FREE PREVIEW: Ephesians 3:14-21: Prayer for the Ephesians
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Introduction
Paul now resumes the prayer he began at the start of chapter three, interrupted by his long reflection on the mystery and his ministry. Where his first prayer in chapter one asked that believers would know the riches they possess, this second prayer asks for something deeper still — that those riches would become inward, living experience. Paul kneels before the Father and asks for inner strength, the deep indwelling of Christ, a grasp of His boundless love, and finally, to be filled with all the fullness of God. Then he closes the entire first half of the letter with a soaring doxology of praise.
I. The STRENGTH He Asks For — Power in the Inner Being (vv. 14–16)
“I bow my knees to the Father... that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person.” (Ephesians 3:14, 16)
Paul bows his knees before the Father from whom every family takes its name, and his first request is not for changed circumstances but for inner strength — that believers would be powerfully strengthened by the Spirit in their inner being. The deepest need of the Christian is not outward relief but inward fortitude, and God supplies it out of the riches of His glory.
II. The SCOPE of Christ’s Love — Rooted, Grasping, and Filled (vv. 17–19)
“That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith... may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth, and to know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge.” (Ephesians 3:17–19)
From that inner strength flows the deep indwelling of Christ, who settles permanently in the heart. Rooted and grounded in love, believers are enabled to grasp — together with all the saints — the immeasurable dimensions of Christ’s love, and to know the love that surpasses knowledge, until they are filled with all the fullness of God.
III. The SONG of Praise — To Him Who Does Far More (vv. 20–21)
“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 the glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 3:20–21)
Having prayed so boldly, Paul bursts into a doxology. God is able to do far more than we ask or even imagine, and His power is already at work within us. The only fitting response to such riches is worship — glory to God in the church and in Christ Jesus, to all generations forever.
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain.
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