Go Ahead! Ask Your Heavenly Father!

2nd Sunday after Epiphany, 1/19/25 Ephesians 3:14-21 Go Ahead! Ask Your Heavenly Father! I. For the strength of faith II. For the knowledge of Christ’s love III. For the fullness of God’s blessings There are times in my life when I’m afraid. Afraid of what? Afraid to ask. And even though my wife will encourage me and urge me to do so, I just don’t feel comfortable. I’m uneasy about asking someone for something. And I have reasons for my fear. I fear I’ll be putting someone out. I fear I’ll be bothering them. I fear I’ll wear out my welcome with that person. I fear they’ll be resentful. I fear that they’ll do what I ask them to do, but they’ll be disgusted with me. I could go on, but you get my point. At times, I’m afraid of asking someone for something. Do you know what that’s like? This morning’s sermon text from Ephesians 3 opens with these words of St. Paul, “For this reason I kneel before the Father…I pray.” When I first read those words, I recalled Martin Luther’s explanation to the Address of the Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father who art in heaven.” Perhaps you remember memorizing these words at one point in your Catechism instruction life: “With these words, God tenderly invites us to believe that he is our true Father and that we are his true children, so that we may pray to him as boldly and confidently as dear children ask their dear father.” And then I recalled this morning’s Gospel reading. Jesus has yet to perform a single miracle. He’s at a wedding. His mother and disciples are guests. The unthinkable happens. The wine runs out. And what does Mary do? She boldly and confidently informs Jesus of the issue with the unstated prayer that he will do something about it. And he does. He provides more than she asked for, not less. The Apostle Paul assumes the same prayer mindset as Mary did—in faith and in posture. He gets on his knees in humility and boldly asks the heavenly Father for some astounding gifts—gifts far greater in value, practicality, and durability than fine wine. But this isn’t simply a Bible history lesson. We aren’t here simply to recall what Paul did. We’re here to learn. To be inspired. To be emboldened. To do what? To pray as Paul did and as Mary did. To ask our heavenly Father for what we need in life. So go ahead. Ask. Ask your heavenly Father! But ask for what? Therein lies the important truth of this portion of God’s word. Let’s delve into it together, shall we? I. I used to be impressed with physical strength. I still am, but not so much anymore. Why not? Because it only gets you so far. Sooner or later, even the strongest people I know have faced something they can’t overcome. And they crumble. They fall. Time has a way of doing that to all of us. But then I read the words of Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian Christians, and what does he pray for? Strength! Listen again to his words, “I pray the out of [the Father’s] glorious riches he may strengthen you.” I’m going to guess you’re not fooled. In spite of my words about the failure of physical strength, you know that’s not what Paul is praying for here. And you’re correct, because Paul says so himself. He prays for the Father to strengthen them with power through the Holy Spirit in their inner being. And that’s an important point for us to remember as we go ahead and ask our heavenly Father for things in prayer. Physical strength is a blessing from God. If you need some, go ahead and pray for it. The Lord knows we need such strength to meet the challenges of everyday living. But do so only after you’ve prayed for a more important strength—spiritual strength. In other words, pray for a stronger faith. You will eventually lose your physical strength. But your faith in Jesus as your Savior is something that you want to last forever. And that’s exactly what your heavenly Father wants for you. That’s why we pray “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done.” We want the Holy Spirit to strengthen our faith every day of our lives, and that’s what he’s doing right now through his word. That’s what he does every time you read his word. That’s what he does every time you receive Holy Communion. So, go ahead! Ask your heavenly Father for the strength of faith! II. I encountered a sad story in a child’s life the other day. And I’m afraid it’s one that occurs far too often. It was the story of a four-year-old girl who had spent her entire short life in foster care but recently had been adopted by a loving husband and wife into a wonderful, nurturing environment. But as much love as this child received from her new parents—especially her mother—she was still filled with the insecurity of not being loved. She would cling to her new mom every waking moment. She did so out of fear that this new person in her life whom she was growing to love would leave her sooner or later. Do you know that fear? Do you know the insecurity of not being loved? Maybe not to the extent of this precious, adopted little girl, but we all know it to some extent. We experience uncertainty in our cherished relationships. We don’t know where we stand or what the other person deeply thinks or feels about us. That’s bad enough when it involves another loved one in our lives. But have you ever experienced the same thing in your relationship with the Lord? Which Christian hasn’t at one time or another? But listen to these words of Paul, “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.” Did you catch Paul’s description of you? He said you are rooted and established in love. Have you ever tried to remove a mature tree, stump, and roots, by hand? Good luck. You can do it with enormous power equipment, but not by hand. Paul says that you are rooted in love. Your roots of faith sink you deeply and inextricably into the love of Jesus. You’re also established in his love. What does that mean? Paul’s words call to mind a solid foundation. A massive, immovable, thick, wide stone structure on which an entire building is built. It’s a structure that will withstand even the strongest of storms. Paul is speaking about the love of Christ. Nothing can change his love for you. It’s immovable, eternal. But are you still not quite sure of the love that Jesus has in his heart for you? Then picture Jesus doing the same thing you do when your young child or grandchild comes running to greet you. You hold out your arms wide to receive that child and tightly embrace that child in love. Jesus stretched out his arms to receive you. Not with a hug. But on the cross. His love for you drove him to the cross for you. He died for you that you can live with him. There’s no greater love than that. Could you use the security of knowing that you live each day in that love? Then go ahead. Ask! Ask your heavenly Father for the knowledge of Christ’s love. III. Paul urges you to pray for one more thing. Have you noticed how rare good service is these days? And I sympathize with employers. It’s hard to hire and retain quality employees these days. And that’s probably the biggest reason why receiving good service is getting rare. But there is one Server who always has and will provide you with exceptional service. Perfect service. Service beyond what we can fully imagine. And that Server is your Lord Jesus. Listen to Paul pray for that service, “[I pray] that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” “Filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” That’s more than a little redundant. But that’s intentional. Why? Because every day you are likely to feel as if you are not as blessed as you could be or should be. Am I right? Paul reminds you that simply isn’t true. He piles up the terms of completeness to convince you of it. You might have trouble believing it right now or at other low times in your life, but this is the truth: Jesus won every possible spiritual blessing for you. He left nothing out. You have the full forgiveness of sins. You are fully and completely a child of God by faith in Jesus. And you possess right now eternal life in heaven. That’s not a wish. It's a reality right now. And it’s not just for a short amount of time. It’s eternal. It never ends. And it’s all yours. You have the fullness of God’s blessings. So, go ahead! Pray to your heavenly Father for the fullness of his blessings. And do so with the certainty that God always hears that prayer and answers that it with “Yes! Of course! That’s exactly what I want for you!” So, what hinders you from asking your heavenly Father in prayer for these three astounding things? Is it guilt, as if your sins are so great you have no business praying to him for anything? Whoa! Is it that you’re so busy just trying to live each day that you don’t even give thought to stopping for a moment to pray? Again, Whoa! Or is it sinful pride, the deadly sin of thinking that you don’t need to pray because you have everything under control? Double Whoa! No matter what your situation, you need to speak with your heavenly Father about it. Do so as Paul did, on your humble knees, knowing that you deserve no good thing. But do it also in confident faith in Jesus who won all good things for you by his life, death, and resurrection. Know each day how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ for you. In that love, go ahead! Ask your heavenly Father! And you will receive it according to his will and wisdom! Amen.