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A Prayer

Paul closed out chapter 3 with a beautiful prayer for the Ephesians. Paul prayed that all believers, Jews and Gentiles, would understand and be full participants of Christ’s love. And once they had experienced Christ’s love, he prayed that they would display it to one another. As we experience Christ’s love, it naturally causes us to show it to others.

EPHESIANS 3:14-15

Paul humbled himself before God by bowing and getting on his knees to pray. He prayed to God, the Father “from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.” God is the rst father, the One who created fatherhood.

EPHESIANS 3:16–19

In verse 16, Paul asked God to strengthen the inner being of believers. Paul petitioned God by asking Him to act out of the riches of His glory and give believers the ability to overcome, to endure resistance—to give them strength. In verse 17, he asked that through faith, Christ might dwell within the hearts of all believers. He prayed that at all times, Christ would live within our hearts, that He would be the center of our lives, the foundation of who we are.That His character and truth would influence our thoughts, words, and actions.

Paul then prayed that all believers would be continually rooted and grounded in Christ’s love, as this is where we are meant to be—in Christ’s love. And he prayed that God would give us supernatural strength and comprehension to understand the greatness of God’s love for us—“the breadth and length and height and depth” of it. In verse 19, Paul prayed that we would know the love of Christ—in a personal, experiential way, and not solely in an intellectual way. Paul understood that we all need help in understanding, receiving, and experiencing God’s love because it “surpasses knowledge.” God’s love is so grand, so ironic, so gracious that it is hard to comprehend. Nothing in our world works in the way of God’s love and grace. As we understand Christ’s love for us more and more, it produces awe, gratefulness, and a desire to share His love with others.

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In what ways have you personally experienced and known the love of Christ?

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