God Wants to Give Us His Power

And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way…being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience… Colossians 1:10-11


In Bible College, I used to hear guys pray, “Lord, show us your mighty power.” My thought was, “Uh oh, you don’t know what you’re asking for.” After all, when do we need God’s power? We need God’s power when life is completely overwhelming. We need God’s power when all hell has broken loose.


Maybe they were asking for God’s power because they were devastated by their circumstances. (Does putting off a term paper qualify?) Some, however, were asking because they wanted to be on the fast track to spiritual gianthood. Their prayer was really saying, “Bring it on.” I just backed away slowly watching for lightning to strike.


God wants to give us His power. Look at this verse: “Being strengthened by all power.” Yes! “According to His glorious might.” Yes! Yes! “That you may have great endurance and patience.” What?! The purpose of God’s power is to help me wait? I don’t want God’s power to help me get through it. I want God’s power to make it go away. So when it doesn’t go away, I feel that God has let me down. Maybe God feels that I am not living a worthy life that pleases Him.


God’s power is not our power. We need God’s power because we actually don’t have that much power. Think about it: in order to be patient, in order to endure, in order to please God, in order to live a worthy life, I don’t have much to offer. It requires God’s power for us to live a life that pleases Him. And, that’s the way it’s supposed to be.


Sometimes we get so frustrated because when we try to live up to what we believe God expects of us, we run out of steam. Whoever said that we have to provide all of the steam? God’s power resides in us through the presence of His Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 1:7). God gives us all that we need to successfully live our lives for Him.


When we begin to feel that we don’t have what it takes to please God, we’re exactly right. But, what we have is not limited to us. We also possess what God offers to us, including his power.
Where are you really blowing it these days? Where are you weak? What are you impatient about? What are you ready to quit? God has the power that you need. You just need to ask.




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