I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Eph. 3:16-21)

To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me. (Col.1:29)

If you haven’t noticed, the devil had his way in many areas across the world during 2014. The Middle East continued to boil in turmoil. Race issues tore at the fabric of America once again. Russia ruthlessly pushed out to expand “the empire” once more. Washington D.C. couldn’t seem to get its act together at any level. Ebola is still ravaging parts of Africa and economies around the world are shaking.

For some believers, these are simply unavoidable signs of the end that we cannot stand against so we should just bunker in and wait for Jesus. That time may come but, in my opinion, this is not the time because too many people groups and nations have not yet been gathered in for the Lord of the Harvest. I believe that 2015 should be a year of pushing back against the enemy and defeating him on multiple fronts. The problem with such a view is that most of us still feel helpless in the face of such national and global calamities.

As this new year begins, we need to be reminded that there is the same power working within each of us that raised Jesus from the dead, toppled the Roman Empire, and spoke the universe into existence – just for starters. Paul sensed that divine power working within him and framed it as a kind of supernatural energy that enabled him to heal, cast out demons, preach in the face of fierce opposition and keep going when his natural strength had been depleted.

Paul asked the Lord to give the church at Ephesus the Spirit of wisdom and revelation that they might be aware of the power, authority, and strength available to them in Christ (see Eph.1:17-23). Interestingly, this power does not flow out of God’s desire for conquest but is rooted and established in love. Our capacity to experience the power of God is directly proportional to our understanding of the depth of God’s love for us and for all of his creation.

In order to walk in the power of God we must understand that his power is distributed in order to bless the people he loves. Jesus healed out of love. Jesus raised the dead out of love. Jesus cast out demons because he loved the people oppressed by the enemy. Jesus fed the 5000 because he had a love for these “sheep without a shepherd” and was concerned that they were hungry. He preached the good news because he loved lost people. He entrusts power and authority to us to be exercised on behalf of the people he loves. If we want an increase in power then we should be praying for an increase in love – a greater awareness of God’s love for us and a greater love for the world he cares about.

Great power resides within every believer but is released in greater ways when the exercise of that power is motivated by love and when that power reveals the love of God to those who have not known it before. My prayers this year will include a request for God to reveal his love to me in greater ways and for me to be an instrument of his love for others. The enemy cannot stand against love and it is love that will release the provision and power of heaven into every “hopeless situation.”