God is ABLE to do exceeding abundantly beyond all WE CAN ASK OR THINK!!!!
I always thought that meant He is able but He may not be willing.
The point is not whether He will or not but that He is ABLE, or MIGHTY, to do what WE ask or think—WE are the point, not His willingness! He makes His willingness known in preceding verses!
‘...that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.’ [Ephesians 3:16-19]Now that’s willing!
And how about these?
‘For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are YES; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.’ [2 Corinthians 1:20]
“Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” [John 14:13,14]Sounds like a blank check to me…please note how answered prayer glorifies God. That should settle for once and all the question of His will!
Call the End From the Beginning
Standing in the kitchen one morning, I heard “Call the end from the beginning. That’s how I work, and the power in you in Ephesians 3 is ME.”
“Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure’; Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it.” [Isaiah 41:10,11]Jesus plainly taught us to do this in the Gospels—He spoke to trees, donkeys, fish, bread, and sick and dead bodies. Then He told us to do the same thing!
He is ABLE—Gr. dunamai—to be able, to have power, might, from which we get dunamis—miraculous power, might, strength, ability, wealth!
Not that He is able to do but might not…He IS powerful to do FAR MORE ABUNDANTLY BEYOND ALL THAT WE ASK OR THINK…how?
According to the POWER that works within us—referencing the verse above, that would be the fullness of God in us! The glory of God through us!
No Wand Necessary
How did Jesus use His power? Did He use a wand? No—He SPOKE healing, deliverance, resurrection, provision! As He is, so also ARE WE IN THIS WORLD!
[Actually, He used the ROD—staff or scepter—or SWORD in His Mouth—see Psalm 2:9, Isaiah 11:4, Psalm 149:6, Isaiah 49:2, Revelation 1:16]
We release the power within, the FAR-MORE-ABUNDANTLY-BEYOND-ALL-THAT-WE-ASK-OR-THINK power, by our spoken word!
All power is resident in the Christian because we are One Spirit with Him. Whatever we ask according to the Word [which we are, multiplied in the earth] and in His Name [which is our name, too, because we are One Spirit with Him] will be done for us.
In Colossians 1:11, the Holy Spirit—God Himself—prays that we be strengthened with ALL POWER, according to HIS glorious might!
What are we to do with this marvelous power? Ephesians 3 says to ASK or THINK…
The word think in this verse is the Greek word noeo—to perceive, think, consider, SEE, understand.
The story of the colt Jesus used for His triumphal entry into Jerusalem is instructive.
‘When He approached Bethphage and Bethany, near the mount that is called Olivet, He sent two of the disciples, SAYING, “Go into the village ahead of you; there, as you enter, you will find a colt tied on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of it.’”It was obvious that He saw the colt in the Spirit before He instructed His disciples what to do and say. The Spirit is eternal—front and back and up and down—and exists outside of the confines of the natural time created by the Earth’s spinning. This is the place of Divine provision and eternal reality—Hagar’s well, Isaac’s ram, Jacob’s ladder, the Transfiguration, etc.
‘So those who were sent went away and found it just as He had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They said, “The Lord has need of it.”’ [Luke 19:29-34]
The Power of Life and Death
Did you ever wonder how Jesus eluded those who tried kill Him before the time appointed for Him to lay down His life? He SAW and SAID…and then He just turned and walked away from a raging mob!
“For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.” [John 17,18]Compare that to the Word given to Joshua as He began his leadership of Israel:
“No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.”[Joshua 1:5]He obviously believed that—saw it and spoke it—because He was a success in the task God gave Him to do!
How about this one?
‘With the fruit of a man’s mouth his stomach will be satisfied; he will be satisfied with the product of his lips. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.’ [Proverbs 18:20,21]Maybe Jesus said that—wait a minute, He WAS the Word in the earth…what word? Death and life are in the power of MY tongue…I have authority over MY life and no one takes it from Me!
And this will really strain your brain…His works were FINISHED before the foundation of the world! [Hebrews 4:3] He said it before He came, before He made the world!
HALLELUJAH!! Why? Because AS HE IS SO ALSO ARE WE IN THIS WORLD!! THE ONE WHO JOINS HIMSELF TO THE LORD IS ONE SPIRIT WITH HIM!! WE ARE FILLED UP TO ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD!!
sorry to shout, I just can’t help it….
And finally, He is powerful to do far more abundantly beyond ALL that we ask or think, according to the POWER that works within us, to manifest His glory!
Everyone wins.
Hallelujah.
