PRAYER OF CONSECRATION
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
Ephesians 3:14–21
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. 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, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—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.
CONSIDER THIS
A blessed Pentecost to you!
With the Spirit of Union and Love living within you, within me, we now come full circle back to our Prayer of Union and Love.
We entered this season of new creation growth together by praying the words of Ephesians 3:14–21. Today we will do the same as we mingle our prayers with the saints across the ages who have prayed this prayer in their own times and places.
Pray these words for the body of Christ, for the saints in your local community, for yourself, and for those God has placed in love’s reach of you.
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. 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, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—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. (Ephesians 3:14–21)
To know this love that surpasses knowledge, to be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God, is the goal of our faith. We are becoming those who live in perfect union with God in Christ, both positionally and experientially. We will attain to that goal by grace as we humbly receive power from the Holy Spirit to live from, into, and with Christ. We do this by exercising our faith in God to do what he has promised.
As we conclude our meditation on union and love, let me offer a few pastoral words.
For our part, faith is at the center of living in union with Jesus.
This will always be a walk by faith, and not by sight. When we feel as though Christ is in us, the hope of glory, he is (Col. 1:27). When we don’t feel as though Christ is in us, the hope of glory, he still is! That is how “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” works (Heb. 11:1).
Faith in Jesus, even when we do not see or feel his presence with us, is a key to Christian living. For that reason, faith is a guiding element in Paul’s prayer (Eph. 3:17a).
We will persevere through trials and troubles, by Jesus’s Spirit within us giving us strength. It is in our perfect union with Jesus, that we as children are made whole, hopeful, and are renewed inwardly day by day (2 Cor. 4:16–18).
We can also rehearse our union with God in Christ daily and weekly. We can put in our calendar opportunities for our love for God and others to be renewed. We can plan in personal and public worship, caring for others, and banded relationships. We can spend time meditating on the truth of our union privately and with others by reading the Scriptures, investing daily time in prayer, receiving good mentoring and teaching from trusted guides, and more.
I would encourage you to become a lifelong learner about what it means to be “in Christ,” and to have Christ in you.
The one who began this good work in you will be faithful to complete it to the day of Christ Jesus (Phil. 1:6).
I conclude by praying verses 17b–19 specifically for you: “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, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
Grace and Peace to you.
The Day of Union and Love, when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ (Rev. 11:15), when every tear is wiped away and the old order of things has passed into memory (Rev. 21:4), is just on the horizon.
THE PRAYER
Lord Jesus, I am in you and you are in me. Increase my awareness of what it means to live in union with you, and to be loved by you. I pray that I might have power from your Spirit to know that you dwell in me. I pray that I might have the power to know your love that surpasses my understanding and that I may share it with others. And I pray for your church, the body of your people called by your name, that we might come into full maturity of faith, hope, and, especially, love. In Christ Jesus, I pray, amen.
THE QUESTIONS
What have you learned through this series? What scriptures, stories, images, or ideas will stick with you and help you on your journey to know Christ Jesus and his love?
For the Awakening,
Dan Wilt
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6 Responses
My biggest take from this latest Wake-up Call series is this: Our union in Christ Jesus changes everything. Thanks be to God!
Christians need to be continually strengthened with supernatural power through God’s Spirit living and working inside their inner being so that the risen Christ may dwell in their heart through faith (through their moment-by-moment full reliance and dependence on Him) and so that they can personally, directly, and intimately know the humanly unknowable–Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge. This miraculous revelation and wonder working power is needed for Christians “throughout all generations.” It wasn’t just for the believers who experienced Acts chapter 2.
Pentecost announced Holy-Spirit-given dreams, visions, and prophesying (Acts 2:17). Today we have too often replaced the Spirit’s dreams with human schemes, the Spirit’s visions with human decisions, and Spirit-given prophesying with human classifying.
(Thank you, Dan, for sharing so much insight and revelation with us!)
Thank you, Dan. This entire series has spoken to me, deeply. I’ve already pre-ordered the book.
Thank you, Dan for your service in the ministry. We are all one in union with Christ Jesus! Happy Pentecost!
I too have preorded the book. Time nor space allows for all that I have gleaned from this series. One thing that really stands out to me is how much Dan used scripture in many of his statements of truth. Thank you. I once posted and I will again that the biggest weapon Satan uses against the church Jesus is building is divisions. The very first time I gathered with a band and prayed, the part of the prayer of Union and love that grabbed my heart was, “..that you BEING rooted and established in Love, may have Power TOGETHER with all the Lord’s holy people, to GRASP how wide & long & high & deep IS the love of Christ…” I pray the Holy Spirit send an Awakening to the Church of repentance, a cleansing of prideful divided hearts and walk TOGETHER in union and Love so the world, even our own families will know we are disciples, Christ Followers, by our Love.
Dan, I thank you for this great series. It has meant so much to me, and I am delighted that it is going to be a book. This entire series has been I blessing.