“According to...”

May 14, 2020

Sometimes a little means a lot. More than fifty years ago, I signed up for a college course on the Life of Christ, by Warren Woolsey. Prof Woolsey taught us to pay attention to the little words in the Bible, words like “but,” “if,” “when,” “therefore.” An entire narrative can turn on little words like this. 

In Ephesians 1 & 2, Paul inserts one of these little words repeatedly. “According to...” is found in verses 5, 7, 9, 11, 19. It also pops up in 2:2, although in a slightly different context. In times of personal or national crisis, we tend to wonder why God isn’t answering our prayers the way we think they should be answered. As he tackles an entirely different topic, Paul gives us a clue into the mind and heart of God. God is able to do whatever he chooses; he isn’t limited by time, circumstance, opposition. In Ephesians 1, we learn that God’s power and love is great, but is exercised only “according to,” i.e. as it fits with his eternal purposes which are quite often different than ours. We pray for healing, for a new job, for a relationship, and are disappointed when God doesn’t dance to our tune...because our plans weren’t “according to” his character and plans.

I remember a pastor friend who told e how he once prayed that God would send a certain someone to his church. They had gifts and resources his church needed, so he thought this individual would be the perfect answer to his needs. “It wasn’t long before I was praying that he would send them somewhere else,” he added. He didn’t know it at the time, but that person wasn’t “according to” the good pleasure of God’s will” (v.5), “the riches of his grace” (v. 7), “God’s purpose” (v. 9), “Gods counsel and will” (v. 11), or “his mighty resurrection power” (v. 19). Those are some pretty daunting hoops for our prayers to pass through, and it’s no wonder more than a few of mine don’t make it to the finish line. 

If my prayers aren’t “according to” all these conditions that line them up with God’s eternal purposes, the only other option is that they are “according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air” (2:2). It is pretty sobering to think that if I am not praying according to God’s plans, I am actually praying in agreement with the prince of darkness. Paul elsewhere tells us that we don’t know how to pray as we should, so we need the Holy Spirit to reveal to us how to pray (Romans 8:26). I suspect that were I to spend the beginnings of my prayers seeking God’s will, I wouldn’t end up wasting time and energy on prayers that serve my own, or even worse, the devil’s purposes. 

So I am thankful tonight for the Scripture which teaches me both how to pray, and what to pray for. Now if I will just take the time to line my prayers up so they are “according to” God’s greater wisdom and will.