The Duty of the Wives

I'll take your Bible this morning. Turn with me to the book of Ephesians, Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5. We will be back where we were last Sunday morning. We started there in verses 22 on down to verse 29, but we'll be in verses 22 through 24 this morning. Those will be our primary verses and I will reference some other verses in the message. Now I want to help you with that as we are going through the message. I encourage you to take notes, jot notes, develop that habit and that discipline, but also when I reference other scriptures, it might be helpful for you to jot those scriptures down.

Turn back later in your own personal time. If you're not careful, if you try to go back and forth too much, it can be a distraction. But our primary verses will be Ephesians 5 verses 22 through 24 and we will look at several. I will read several and reference several other verses within the message. Now we have been in this series that I have titled Messages from the Pastoral Heart. We used this series title previously in the summer of 2015 when we looked at some messages that were on my heart. I felt they were very pertinent with where we were in our lives, in the life of the church and in our culture.

But I want to hold on to that series title because these are messages that have been developing in my mind and in my heart. I've been praying over for quite some time and we have been in a study on the family. This is not an exhaustive study. I was sharing with Brother Keith this morning. I felt like we could preach and I could preach and teach on the family for three, four months and never even do the subject justice. So I know that this is not an exhaustive study of the family, but it is my desire to bring to the table some truths and some teaching and some scripture that I feel like we need to look at.

I've been meditating on the scriptures, the messages and the direction with the family since the beginning of August and I hope and pray that God is using these and we'll use these messages to impact your life, your family. Now in our first message we went all the way back to the first family. We went all the way back to the beginning of it all to Genesis chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3. Remember the title of the message was "The Family." Our fundamental foundation start at the beginning. We went all the way back to the first family which was Adam and Eve and we looked at how God organized the family.

The family originated from God and we really came out of that message with two words and I think those two words help us get our mind around what the Lord wanted us to say. The first word was authority. God gave the family. God organized the family. The family originated with God. The family is God's. This was not a one and done. This was the pattern for all the families throughout all the ages. So the family comes under the authority of God and also we used and saw the word failure. We saw this word failure because Adam and Eve did fail.

They failed in being obedient to God, to adhering to the authority of God and in that failure there came sin and the fall. So we went all the way back to the beginning but in our second message we went into the New Testament teaching of Paul and we really got into and I alluded to this the true Christian walk. If you look at Ephesians chapter 4, chapter 5, it is chock full of teaching about the Christian walk. The title of that message was the family, our fundamental foundation, the responsibility of the husbands. Now I started with us men first. I started with us men first. I did that on purpose and we learned two facts about the husband.

The husband is to lead and the husband is to love. The headship of the husband is ordained by God, has been given by God. Paul, he did not come up with that on his own. You can go all the way back to that first family. Adam was the head of that family and God has ordained that the men, the husband, is to lead but he leads out of love. Right out of that headship God did not command him to command. God commanded him to love and so what we have here is this is the family, our fundamental foundation.

We've started at the beginning, we've gotten into the responsibility of the husbands but looking at all that we've looked at, we should be experiencing this teaching challenging us, we should be experiencing this teaching correcting us, maybe even contradicting our own lives, our own families and listen if that is the case you will react in one of two ways. You'll either receive and accept what we've been learning or you will reject it. You might say pastor this has only been two messages. These have been speaking straight to where we are.

Very thankful I've heard one of the men of the church talk about how these messages beginning with the first message caused he and his wife to sit down and evaluate and talk and share. They were accepting what the Lord was saying and so what I want you to see is we should be experiencing the Spirit of God taking what we have learned and what we're going to learn and he should be challenging us and correcting us and contradicting even our lives as we could be in error.

I ran across a quotation that fits right here and I can't help but read it from the old Puritan Matthew Henry and listen to what he says quote we must be a be of a yielding and of a submissive spirit and ready to all the duties of the respective places and situations that God has allotted to us in the world. I like that. What is Matthew Henry saying? We whether we're husbands or wives no matter where we are we should be of a yielding and submissive spirit and we should attend to the duties that have been allotted to us in this world and I hope and pray that you are here this morning with a submissive and yielded spirit.

Now I am trying to open our eyes to the fact that the family which has been given by God it always has been and it is under attack. This is how true Christians live. This is the pattern which God's given us but the family has been under attack. The family is under attack within our culture. Political leaders, entertainers, many different people in many different places within our culture attack the family as it has been given by God. We saw that the family is under attack in the garden. You know I don't understand God's timeline.

We really don't know some of the timeline in Genesis 1, Genesis 2, Genesis 3 but it's almost like as soon as God turned his back on the creation. When God had created Adam and God had created Eve and everything was set into order it's almost like as soon as God turned his back there came Satan. Under attack the family was under attack but also we have seen that the family is under attack in the church. I have a limited amount of experience in the life of the church but I've been doing this thing for about 20 years.

Been in vocational ministry for quite some time but along the way I have seen very obvious and very brutal and very gruesome attacks on the family. I'll never forget in my home church years there was a family in the church, leaders in the church. This gentleman was a deacon in the life of the church, Sunday school teacher. This man led a secret life. He led a double life. His job kept him on the road and on me notes to many people he led that double life. Of course his wife suspected and kind of knew some things that were going on but yet the grace of God is so good because that gentleman ended up coming to know Christ. He was converted.

He was saved and he ended up standing behind the pulpit confessing his sin to the church because he had sinned in a very grievous way and God has saved that marriage. But what am I sharing with you with that example? If I were to put that man, put that woman, put that family before you, I would show you exhibit A that Satan was attacking the family within the church. But praise the Lord God won the victory in that situation. Praise the Lord there was a church that preached the gospel and believed that men like that could be lost and could be converted in the life of the church. That's just one story of many but what am I showing you?

What are we understanding? Satan has been attacking the family and is attacking the family even within the church. Now I want you to see that because we must be attentive. We must see that Satan is constantly attacking the family on many fronts even within the church and that's why we must be attentive to what God is saying even in these messages. That is why you must be attentive to what God is wanting you to do in your life and in your marriage and in your own home. Why? Because Satan could even be attacking your family. Now this morning as we move on we move on from husbands and we move on to wives.

We're gonna hold on to that lengthy title of the message. You know that title by now the family our fundamental foundation but this morning we're going to look at the duty of the wives. The duty of the wives. You see the verses that we're going to be in will be in verses 22 on down to verse 24. You're gonna see the main truths that we're going to examine in this duty. The definition of submission, the command of submission, and the motivation of submission or the motivation behind submission. Let's look at our two verses are our few verses here this morning starting in verse 22. What is Paul saying?

Wives be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. He himself being the Savior of the body but as the church is subject to Christ so also the wives ought to be to their own husbands in everything. We're gonna stop there. That is primarily where we will be but we will look at and reference other scriptures like I said earlier. But before we look at our truths I want to start the body of the message by making a definitive statement which is derived from the Scriptures on hand. This statement is this. The duty of the wife is to be submissive to the husband.

Go back to the verses. Wives be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord. Then we see this on down in verse 24 but as the church is subject to Christ so also wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. So I want you to see out of these verses this definitive statement. It is the duty of the wife to be submissive to the husband. Now the New American that I read from reads be subject. Now the King James the English Standard Version reads submit. Now I want to contrast this submission from the wife with the headship of the husband. That's right there in the verses.

Wives be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord for the husband is the head of the wife. You see Paul gives both sides but before we dive into these main truths I want us to grab a hold of that definitive statement and that is right out of these verses it is the duty of the wife to be submissive to the husband. So with that statement in your mind, in your heart, and in your notes let's make our observations. Number one notice the definition of submission. The definition of submission. Now like I said earlier the New American reads be subject. The King James the English Standard Version right there in verse 22 reads submissive.

Now let me share with you something that's very interesting. The verb here in which we get our English verb submit or be subordinate is not found in the original language right here in verse 22. If you have a New American Standard like I do when you look at the way it is written those two words are in italics. It reads wives be subject and that is italicized. Now why is that the case? It is because in the original language it is there by very very strong implication and therefore the English translators of the Scriptures understanding the construction of a language and what's being communicated here put that in the text.

That is very accurate. That is very true. That's why your Bible might have a footnote there. That's why the New American italicizes that. It's because in the original Greek language that verb in which we get our English words it is not there. But what is there is the fact that this is taught. So within these verses not just in verse 22 but all through these verses we have Paul teaching the fact that the wives are to be submissive, they are to be subordinate, they are to submit to the husband. Now the definition of this word is very simple. It means to be subject or to be subordinate.

It means to be under obedience or to put it another way it means to be put under. Now here within this context remember we're not just reading these two verses we're reading these verses in the context of what Paul is teaching. So here within these two verses we see that Paul is saying that it is to take a subordinate role in relation to that of another. So with that definition and the explanation of what is here we see that the wife is to be subject to, she is to be subordinate to the role of her husband. So it's very simple. Let's go back and read the verses. Wives be subject to your own husbands, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord.

Now in contrast to the other side of the coin, verse 23, for the husband is the head of the wife. Even the description of the responsibility of the husband puts the wife in submission to the husband. So this is a simple definition. The wife is to be subject, she is to be in a subordinate role to the husband. So we see this role for wives is given but it's also given in other places. Let me refer you to one. Write this verse down. 1 Corinthians 11 verse 3 Listen to what Paul says to the Corinthian church.

"But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God." So what do we see? We see structure, we see order, and we see authority, and within what Paul is saying we see the fact that the wife is subject to the husband who is head over her. And we see really that what Paul is saying in Corinthians is an abbreviation of what is taught in Ephesians chapter 5 verses 22 through 29. But in the 1st Corinthian passage we do see the subjection or the submission of the wife to the headship of the husband. So we see the simple definition of this word.

Subjection or submission means to take a subordinate role in relation to another. The wife is to take a subordinate role to her husband. That is the structure, that is the order, and that is the plan of God. Going back to our Ephesians passage, "Wives be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife." Going back to our Corinthian passage, "But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of the wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God." So the wife is to be subject or subordinate to the role and the person of her husband. Now an application.

I want to ask us two questions. Question number one, have some in the church tried to smooth over this word, smooth over this language, have some within the church tried to redefine this word, and even tried to leave this word and this teaching out of modern-day Christianity. Yes. Question number two, have some in the church tried to redefine the roles of wives and the roles of husbands to match what we see in culture. Yes. But what do we see here? This is the pattern, this is God's pattern, and we must be subject to the authority of the Word of God and the teaching of God and the pattern of God and the plan of God.

And it does not matter what culture may say or what culture may do, it does not matter what other churches may teach, it does not matter what other pastors may preach or what you were taught in your own home, what matters is if we will subject ourselves to the teaching and the pattern of the Word of God. And the rejection of a biblical role for women from the culture has trickled, if not burst, into the church. Now remember what we learned with the first family? We went all the way back and we started at the beginning, what happened? There came failure.

And when they failed to subject themselves to the authority of the Word of God and the pattern and the plan of God, what happened? Sin and destruction. That's the same thing that happens today. When we reject the pattern for the family that God has given, failure comes to the family. We see failure in the strength of the family. Listen, when we do not adhere to the biblical roles and the biblical responsibilities that we have, we have a weakening of the family. Why? Because this is the way God has wired us to be subject to his pattern. We see a destruction of the witness of the church and the witness of the family.

We also see destruction and the lives of the children. Why? Because when our children are not reared in a home that is subject to the pattern and the authority of the Word of God, there are ramifications. And sadly, it takes years for us to look back and see those ramifications. I was reminded of this in a fresh way when I went to India. When I went to India with my friend Luke, we were in many different church settings, some small churches, some village churches, some churches within the city. But I noticed some interaction in different ways in which the sexes interacted within the church. I noticed how wives interacted with their husbands.

I noticed how women interacted with men. And I noticed little things. And I began to ask questions. And my friend Luke looked at me and he said, "Women's liberation never made it to India." And within that church culture, they have a more healthy, biblically balanced approach to the family because modern women's liberation never made it to their church. And they are more attuned and more adjusted to this biblical pattern. And let me tell you, church, it was very refreshing. It's very refreshing. So this is the definition of submission. We can't change it. We can't alter it. We can't sugarcoat it. We can't turn away from it. We must accept it.

Why? Because we are going to subject ourselves to the authority of God's Word and God's pattern and God's plan. Truth number two, I want us to see the command of submission. This command of submission. Now that we understand the meaning of the Word or the meaning of what's being taught here, we must see that this is a commandment. This is not a take it or leave it. This is not a, you know, what works for you and what works for me situation. This is the role of the Christian wife and this is a command. Now, I want to make three observations with this command. First, this was a command that was given from the beginning.

We go back and forth from the New Testament all the way to that first family. We start at the beginning and this was a command that was given in the beginning. That was the pattern that God established in Genesis with that first family. And that is why it is so important for us to go back and we started at the beginning with Adam and Eve. It wasn't enough to start with the authority of the New Testament and that command was given in Genesis 1, Genesis 2, Genesis 3 and it follows all through the New Testament. Second observation, this was a pattern from Paul. I want to share with you four different passages in which this is taught.

I'm going to read them for you, jot them down. I want you to really listen to the passages. Our Ephesians passage that we're familiar with, Ephesians 5, 22 through 23, "Wives be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, he himself being the Savior of the body." But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands and everything. What do we see in those scriptures? The pattern, the authority, the structure of the family. The husband is the lead, he is the head, and the wife is to submit.

Our 1st Corinthians passage, 1st Corinthians 11 verse 3, Paul says, "But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of the wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God." There's the pattern, there's the authority, there's the structure, there's the husband as the head, and the wife is to be submissive to the headship of that husband. The 3rd passage is Colossians 3 verses 18 through 19. Paul says, "Wives submit to your husbands, as is fitting to the Lord. Husbands love your wives and do not be harsh with them." Very familiar language. And what do we see?

We see the headship of the husband, the leadership of the husband, and the wives are commanded to submit to that headship. Then we see in the book of Titus, Titus 2 verse 5. Titus commands those, Paul commands through Titus, those in the church there at Crete, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands. That is specific instructions to the wives, and the very same thing is communicated. So this is a pattern given by Paul because Paul was the author of every one of these books. He wrote this to the Ephesian church. He wrote this to the Corinthian church.

He wrote this to the church there in Colossae, a church he never did visit, and he wrote this to Titus who is ministering there on Crete. So what do we see? This is a pattern from Paul. 3rd observation. This was a command from Peter as well. Now Peter was another authority in the life of the church. He was one of the church fathers. He was one of the Apostles on equal ground with Paul. And what does Peter say? In the book of 1st Peter 3 verses 1 through 2, "Likewise, wives be subject to your own husbands, so that even as some do not obey the word, they may be one without a word but by the conduct of their wives." So what do we see?

Wives are to be submissive to their husbands even when they're not converted. And this is a command from Peter. So here we see that this is an obvious command. If one reads all of these passages while subjecting themselves to the authority of God's Word, one must certainly understand that the commandment of wives submitting to the headship of their husbands is all throughout the New Testament. These are the church fathers. Paul and Peter, it's not just one verse. It's scattered all throughout the New Testament. Now an application. I want to contrast this submission with the headship of the husband. Again what do we see?

Wives be subject submit to your own husbands as to the Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife. So the husband had the responsibility to lead and the wife is commanded to submit to that leadership. Many have relegated these roles to another day, another time, and in the past. They might say, "You know that's for like the 19th century or the 18th century or the first century church." No, the commandments of the Word of God are timeless. Some of you might say this puts wives, this puts women in a subservient or a less than position. Now I ran across a quote in my study this week.

I jotted this quote down, I put it in my notes, and to be honest with you I lost who gave me this quotation. But I'm going to read it. Maybe next week I will cite the source, but listen to what the author of this quote says. "Although there is a spiritual equality between men and women, there remain physical, positional, and functional differences. There are designated functions for a husband and a wife which man cannot change because God has ordained them. Any endeavor to affect change will bring frustration, vanity, and emptiness." Now that's the end of the quote, but I want to add to it.

Not only does it bring frustration, vanity, and emptiness, it brings failure to the family. So if a fault comes to your mind, this puts women in a less than position. Oh pastor, that's an archaic time and an antiquated teaching, that puts women subservient to men. No, it does not. Men and women are spiritually equal, but yet they are different roles for men and women, and this is the command for wives to be submissive, just like it was a command for men to lead. Let's move on. Let's notice truth number three. Let's notice the motivation of this submission, the motivation of this submission. Let's go back to verse 22.

"Wives, be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord." That's where we're going to focus. We've already seen the motivation of a husband. Remember what was his motivation? We saw that the husband was commanded first to lead and second to love. Isn't it amazing? If we are left in our own devices, we will take that and say the Lord's commanding us to lead, now I'm going to command. Paul cuts the grain, he cuts across the grain of human thinking and reasoning because the natural progression is for man to go from assuming the position of a leader to a commander.

So the motivation for man from Paul was love, with Christ being the perfect example. But notice how Paul addresses the woman's motivation. Notice the end of the verse. "As to the Lord." The English Standard reads, "As you do to the Lord." So out of this little small portion of verse 22, I want to make two observations. First, the implication is of a personal relationship with Christ.

"Wives, be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord." The English Standard says, "As you do to the Lord." This submission, this biblical submission as given by God in the true spiritual sense can only be achieved if the wife has been redeemed, if she's been born again, if she is a true Christian. One cannot submit to the authority of God and His Word unless they are living under His Lordship and lost people can never do that. Now they can mimic submission physically, but we're talking about a spiritual submission. So what do we see?

There is a strong implication, there is an obvious implication that this wife is to have a personal relationship to the Lord. She's not a cultural Christian, she is a true redeemed Bible Christian. Second, the implication is of a wife walking in obedience. Wives, be subject to the Lord, or be subject to your own husband as to the Lord. Again, the English Standard reads, "As you do to the Lord." This submission in the true spiritual sense is maintained when the wife is walking in obedience to the Lord.

So the picture here is the one who is redeemed, but they are not only redeemed, they are walking with the Lord day by day, hour by hour, month by month, year by year, desiring to be the Christian that God wants her to be. So what do we see? Wives, be subject to your husband's as to the Lord. And so we see this is a motivation that is multi-layered. If we're not careful, we will say, "Wives should be submissive because they love their husband." It is much deeper than that. They are submissive to their husband because they are submissive to the Lord and he commands it. You see how multi-layered it is?

They submit to the Lord, therefore they submit to his commandments, and therefore they submit to their husband. They submit to the commandments of the Lord because they love the Lord, and they submit to the headship of their husband because they love their husband. They are submissive to their husband because they are submissive to the Lord first. And this comes out of a true relationship with their Lord after conversion, and it can only be attained by walking in obedience. But in application, I want you to see that most approach this submission with the wrong motivation.

They immediately jump to the fact, "Oh, I got to be submissive to my husband." That's the wrong place to start. That's the wrong motivation. It's first to the Lord out of a love for the Lord. It's first to the commandment in the authority of God's Word out of that love for the Lord, and then it is out of a love for that husband. You see? And most start in the wrong place. At best, most start with a love of the husband. At worst, most start with duty. "Oh, I'm doing this out of duty." You'll never do it if it's out of duty. I was reminded of an example, a couple to be honest with you. Again, I go back to my home church.

I'll never forget there was a family there in the life of our church. They both came to know the Lord Jesus as adults. They were in the church, active in the church, lost them without Christ, sitting on the pews Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, active in the life of the church. But God began to show them that they were unconverted, and slowly I watched God save them. God worked in their life, and God converted them. God converted the man. God converted the woman. But see, when they came to Christ, they had role reversal. The woman really led in many ways. The husband was passive in many ways, and let his wife lead.

But God began to work in two ways. God began to show that woman that she was not to lead, and she began to back off of that leadership. And God began to show that husband that he was to step up and to lead. He had to get over his passivity. He had to get over his bad habits, and he was to lead. And I listened to that woman say, "As I'm watching my husband make decisions that I used to make, I have to bite my tongue and submit to the Lordship of Christ and let him lead." Now what was their motivation? They loved Jesus, and then they loved the Word, and then they loved each other.

And slowly, under the Lordship of Christ, those roles were reversed. And the key to the whole thing was they were motivated by their love for the Lord first, their love for the Word second, and then their love for each other. I'll never forget one time listening to a pastor's wife talk about submission. And you know she said it is a joy to submit to my husband. She said it is a joy for me because I'll watch my husband love Jesus, walk with Jesus, and because I love Jesus, I am drawn to follow his headship. Now in both circumstances, what was the primary motivating factor?

A love for the Lord, and then after that a love for the authority of the Word, and then a love for that spouse. So you see the motivation. Some of you ladies, when we talk about submission, you might think, "Oh no. Duty, duty, duty. If you start with duty, you'll be doing it in the flesh." Now as we begin to conclude, I want to give you three compelling reasons, ladies, wives. Three compelling reasons why Christian wives should run to this teaching. Some of this is similar to what we looked at last week, but let me give you these three reasons. The first reason is Adam and Eve and that original institution of marriage.

But yet within that institution, let me give you some examples of how this submission of the wives relates. First of all, in that first example, the man was formed first. Why? Look, in case he was the head. And then second, the woman was formed out of man. We saw that in the Genesis teaching. It was the woman who was formed out of the man, and the way that God created Adam and Eve speaks to those roles. So when we look at Adam and Eve in the original institution of marriage, it screams the headship of the husband and the submission of the wife. That is the first compelling reason why you should adhere to this teaching.

The second compelling reason is the extensive amount of commandments in the New Testament. Do we not see this with both Paul and Peter? Remember their roles. They are apostles, capital A. They are the fathers of the New Testament Church in that day, in that time, before the Apostles died. Those apostles, because they were designated apostles, can walk into any church and have supreme authority over any man-eating leader in the church. Why? Because they were those apostles. And we have that same authority today in black print on white paper.

And look at the vast amount of teaching from Paul and from Peter and the extensive amount of teaching from the Old Testament screams that you should adhere to this submission. The third compelling reason is the similarity of the relationship between the church and Christ. Look at verses 22 through 24 again. "Wives, be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord, for the husband is head of the wife as Christ also is the head of the church, he himself being the Savior of the body.

But as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be to their husbands in everything." So the similarity, the similarity of the relationship between the church and Christ, that is the greatest teaching example as to the order and the structure of the family. And we must see that the husband corresponds to Christ and the wife corresponds to the church. And I said this last week, husbands, you do not need a new book, you do not need a conference, you need to study the life in the example of Christ.

Husbands, if you will get on your knees in prayer in the Word of God and you will say, "Lord, teach me how to love my wife as Christ loved the church and I'm going to study how Christ loved the church," God will transform you men. But wives, if you will study how the church corresponds to Christ and His authority, if you will get on your knees and if you will pray and you will study all of the teaching about Christ and the church and the authority of Christ over the church and the church submitting to that authority, Christ will revolutionize the way you submit to your husband. So those three compelling reasons.

Adam and Eve in that original institution, the extensive amount of commandments in the New Testament, and the similarity of the relation between Christ and the church. Now our last two messages we have ended the same way and this morning in our third message we're going to end the same way. The same question. I hope that you've gotten this question, maybe jotted this question down. But in our study of the family, if God shows you that things in your family are amiss, they're out of order, they are against God's Word in God's plan. Will you repent and seek to order your family according to God's Word and God's plan? Will you?

You could take time. Certain things are not set straight overnight, people. Some of you might have been affected by bad habits and bad examples. You might have things in your marriage that could take time. For some of you, this could take sacrifice. For some of you, it might even involve ridicule. You might take ridicule from your own parents, parents of your husband or parents of your wife. You might take ridicule from co-workers, friends.

You see, if God were to show you that your family and your role is out of amiss and out of step and out of joint with God's Word, will you repent and seek to order your family according to God's Word, no matter how long it takes, no matter how great the sacrifice, and no matter what others may say. Time of the message. The family. It's our fundamental foundation. It's the foundation of the church. It's the foundation of society. And listen, there is a duty for the wives, just like there is a responsibility for the husbands. Lord Jesus, thank you for the teaching of your Word. Lord, I pray that with spirit, the power of God,