“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” The Apostle Paul wrote these words in Ephesians 3:20-21. When I was an experienced lawyer and new lawyers were hired, they came with all the book knowledge that law school taught them. The problem is that they didn’t know what they didn’t know. Those of us with experience encouraged them to ask questions, then were frustrated when they didn’t ask and made mistakes. Why didn’t they ask? Sometimes they should have, but often the problem was that they didn’t even have a basic foundation from which to ask questions. If you don’t know what can happen, it’s impossible to articulate questions as to what might happen and how you should respond in that situation. 

The good news is that God knows this when it comes to prayer and power. God, as we considered yesterday, has given us the promise of resurrection-strength power but we have difficulty believing that for ourselves. The amazing thing is, God offers us even more than this. God, Paul writes, can do not just more than we can even think, God can do far more abundantly beyond all we ask or think. God promises to be with us. God promises to meet us in our place of need. God promises to give us wisdom and to help us discern what is true. God promises to love us now and eternally. God promises to redeem and transform our lives. And then God promises us more, far abundantly more than we ask or think. The roadblocks we face in prayer are roadblocks made of our own assumptions and attitudes. Have you tried praying that God gives you far more abundantly than anything you can ask for or think of? How might your life change if you claimed that promise every day? Another thought to ponder.