For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:14-21)
Paul sees it as necessary to tell the Ephesians that he prays for them. As important as his instruction of them is, his praying for them is essential. We should always pray for the saints as we seek to encourage and minister to them.
Paul says that he bows the knee before the Father. Although we now have access to the Father, we still must come in an attitude of humility and awe. Christ’s death and resurrection have given us access with confidence and boldness; but that does not mean that we come with a flippant or brash attitude.
He refers to God as the Father, because the Ephesians (and we) are now members of the family of God. We have been grafted into the olive tree, and we abide in Christ. We can now cry, “Abba, Father!” As our heavenly Father, God is the model of all fathers, and His family is the model of all families. As He loves us, so are earthly fathers to love their children
Something which has been granted is without charge. As with all God’s gifts, his strengthening of us by His Spirit costs us nothing. The price has been paid, and He now gives it freely.
Paul’s prayer is that they will be strengthened with power. Christians must be strengthened for three main reasons. 1) They are continually growing in the Lord. 2) Satan does attack the followers of Christ. 3) We need strength to receive Christ and the truth of His gospel.
The prayer is that the readers will be strengthened in their inner being. We all have an inner man (being), which is the opposite of our outer, physical man. It is the heart, mind, and spirit – the core of our being. It is the spiritual aspect – that which (in a Christian) is “in Christ.” The unregenerate man does not know that he has an inner man. Since the Fall, he concentrates on the physical man. He has forgotten that he is a spiritual creature. He truly realizes this only when the Holy Spirit gives him a new heart and opens his spiritual eyes to the things of God.
Paul prays for Christ’s presence to be with His people in a special way – that he may dwell in their hearts. He is writing to Christians, so he is not praying for their conversion. What he is praying for is for Christ to abide in the very core of their being.
When he writes of being rooted and grounded in love, Paul speaks of two metaphors to describe the church. Firstly, it is a tree, firmly rooted in the love of Christ. With firm roots, it is able to continue growing and producing the expected fruit. It is also a building with a firm foundation. As such, it continues to grow into a holy sanctuary for God.
The love of Christ is boundless. There is no way to fully comprehend its breadth, length, height, or depth. This is much like the time God told Abraham to count the stars in the sky to see the number of his descendants. It is impossible, and it’s very impossibility shows its greatness. Not only can we not fully comprehend the breadth, length, height, and depth of Christ’s love, we cannot even know it without the work of the Spirit. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
Paul ends his prayer with a doxology. As in Romans 11, he realizes the fullness of the love and grace of God, and he is overwhelmed. Here he speaks of the fact that God is so good that we cannot even begin to imagine the good things He has in store for us. And, all this will be done to bring glory to His own name.
