Aged song minister, Candi Staton sang many years ago, ‘He’s no farther than a thought away’. The song blessed me as a young teenager in a home bedevilled by abject poverty and searching for a ray of hope to hold on to. God does often seem far away from the weary and to those despised and forsaken by the world. Years of unanswered prayer, dashed hopes and unfulfilled dreams leave you drained of strength and feeling as forsaken and inconsequential to God as you evidently are to your fellow man. Staton’s song was a ray of hope in the midst of my gloom. Going through my Bible, I found an amazing verse that strengthened my hopes.

‘Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.’
Ephesians 3:20-21 NKJV.

Is God able to do immeasurably above all I ask in prayer or think in my wildest dreams? Of course! He is the Almighty God, the Creator of all the heavens and the earth. He is able to do anything and everything imaginable. His power is unlimited and His strength immeasurable. He is, therefore, able to answer the prayers of Paul between verses 14-19. Paul prayed for strength in the inner man, resulting in Christ being at home through faith in our hearts. He prayed for a full understanding of God’s love which is beyond human comprehension. He also prayed it would result in us being filled with all the fullness of God (to our capacity). Our prayers can be answered and our dreams can be realised by the power of God.

The more exciting part of it is that in comparison to God’s unlimited power, our prayer requests regardless of their importance are so infinitesimal in their requirements that God’s ability in comparison can do exceeding abundantly above them. Whatever the prayer point and whatever the vision, God is able to perform it. Let every heart directed at Him do so in confident expectation that He will do that which is requested and that which is envisioned because it truly costs Him NOTHING. I remember happily starting the engine of my Toyota Corolla car over a decade ago after office hours and my Executive Assistant told me the small car did not befit me and pleaded I should allow our ministry to buy me a SUV already approved for my office by the Board. Knowing the church needed the money for a project, I declined as I happily drove off the small car whose easy maneuver in Lagos, Nigeria traffic had become a delight to me.

As I drove away, I said to the Lord, Dad, it will cost you NOTHING to get me the SUV my Assistant desires for me. We don’t have to use church money to buy it. As you know, the church needs the money. Within 2 or 3 weeks, a mentee had given me a bigger SUV he bought 8 months before. It looked almost twice the size of the Toyota Prado desired for me. It was a very luxurious car and was such a delight as I traveled around Nigeria with it, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. What an example of God doing exceeding abundantly!

What excites me the most about this text is that God does it, ‘according to the power that works in us’. The answer to every prayer and the fulfillment of every dream does not begin from outside of us but from within. The power of the Holy Spirit within us works in dynamism to create a magnetic field around us that attracts the material equivalent of our prayers and dreams. This exceeding abundant power resides WITHIN us. The answer to every prayer and the manifestation of every dream is within us. As we pray and dream in FAITH, believing and declaring what God has said to us in His Word and by His Spirit, we will see greater manifestations, in Jesus’ name.

Victor Adeyemi