Ephesians 3:14-21
Strengthened in the Inner Being
14... for this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
15from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
16I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being,
17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth
19of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20Now 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,
21to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Berean Standard Bible
Paul returns to prayer, saying that he bows before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. The posture matters, but the request matters more. He is not asking first for better circumstances, easier relationships, or protection from every difficulty.
He asks that God, out of the riches of His glory, would strengthen believers with power through His Spirit in their inner being. This is strength at the center of a person: the part that chooses, trusts, repents, and continues when no one else can see what is happening.
Paul prays that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith and that they may be rooted and grounded in love. These images belong together. A tree needs roots, and a building needs a foundation. Love is not a decoration added after faith is established; it is the ground in which Christian life is meant to stand.
He wants them to have power, together with all the saints, to grasp the breadth, length, height, and depth of Christ's love and to know that love surpasses knowledge. The prayer does not promise that love can be reduced to a complete explanation. It asks for an experience of Christ's love that changes the way believers live.
Paul ends by praising the God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power at work within us. The glory belongs to God in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations, forever and ever.
Questions
1 What kind of strength does Paul ask God to give?
AnswerHe asks God to strengthen believers with power through the Spirit in their inner being, at the center of their lives.
2 What two images describe how believers should be established in love?
AnswerThey should be rooted and grounded in love, like a tree with deep roots and a building with a firm foundation.
3 With whom are believers meant to grasp Christ's love?
AnswerThey are meant to grasp it together with all the saints. Christian understanding is not meant to be a solitary achievement.
4 What does Paul say about the limits of knowing Christ's love?
AnswerHe says Christ's love surpasses knowledge, yet he prays that believers will know it in a life-changing way.
What This Means for Us
A household can be busy asking God to change circumstances while overlooking the need for strength in the people living through them. Paul's prayer gives us language for the deeper request: that Christ would remain at the center and make love sturdy enough to hold us.
The prayer is also communal. We do not understand Christ's love by withdrawing from everyone else. We learn it as the saints receive, forgive, serve, and endure with one another.
Prayer
Father, strengthen us through Your Spirit in our inner being. Root us in Christ's love, help us understand it with Your people, and make Your power visible in how we live. Amen.