Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative, chaplain of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, and author of over 100 books, booklets & Bible studies. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on more than 1,300 US outlets daily and in more than 130 countries.
you see many of us the problem of us
getting along with other people is our
inability to get along with ourselves
everything visible and physical is
preceded by something invisible and
spirit the consequences we are dealing
with in our lives in our homes in our
culture we are dealing with them because
there is a gap between where God is and
where we are he wants to know that you
want him and not just wanted stuff see a
lot of folk go to church to get God’s
stuff but who don’t want the God who
gives it so if you’re in distress don’t
let that drive you away draw you near
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
we’re talking about igniting kingdom
prayer we’re talking about having
heavens 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 king of prayer as 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
were here who need power one 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 the myriad
other ways of losing heart becoming
addicted to discouragement that’s what
it means to lose height I wonder if
there’s anyone here this morning whose
heart has been lost
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 father who
is battling with losing heart
discouragement wanting to quit tired
he gives three principles here for
experiencing heavenly power heavenly
Authority through Kingdom prayers this
heavenly authority for earthly
intervention the first principle is that
if you want heavens 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 that 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 experiment 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 a connection is not right the power
that you possess will flow in you
and then throw 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 that Christ may
dwell in your hearts through faith the
Greek word for 12 because you say well
Christ is already in my heart I’m
already saved that’s not quite what that
means
the Greek word 12 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 believers 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 double 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 the dirty closet
a chaotic garage that’s why he wants you
to make himself at home there so he
could 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 if he
becomes the one you are dealing with as
a lifestyle not as an event you will
have opened yourself up to how when you
pray King the prayer
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[Laughter]
I studied the Bible in college for four
years and studied the Bible before you
as different as master’s degree another
for this level of dr. Drake and then
I’ve been preaching all of these years
and I’m still learning new things from
this awesome
inexhaustibility little game that’s why
I’m so excited about the twenty Evans
Study Bible and its accompanying works
the Tony Evans Bible commentary it will
take all of this training and this
teaching and make it available to you to
understand utilize and apply God’s most
powerful
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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 sent second after
verse 17 rooted and grounded in love may
be able to comprehend with all the
saints what is the breadth 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
having God is one thing experiencing him
as another so he wants you to be filled
with the fullness of God he wants you to
experience more of what you already have
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 love was 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 this is
why the Christian God is unlike other
so-called deities called God 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 be 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
handle God is not going to give you what
you can 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 that 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 ready to experience spiritual
power notice the most popular verse in
the book now to him who is able to
define more abundantly beyond all that
you or 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
you see the whole Trinity is in this
passage talks about the Father he talks
about dwelling in Jesus Christ and he
talks about the Holy Spirit in the inner
man so he’s got the whole Trinity in
this passage now unto Him this is what
we call the doxology the 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
a damn who’s able and I know we like to
say any able this refers to his ability
because of course we talk 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 many verses that talk about
Jesus ask a blind man one day do you
believe I’m able to heal you book of
Hebrews says he’s able to save to the
uttermost now example 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
good
because of the word farm or somebody say
farm or 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
asked so he assumed you asked because we
tell my kingdom prayer Jesus says and
maybe we’ll get into this one of the
other sermons you have not because you
ask not he says God is able to do far
beyond what you ask now a neighbor was
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 he didn’t do it just because you
asked he checked 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 so I’ll close with
an event I’ve shared a number of times
but it makes the point one time when we
went
to Niagara Falls for vacation many years
ago we went to and I drove all the way
from Dallas to Niagara Falls I don’t
advise you do that but we went all the
way to Niagara Falls Niagara Falls has
two sides an American side and the
Canadian side our hotel was on the
Canadian side we got there late at night
where he 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 I mean it was just all are
inspiring it was way out there couldn’t
hear it could see it enough that it was
impressive so I was impressed by it 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 raw 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 then 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 a
because man you get ready 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 like closer than the hotel room
and every now and again they’ll get a
drop here and a drop there but they’re
those few who are not satisfied with the
hotel water they’re those who are not
satisfied with the park because they
want to get drenched they want a
raincoat and an umbrella because they
gonna 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 expand in 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 cuz I’ve seen him with my own eyes
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our spiritual power is directly related
to the level of our spiritual intimacy
we cannot experience the authority of
God operating into and through our lives
if we have a long-distance relationship
you know just like when we’re driving a
car and you get too far away from the
signal things get choppy there’s a lot
of static on the line and you don’t pick
up things clearly when we get too far
from God what he wants to do that it
seeding the great power that he wants to
demonstrate in our lives we don’t see it
we don’t pick up the signal there’s a
lot of static on the line if you really
want to experience God’s power increase
your passionate pursuit of intimacy then
you won’t have to look for his power his
power will locate you
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you
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you