we get to the end of Genesis though we find something interesting. Jacob is at the end of his life. Joseph and his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim go to see Jacob. After some brief conversation, we read in Genesis 48:15-16, “Then [Jacob] blessed Joseph and said,

“May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully,

the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,

the Angel who has delivered me from all harm —may he bless these boys.

May they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,

and may they increase greatly on the earth.”

 

It is at this point that I realized that the book of Genesis emphasizes the blessing of a father to his sons. The patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all gave formal blessings to their children—and, in Jacob’s case, to some grandchildren. Receiving a blessing from one’s father was a high honor, and losing a blessing was tantamount to a curse.

An Old Testament blessing of a father to his sons included words of encouragement, details regarding each son’s inheritance, and prophetic words concerning the future.

That is what I want to focus on today: the blessings of a father. 

Being a father means forming and nurturing another human being. Today we’re exploring a powerful tool to do that. It is the Blessing. A Father’s blessing is speaking the word of God over their child.

There are many great blessings in the Bible, one that jumps out at me is from Proverbs 3: “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge God, and God will make straight your paths.”  (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Who doesn’t want that for their child? Above all else: Trust God and let your feet be led in God’s paths.

In Scripture, a blessing is the greatest gift a parent can give their child. It defines who that child will be when they grow up. In the 49th chapter of Genesis, it says, “The blessings of your parents are mighty beyond the blessings of the eternal mountains,  the bounties of the everlasting hills.”  (Genesis 49:26)

People of courage, faith and integrity don’t just come out of nowhere. The Apostle Paul was like a father to the church in Ephesus. When he writes to them, he says, “I pray, according to the riches of God’s glory, that God may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through the Holy Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love…” (Ephesians 3:16-17)

Do you hear the power of that prayer? Can you imagine what a difference it could make in our children and grandchildren’s lives if every night as they drift off to sleep, they feel our hand upon their head, and they hear our voice praying that God would strengthen them, that God would dwell within them, that God would fill them beyond all fullness with the love of Christ.

This isn’t a prayer we say just once and call it good. Some blessings take time to take root. 

“I pray that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through the Holy Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love…”    (Ephesians 3:16-17)

Rooted and grounded in love. All it needs is our faithfulness; when we remember we can bless life, we can repair the world. We can nurture their heart, and the depth of their spirit.

This isn’t a prayer that they’ll understand right off. The fruit of a growing soul doesn't appear all at once. This is a prayer that sinks into them, waters their spirit, grows inside of them: a prayer that they will understand in time as it forms their very character and expectation of life.

Can we imagine what a difference it would make in our children, our step-children, our grandchildren’s lives to know that we love them enough to pray for them like that. Not praying that she would just be a good little girl, but that she would be filled with the power and love of God.

Not praying that he will just do well in school, but that he will come to know the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that he may be filled with all the fullness of God.

That’s expansive and powerful. A prayer worth molding your life around. A prayer faithfully reinforced every day and every night. That is a prayer of blessing. That is what Genesis claims is mightier than the eternal mountains, more bountiful than the everlasting hills. It’s your blessing.

In Scripture, the blessing is usually spoken aloud as the parent’s hands are on the head of their child. This is not the time for subtlety, saying, “oh, they’ll pick up my faith from my actions”. No, we say the words out loud, clearly, powerfully, so they can hear every syllable.

And we don’t say it from across the room. No, a blessing is a profoundly intimate, physical type of prayer. We lay our whole hand on the child’s head- both hands- gentle, firm, strong. This is an action of incredible authority. Put your hand on someone’s head, and it says “I have power over you.” It is not an insignificant gesture. It is a gesture of power, and we don’t do it unless we’re doing it appropriately, to strengthen, to bless.

Holding our children and grandchildren, the words we speak are a vision, a glimpse of what God is creating inside them. A woman of courage and compassion. A man of integrity and hope. God’s children and God’s people, formed by our continual prayer of blessing.

Listen to Paul’s blessing again, and as I say it, try to imagine one person you’d like to pray it for: I pray… by riches of God’s glory…  that God will strengthen you… in your inner being… that Christ may dwell in your heart… as you are being rooted… and grounded… in love.     (Ephesians 3:16-17)

This prayer in Ephesians ends with these words:“Now to God, who by the power at work within us, is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)

Far more abundantly than all we can ask or imagine… Amen. And what Amen means- it’s a Hebrew word that means, let it be or may it be so.

May our desires be wide and true and faithful enough to be worth praying. May our blessings extend beyond even our own understanding. And may our own souls be broadened in the speaking, in the nurturing, in the creation of the world through the blessing of another person.

Let us pray

Dear Heavenly father, may we truely be a blessing to not only our children today, but to all those that we come into contact with this week. May Christ dwell in our hearts. In the Name of the One whose blessing will never let us go. Amen.

The Battle Against Us

Click here for the audio message of – Ephesians 6:10-20

Our Scripture this morning is no doubt a familiar one to most of you. It describes the whole armor of God. In the first five chapters of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he is describing a true believer. What they are like and how they live a spirit filled life.

Now, he closes his letter by giving a warning to his readers about the spiritual warfare that is occurring and will continue to occur throughout their lives. Which, by the way, still continues with us today. Thankfully, Paul not only describes the warfare, but gives instructions on how to win the war.

God provides us with the things that we need, Paul refers to it as armor. As we know, ultimately Satan’s power over Christians is already broken. The war is won through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He conquered the power of sin and death.

However, as we live in this fallen world we will continue to faces the battles of evil, of sin, of temptation on a daily basis. This is what Paul is preparing us for. We need the Lord’s power. We need the strength of His spirit. We need His Word to strengthen us for victory.

So often today, we find ourselves getting upset, irritated, or maybe disappointed with other people. We must remember that Jesus told us to love our neighbor. So Paul tells us that our war is not against flesh and blood. Our war is not against other people, even though that is who it seems like we are battling against.

Our war is actually against the rulers, the powers, the world forces of darkness, and the spiritual forces of wickedness. These four classifications are different rankings of evil spirits in this world.

The rulers or the principalities are the demons who have oversight of the nations. The powers are the demons that want to possess people and make them do their bidding, we talked about them last week. The forces of darkness are the demons that are in charge of overseeing Satan’s plan. The spiritual forces of wickedness are the demons that are in charge of the religious institutions.

The reason Paul lists these four categories of evil is to let us know that Satan has a plan and he has his demons well organized to carry out that plan as effectively and efficiently as possible. This battle does not just last a day, but it lasts a lifetime for the believer. We are to stand firm, to stand our ground.

We are to put on the full armor of God. We need to use all of the things that God has provided for us to be victorious in our battle. If we were to leave something behind, then that would leave us open for attack. The idea is to wear the full armor of God each and everyday of our lives.

Usually, Satan’s assault on us in not direct or obvious. Remember, Satan is a pretty crafty and clever character. Satan is the prince of the power of the air and the god of this world. He opposes God’s work and he hinders our work for the gospel.

Often times Satan gets to us through our work. When we become disappointed or discouraged and want to give up or maybe we do give up on things, that is Satan’s hand. Or when there are some issues in the church that creates conflict and division, there is Satan at work again enjoying our separation from each other and from God.

Make no mistake about it though, it is indeed a struggle for all believers. You cannot excuse yourself from the battle or think that you are not part of it. In fact, if you don’t feel yourself being attacked then you better check to see which side you are on.

There are certain things we need in our battle that Paul mentions as he closes out his letter to the Ephesian believers.

First, the belt. We all know what a physical belt does, it holds are pants up so we can keep our shirts tucked in, right? The belt of truth is simply knowing and keeping the truth of God’s word with us. We are to live believing the Word of God.

The breastplate of righteousness. A breastplate protects the vital organs, the heart, the lungs, etc. As believers live in obedience to the Word of God and are in communion with Jesus Christ, then the righteousness inside of us grows. This isn’t a self-righteousness, but a God given holy righteousness.

Shoes. Shoes give us a consistent foundation to stand on and provide us with traction. Our spiritual shoes or foundation again is the gospel. We are at peace with Christ and know that He is on our side. We can stand firm knowing that God is there with us.

The shield of faith. A shield protected the entire body from the enemy. Our trust in God’s Word and His promises is our shield. It protects us from all temptations and sin. When we reject God’s blessings and when we are disobedient to Him, then we allow room for Satan’s lies and deceptions into our life.

The helmet of salvation. Of course, we know a helmet protects the head. Professional athletics wear them, soldiers wear them, even little kids wear them while riding their bikes. The idea here again is to protect your head, to protect your thoughts spiritually. Don’t let Satan get in to your head. Don’t let him try to convince you that God does not, can not, and will not love and save you.

That is not true. That is the type of mind games that Satan plays with us. We must not get discouraged. God is here with us and He is in control. He will not abandon us and He will save all those who come to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ.



So far all of these items listed are defensive weapons. Now Paul gives us an offensive weapon to use. That of course is the Word of God, the sword of the spirit. Christ is the Word of God. That is what we all need. We need the word of God flowing from us each and everyday. That is how we “attack” people. That is our offensive weapon.

The other offensive weapon we have is prayer. And we have talked about this a few weeks ago.

This is still our battle today and we have the same armor and weaponry that the Ephesians had. When you head home this afternoon, think about your battles. Think about your armor and your weaponry.

Are there pieces that you are missing or things that you need to work on or practice.

The Christian life is indeed a battle, but we must not get discouraged. We must not become fearful or always defensive. We are also told that the believer’s life is a walk, a race, a challenge, and an adventure.

But we must not forget it is a battle and we need to be prepared for whatever comes our way. We must stand firm on the truth of God’s word and pray for the boldness and the faithfulness to continue to live and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Closing Prayer

Lord, we thank you for providing us what we need for this battle. Help us to put on your full armor. Give us the strength to honor you during our battle with the evil of this world. Help us to remember that you have already won the war.

When we fail and lose a battle, pick us up and put us back on the path to righteousness. Through you Son Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you now and forever, we pray and give thanks.

AMEN.

Praying

Click this link to listen to the audio message – Ephesians 6:10-20

We're going to talk about how to pray this morning. One of the very basic things about the Christian life is praying.

Prayer really is important. We talk a lot about prayer and we throw the word around but prayer is a tremendous power. Prayer activates the power of God. God moves in response to the prayers of His people.

And not only that, prayer lines us up properly with God. When we're told to pray, we are told to pray in the Spirit. Now what it means to pray in the Spirit is to pray consistently with the Spirit of God.

So prayer not only moves God to act but prayer is to align us with the will and purpose of God. When we pray in the will of God or in accord with God's will we are lining up with His purposes.

Prayer really does change things. Prayer is effective. We would say that prayer is simply is talking to God.

One of the things that happens when a baby comes into a family is that the first thing you want the baby to do is...what? You want to communicate with the baby, right? You want some response, and that's the same as a Christian.

The thing that happens when you become a Christian is immediately you're thrown into an environment with God when you have a tremendous desire to communicate with Him, to respond and say the things that are on your heart.

Now that's all prayer is. Prayer isn’t buying a little book and reciting whatever it says. That isn't prayer. Prayer is communing with God. It's just conversation like you talk to anybody. It isn't a whole lot of thees and thous and such, it's not a vocabulary contest to see who can say the most theological words without taking a breath. It isn't that at all.

Prayer is not vain repetition. It's not, "Please, oh do this, oh I beg You, I beg You, I beg You, you know, please do this, please." You don't need to beg like that. The Pharisees had endless repetition. Prayer isn't that either. It's not saying 48 Hail Marys in a row, the same thing over and over again. God isn't deaf and He heard you the first time.

Prayer is simply conversation.

And sometimes in your life you may say, "God, it's sure a nice day and I hope You're enjoying it like I am and I just want to thank You for it." That's a significant a prayer as if you stood up in a pulpit and said a bunch of theology because all you're doing is communing with God.

When we read the Bible, God talks to us. When we pray, we talk to Him. And you've got to have both sides or you don't have conversation. Nobody likes a one sided conversation.

Now all Christians pray. We all talk to God sometimes. We don't all pray right. We don't all pray the way we ought to. A lot of Christians pray wrong.

In the first place, we spend a lot of time asking for stuff we don't need. Did you ever know that? "Lord, give me this, give me that, give me that," and the Lord knows if He gave it to us it would only mess us up so He doesn't.

So, prayer is simply communing with God. It’s simply talking to God. It isn't to be sophisticated, it isn't to be formal or informal, it's just anything. Paul says in Ephesians 6:18, "Praying always with all kinds of prayer." Any kind of prayer.

You could be crying out, "O God, help me" in a terrible time of stress. Or you could be saying, "Lord, this is a terrific day, I'm really happy, I just want You to know I'm checking in. Thanks!"

That's prayer. Any kind of communion with God at any point, at any level, on any subject...communion with God is prayer.

Now you don't have to close your eyes. It really doesn't matter, the Bible says you can pray with your eyes lifted up to heaven. It says you can pray with your hands lifted up. It says you can pray kneeling, you can pray bowing, you can lie down and pray, you can stand up, you can pray while you're walking, sitting, whatever.

Often times we close our eyes and teach our children to close their eyes during prayer to simply block out distractions from our surrounds. Although I must say if you are praying while driving, don’t close your eyes.

Incidentally, you can pray to anybody in the trinity you want. You can pray to God. You can pray to Christ. You can talk to the Holy Spirit. Or you can say, "I want all of You to listen here, I have something to say to all of You." So you can call them all in there.

Let me give you an illustration of how this communion with God really works.

You're going through your day and you're just minding your own business. You see something good. You see a clear day, you see a lovely little child or you hear a friend call you on the phone and you think about the love of that friend.

Or maybe you look at the person you love and you just say, "Isn't that great," so what do you do? What's your first reaction? Thank You, Lord, for that. You're seeing things in relation to God.

You see everything in relation to God and you converse with Him about it.

Or maybe you see a problem and you say, "Lord, here's a problem, deliver us from the problem, solve the problem, gain glory from the problem." You see, in other words, everything it is, good, bad, indifferent, whatever it is, you see it in the light of God.

It becomes something for which you can talk to God. That's praying. It isn't just mumbling all through the day some little words, or praying some special prayer. It's just relating everything that goes on in your life through the day to the presence of God, He's there.

You can all think of a best friend you have, maybe it's your husband or wife or boyfriend or girlfriend, or whatever. But think of the best friend. And imagine your best friend was with you today all day by your side.

You had the whole day with your best friend, or the person you love most. And that person never left your side this entire day. And you talked to that person today just as many times as you talked to Christ today.

How much conversation did you have with them? How would your friend feel if he spent the whole day with you and you never said a word and he was there the whole time? Well it would be a little ridiculous, wouldn't it?

It would probably be the start of the end of your friendship. You would at least acknowledge that they were there and you would begin to see things in the light of the presence of your friend. You'd say, "Hey, isn't that terrific? Did you see that? Isn't that too bad, you know, we ought to do something about that."

You're relating everything to the presence of your friend. That's how it is in prayer. All you're doing is relating everything to the presence of God and that's a God conscious attitude and that's praying without ceasing.

Closing Prayer

We thank you Lord for the gift and blessing of communication with You. We thank you that you are always there for us. Help us to always be there for you too.
AMEN.