Praying for Power (Col. 1:11)

1. Person, Presence, Power: these three realities are what the Holy Spirit meant for the apostle Paul. Because this was so, he "theologizes" about Christian life in a way that makes him neither triumphalist nor defeatist, but realist. To recapture the Pauline experience and understanding is the key to our finding our way into the "radical middle," where we expect neither too much nor too little. Here we will know life and vitality, attractive life and vitality, in our personal lives and in the community of faith. Here we will constantly have the veil removed so that we might behold God's own glory in the face of Christ, so that we are constantly being renewed into his likeness. Here we will regularly expect, and see, both the working of miracles and the fellowship of his sufferings, without sensing frustration in either direction… The Holy Spirit… is God’s Empowering Presence.

Gordon Fee, God’s Empowering Presence. p. 8 (1984).

2. Jesus never used his power either to show off or to serve his own ends. Jesus' use of the spiritual power was always a means, never an end. He used God’s power always to demonstrate God’s love.

The purpose spiritual power in Christianity is, then, to show love. And since—for reasons we can't understand—God has some sort of "love affair" with humans, his desire to use power to help the hurting springs from his very nature. It is “just like God” to use his power to free those he loves from captivity, to reduce the pain of those he cares for, to suffer with those who for his own reasons he allows to suffer, to bless those who are struggling.

But as with nearly all of God's workings in human affairs, he chooses not to exercise his power alone. Just as he works through humans to communicate his love to other humans in words, so he works through humans to communicate that love via the use of spiritual power. He works with and through humans in both word and deed.

Charles Knaft. Christianity with Power, p. 123 (1989).

3. Spiritual maturity is sharing the affections of God and discerning his voice. It is loving what God loves and hating what he hates. Spiritually mature Christians love God and his people passionately, and they hate anything that takes them away from God.

Only in the context of such love will Bible knowledge and the gifts of the Spirit ever achieve their divine purposes. The power of the Spirit can flow unhindered through passionate love for God and his children.

Jake Deere, Surprised By the Power of the Spirit. p. 206 (1993)

4. The power that creates is spiritual power, and it is in stark contrast to human power. The apostle Paul spoke of

the "flesh," and by it he meant human-initiated activity without the aid of divine grace. People can do many things in the power of the flesh, but they cannot do the work of the Spirit of God.

Power touches us all. We cannot get away from it even if we wanted to. All human relationships involve the use of power. Therefore, rather than seek to run from it or to deny that we use it, we would do well to discover the Christian meaning of power and learn how to use it for the good of others. All who follow Christ are called to the “ministry of power.” Richard Foster, Money, Sex, and Power: The Challenge to the Disciplined Life. p 201, 213 (1985).

5. We still do not understand the Father's heart. We say there is nothing that would delight us more than intimacy with him, implying as we protest that such a degree of intimacy is beyond us. What we forget is that the Father wants it more than we do. He longs it. He sacrificed his only Son to make it possible. Therefore he will go more than the second mile with anyone who shares that same longing.

John White, When the Spirit Comes with Power. p. 228 (1988).

The Four P’s of the Christian Life with God:

1. Purity—Blessed are the pure in heart. Mt. 5:8; Ps. 119:9, I Tim.1:5

2. Presence—They shall see God. Mt. 5:8; Mt. 1:23; Ps. 63:1

3. Passion—Love God with all…Mk. 12:28-31; Dt. 6:4,5; Jn. 14:15

4. Power—Receive Power – Holy Spirit. Ac. 1:8; Phil.3:10; Col.1:11

Purity at the receiving end to be filled with the Holy Spirit(Eph.5:18)

Purity at the giving and so God’s stuff can flow through and out of us to others and back to God. (I Tim. 1:5).

All to the Glory of God (I Cor. 10:31).