By David Dawson
ddawson@tnbaptist.org
Mac Brunson, pastor of Valleydale Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., delivers a message on Tuesday afternoon at the Tennessee Baptist Convention at West Jackson Baptist Church. — Photo by James Wilson
JACKSON — Most believers have spent considerable amounts of time studying Paul’s writings.
But what about Paul’s prayers?
Mac Brunson, pastor of Valleydale Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., told attendees at the Tennessee Baptist Convention that Paul’s prayer life was perhaps even mightier than his pen.
Delivering the afternoon sermon during Tuesday worship service at Summit, Brunson said Paul’s ministry was effective, “not (only) because of the epistles he wrote, but because of the prayers he prayed.”
Paul set an example through his prayers, Brunson said, that believers should follow today.
“Paul prays for the church,” he said. “Not for mortar, carpet, brick and stucco. He prays for the people. So how do you best pray for your church? You pray for your people.”
Brunson said this should not be a hard concept for believers to understand, given the common purpose among believers.
“There’s a unity among God’s people because we’ve been saved by the same Savior,” he said.
Brunson said Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3 demonstrates both how and why we should pray.
Brunson noted that Paul first seeks “divine infusion” in his prayer, and seeks God’s presence in his life from the “eternal source.” All believers have access to this, Brunson said.
“It comes through the indwelling conduit of the Holy Spirit,” he said. “There is a direct pipeline from God into your life — the Holy Spirit — through which you are able to do the work that God has called you to do.”
The Holy Spirit comes from an “inexhaustible supply,” Brunson said, adding that the Holy Spirit has inherent power, meaning it has the ability to explode on its own.
Brunson said believers should follow Paul’s example in asking that the Holy Spirit be real among the churches.
“Pray this for one another, brothers and sisters, that we would have the indwelling of God’s spirit so that His power would work in the inner man,” said Brunson.
As an illustration, Brunson noted that he has a recliner at his house that is his chair — “it has my body shape molded into it” — and he prefers that no one else sit there. On some occasions, though, Brunson’s houseguests choose to sit in the chair, leaving Brunson to sit elsewhere.
Brunson said giving up your favorite chair is a tiny picture of what Christians do when they give their lives to God.
“When you invited Jesus into your life, He didn’t just come into your house and sit in your recliner,” said Brunson. “He moved your chair out of the house, and He moved His throne in!”
Brunson noted that Paul used an agricultural term — “rooted” — to show that we are alive in Christ. He also used an architectural term — “grounded” — to show the firmness upon which our faith is built. “We should be nourished by His love, and stabilized by His love, so that His glory shines out,” Brunson said. B&R
