By Rev. Brent Russett – Asbury Free Methodist
October 8th, 2023 – Ephesians 3:14-21
We are working our way through the book of Ephesians. This morning, we come to one of my favourite passages in this book. It is Paul’s prayer for the believers at Ephesus and the surrounding churches.
I have been your pastor for just over 5 years. One of the things that you have heard me emphasize time and again is discipleship. We are called to be a church that is growing in the ways of God. But what would an exceptionally well discipled person look like?
Paul’s prayer is part of the answer to that question. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech reverberated around the world and became a vision for change. This is Paul’s “I Have a Prayer” speech. This is my “I have a dream” prayer for Asbury.
I know that when some people think of discipleship – they think of knowing more scripture. But that is a means to an end, not the end itself. I know when people think of discipleship – they think of learning to pray – and maybe hearing from God – but that is a means to an end – not the end itself. Paul, in this prayer, paints a picture of what we are moving towards. He prays about what we are called to be.
If you are wondering how to pray for yourself, bookmark this prayer – and pray it regularly for yourself. If you are wondering how to pray for another believer, bookmark this prayer and pray it for them. If you are wondering how to pray for Asbury, bookmark this prayer and pray it for us. This is a big prayer. It is a huge ask. But we serve a big God who is able to answer enormous prayers.
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In the first part of chapter three, Paul has been rifting on the amazing gospel that God has just revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. Paul has been telling the Ephesians that God has entrusted him with sharing this good news with the Gentiles. He is in prison for it but is happily there because his ministry is bearing fruit. It is even bearing fruit amongst the Ephesians.
So he writes,
Ephesians 3:14–15 (NIV)
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
I like how the message version interprets this verse.
Ephesians 3:14–15 (MSG)
My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth.
Paul says my response to seeing the gospel flourish amongst you is to kneel before God our Father. Recognizing that it is God who gives us everything. He knows every family and every person, and all that everyone has comes from him.
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Here is something that you need to know about prayer. When you are going to pray a big prayer, it is helpful to identify and remember the parts of the character of God. It is especially helpful to remind yourself of who God is and that he is big enough to answer the prayer you are about to pray.
Paul starts out by saying, “I kneel before the Father.” Because he is our Father, and we know that he is good, we know that we can ask him for good things. Because all things flow from his hand, we know he is generous in granting what we ask for. If you are going to pray big prayers, remember that you are praying to a big, good, loving, generous God.
And this is what he prays for.
Ephesians 3:16 (NIV)
16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
Paul again reminds God, himself, and others where this answer to prayer is going to come from. It is out of his glorious riches. One translation says, “from his unlimited resources.” It is helpful to remember that there is no scarcity with God. God is not on a budget. He is not saying if I give this person this, then I can’t give that person that. No, his resources are unlimited.
Here is what Paul prays that God will do with those unlimited resources. He prays that you may be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being.
Remember, Paul is praying about people in the church. He is praying for Christians – believers in Jesus. He prays that they would be strengthened with power through His Spirit in their inner being. I’ve got to say that that is a prayer I wouldn’t even have considered praying if it were not for Paul’s example.
If God answers Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians, my prayer for you, and your prayer for others, then the Spirit of God will strengthen your inner being with power. You are going to grow strong on the inside.
The question is, why?
Ephesians 3:17 (NIV)
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
I thought that Christ was already in the hearts of believers. He is. The key word there is “dwell.” There are obviously different degrees of dwelling.
Here is the thing about God. He will only give you as much of himself as you can take. That is why Paul is praying that you will be strengthened on the inside so that you can take more of Jesus or that Jesus can take more of you.
The word for dwell is the same Greek word that is used in Matthew 12:45 to describe demon possession. Paul is praying that Ephesians will have the capacity to be possessed by Christ.
Think about the degrees of dwelling in this way. If I came to your home to visit, I would be treated as a guest. You wouldn’t expect me to come to your home and go exploring through your closets, and check out the basement, and go looking underneath the bed. You expect me to come in and sit in the living room or the kitchen and there we visit and talk about some of the important things of life. And that is the way it ought to be. I don’t live in your house, and so I should not act like I own the place.
But say you took me on as a roommate. Now, I am more than a visitor. I have access to a lot more of the house. I still don’t have access to everything, but we are dwelling together.
When I married Lynda, she got access to everything. I have access to everything. There are different levels of dwelling.
Jesus, speaking to the church in Laodicea, said,
Revelation 3:20 (NIV)
20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
Jesus is asking for those people to allow him to dwell in them in a more meaningful way. God will only give you as much of himself as you can handle. But my prayer for you is not that you receive a visitation from Christ but that Christ would make your heart his habitation.
Paul goes on to pray along the same lines, but he prays this,
Ephesians 3:17b–18 (NIV)
17b And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
Paul prays for a people who are already rooted and grounded in love. They get that while they were yet sinners that Christ died for them. They get that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. They have heard the gospel of love, and they received and accepted it.
They are people, just like most of you. You get, at least on some level, that God loves you.
But here is what he prays. He prays that they “may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.”
He is praying for individuals as well as the church that they will grasp that they would be able to understand the vastness of God’s love. That they would really get how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.
Notice, though, that in order to do this, they are going to need power. (Verse 18.)
Over my years as a pastor, I have found that there is a significant subset of Christians who know that Jesus loves them. But they don’t KNOW that Jesus loves them.
They have learned the truth of the kids’ song,
“Jesus loves me; this I know for the Bible tells me so.” That is fantastic. You believe that God loves you because the Bible says he loves you. But there is a deeper knowing that comes by the power of the Spirit. That you know that you know that you that God loves you.
That is what Paul is talking about in verse 19
Ephesians 3:19a (NIV)
19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge.
Paul prays for the power of God to work in your life so that you know that you know that God loves you. If you are part of that subset of people who know, but they don’t KNOW that God loves you – ask for the power of God to change that.
I also want you to notice something else in this verse. Paul prays,
Ephesians 3:18 (NIV)
18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
It is one thing to know the love of Christ. There is a deeper richness yet to know this love together with the Lord’s holy people. There is a beautiful dynamic that happens when the church comes together. When there are grandmas that have walked with him for 80 years, and young adults who have survived a university that has tried to undermine their faith, and a father who has known what it means to love his child, and gets a glimpse of God’s love for us, and a person from the third world who has seen God love in the middle of difficult circumstances, and a child who teaches us how to trust, then you start to be able to comprehend with all the saints the love of Christ.
When we share our experiences of this love, then we start to be able to put together a picture of the love of God. It adds wonderful texture. Then, look at what happens.
Ephesians 3:19 (NIV)
19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
There is a direct correlation between knowing the love of God by the power of the Spirit and experiencing the fullness of God in your life. You can’t have one without the other.
That is why so many saints of the past describe the filling of God’s Spirit as a filling of love.
Paul’s prayer for the church, my prayer for you, and our prayer for each other is that we would be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
What is the fullness of God like? Obviously, you would be filled with all the fullness of his love. God is life. So, you would be filled with all the fullness of life. God is filled with joy and peace and grace and goodness. So, to be filled with the fullness of God means to be filled with those things as well.
I want you to be exceptionally well discipled. I want you to know how to read your bible. I want you to know how to pray and how to hear from God. But all those are a means to an end. The end is that you would be strengthened with power by God’s Spirit in your inner person so that Christ can dwell there in all his fullness. The end is that you know, I mean really KNOW, the love of God so that you can be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. That changes everything.
Would you pray that prayer for you? Would you pray that prayer for us? I will pray that prayer for us. This is what God wants in your life.
It is a huge prayer. It is a God-sized prayer. Paul is praying for it based on who God is. He is asking our Father to answer out of his unlimited resources – his boundless riches. Because this is something that only God can do – but it is something that God has no problem doing.
Paul knew that he was asking big. He was asking for love beyond knowledge. He was asking for a full measure of God. But just in case we would get to thinking that the prayer was too immense, Paul writes this.
Ephesians 3:20–21 (NIV)
20 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, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Sure, it is a big ask. Sure, it is a huge prayer request. But Paul reminds them, and he reminds us that God is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or even imagine.
Paul is saying – you think that is a big prayer request. Psst. That is nothing compared to what God can do. He is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine. He is able to do so much more than I have prayed.
And look what he says – he is able to do that according to his power that is at work within you. If you are a Christian, Christ lives in you.
Paul, writing to the church in Colossae, says
Colossians 1:27 (NIV)
27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
If you are a Christian – Christ lives in you. If you are a believer, God’s Spirit lives in you. The fact of the matter is that if you are a follower of Jesus – there is enough of God in you to immeasurably more than you can ask or imagine. The reality is that God has given enough of himself to you to blow your mind. And that is worth celebrating.
So, on this Thanksgiving Sunday, we echo the words of Paul.
Ephesians 3:21 (NIV)
21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Thank you, God, for all you have done. Thank you for your salvation that is so rich and free. Thank you, Lord, for what you have done in our lives and what you are going to do in our lives. Your goodness and all that you have done is worth thanksgiving and gratitude throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen.
We are going to celebrate Communion this morning. Communion in our church is open to anyone who knows Jesus as their saviour.
As we remember what Jesus has done for us. We remember that he still wants to work in us. Before we take part in communion today – let me pray for you.
16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Sermon Questions
Ephesians 3:14-21
Introduction
1. What are you celebrating today?
2. What are you praying about today?
Digging In.
3 Read Ephesians 3:14-21 – What makes this a huge prayer?
4. Read verses 14-15. What does this verse tell us about God? How does it this help in regard to this prayer?
5. Read verse 16. Where is the answer to this question going to come from? What does this tell us about God? – What is Paul’s specific prayer request? What do you think that means?
6. Read verse 17. Why does Paul pray the above prayer request? Paul is praying for believers. Christ already dwells in them. So, what is he really asking for here?
7. Read verses 17b-19a. What do these verses tell us about the people to whom Paul is writing? What is his prayer request? What would it look like for this prayer to be answered?
8. Read verse 19b. What do you think “being filled to the measure of all the fullness of God looks like.” What is the connection between this and knowing the love of God?
9. Read verses 20-21. What does this tell us about the believers in Jesus?
Application
10. Pray this prayer for yourself, for our church, for another believer.