Ephesians 3:14-21 might be the most glorious prayer in the New Testament other than the prayers of the Lord. Paul addresses all three members of the Trinity in his request for inner strength. Inner strength is absolutely necessary to spiritual survival because the outer strength of humans is so fragile.

When Jews prayed, they normally stood upright with hands raised, but Paul’s bowed posture here tells us that this is no ordinary prayer; it is the prayer of someone kneeling, like Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Even now, kneeling before someone is considered a way to acknowledge that he or she is greater. Whether people kneel physically or only in their hearts, they should come to the throne of grace with a spirit of submission and humility.

Paul prays for at least four things: an inward power, an inward presence, an inward perception, and an inward provision. His first petition is “that He would grant you….to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man.” Paul sees human nature as composed of two elements:

  1. The flesh, which is an encompassing term, not merely for the body, but for all the impulses and activities of our earthly lives, and
  2. The inner man, or “mind”, where the true personality resides. It is the inner self that may be continually renewed and strengthened.

Spiritual power is a mark of every Christian who submits to God’s Word and Spirit. It is available to everyone who studies the Word, understands it, and lives by it. The inner, spiritual person should grow stronger through the Holy Spirit, who will energize, revitalize, and empower the obedient, committed Christian.

Paul’s second petition is that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith. The word dwell means more than merely to live in a place; it means to settle down, move in, take up residence, and be at home. God makes His home in the hearts of His people, and the Holy Spirit fills them with His presence. His people begin to understand the length, width, depth, and breadth of His love. The main point of Paul’s theology is that a person may be “in Christ” and thus live in the Spirit and in the power of the living Lord who lives in us. When He lives in us, we get a new orientation for life.

Paul’s third petition is that we, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to understand with all the saints what is the length, width, depth and height of God’s love. Paul uses four dimensions to describe the immensity of God’s love. Its breadth reminds us that His arms reach around the globe. On the cross, Jesus’ arms were stretched out for the whole world. Its length reminds us that His love extends from eternity past to eternity future. It existed before the foundation of the world and will exist after this world’s end. Its depth reminds us that His love addresses the deepest needs of the human heart. God loves sinners no matter who they are, what they have done, or where they have been. Its height reaches to the very throne of God. Out of love Jesus came down from heaven and lifts up to His level anyone who chooses to believe, because no one can climb up to His.

Paul’s final petition is that we may be filled with the fullness of God. Why is it that we barely, if at all, get beyond the passion and death of Jesus? Why do we refuse to move on to Resurrection and Pentecost? Christians are promised fire, not a feeble flicker; light, blazing, not dim-like that of a city set upon a hill; joy, not momentary happiness, abiding joy which flows from the satisfaction of our hungering and thirsting for God; radiant excitement like that of a man finding a treasure hidden in the field.

Christ will grow in us until He has to come out, just like He grew in Mary until He had to come out. He will come out in our speech, in our actions, and in our decisions. Every place we live will be a Bethlehem, and every day we live will be like Christmas. We, like Mary, will deliver Christ into the world. God in us! Have we sounded the depth of this promise?

This prayer of praise divides the first half of Ephesians-which outlines the role of the church in the world-from the second half, where Paul outlines how church members should live. Paul has declared the mystery-the glory of God, fully revealed in Jesus, to be appropriated by the whole church, and to be lived out in the life of every believer so that the whole cosmos may be brought into the harmonious orbit of Christ’s love.

(An audio version of this message can be found by clicking this link: Ephesians 3 verses 14-21 Inner Strength and Spiritual Power)

Bibliography

  1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible: New King James Version (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013, p. 1643)
  2. Dunnam, M.D., & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 31: Galatians/Ephesians/Philippians/Colossians/Philemon (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1982; pp. 182-189)
  3. MacArthur, J.F., Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)
  4. Lucado, M.: The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson; 2010; pp. 1636-1637)

Leave a comment