A Cause to Prayer

Ephesians 3:14–21 KJV 1900

14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Paul’s Passion to Pray

As Paul begins his prayer for the saints, he says “for this cause.” The word “cause” means, “reason, or from the pleasure of.”

Paul is speaking of the revelation he has just shared with the church. He is referring to the great truths revealed all the way from Eph. 1:1 to 3:13.

That great, doctrinal passage is filled with astounding truth.

• From the fact that

God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Heavenly places in Christ, 1:3

, to the truth that

He has made us fellow heirs along with the Jews in the body of Christ, the church, 3:6.

In between those verses are the facts that

God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, 1:4.

• He reached out to us when we were dead in trespasses and sins, 2:1.

• He loved us in spite of our depravity and our wickedness, 2:2–4.

• He saved us by His grace, and made us His children, 2:5–10.

• He reached out to us, who separated from Him by our sins, 2:12–17.

• He saved us and He adopted us into His family, and made us a part of the body of Christ.

That is reason enough to praise Him for all eternity! All I can say is, “Hallelujah! Blessed be the name of the Lord!”

When we stop to consider everything the Lord has done for us to save us and to change our lives, it should motivate us to go to Him in prayer. If God loved us so much that He sent His Son to die for our sins, then saved us by His grace and adopted us into His family, we should have a desire to spend time with a God like that. Our love for the Lord ought to manifest itself in a passionate desire to come into the presence of the Lord to spend time with Him in prayer. Our passion for Him should drive us to Him.

Paul’s Posture of Prayer

Ephesians 3:14 KJV 1900

14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Why bow?

1. It is a sign of submission to One Who is being far greater than we are.

When we bow before the Lord we are acknowledging His glory, His power and His authority over our lives. We bow in prayer before HIm because we understand that we are in the presence of One Who is far higher in rank, dignity, glory and authority that we are. Bowing before the Lord in prayer is a sign of humility and submission before the Lord.

2. It is a sign of intense passion and emotion.

In the passages I shared a moment ago, we can see the emotion and the passion that drove Paul to pray. In other words, sometimes you are so overwhelmed by the circumstances and needs of life that kneeling becomes the natural posture one adopts before the Lord.

Having said all that let me say this. God is not concerned about the posture of your body. I do not think the Lord cares whether you pray kneeling, sitting, standing, lying down, walking, or whatever. God is more concerned about the posture of the heart.

Paul’s Purpose for Prayer

Ephesians 3:14–15 KJV 1900

14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

As Paul begins to pray he tells us that his purpose in this prayer is both to glorify the Father and to edify the church. Paul takes a moment at the beginning of His prayer to remind us again of just who we are in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul says that he bows his knees before “the Father.” The word translated “Father” is the word “Pater.” It speaks of “the generator, or the male ancestor of a family line.” This word pictures God as the One Who started a new “family” through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.

The word “family” translates the word “patria,” which means, “all those who in a given people lay claim to a common origin; those who share a common lineage or ancestry.” This passage reminds us that all those who are in Jesus Christ are in the same family and we share a common Father.

As Paul prayed for the Ephesians believers, he made some very specific requests on their behalf. It is interesting to note what he did not ask for when he prayed.

He did not pray for anything physical, material or financial.

He did not pray for the healing of their sick.

He did not pray that they would be delivered from persecution.

He did not pray about the economy in Asia Minor.

Paul did not occupy his prayer with so many of the things that seem to mark our own prayer lives.

We tend to be selfish when we pray.

Many of the things we pray about will not be issues in a year, or a month, or a week, or even a day. On the other hand, spiritual maters are eternal in nature. We can become so consumed with the issues that occupy our minds today, that we fail to even consider the matters of eternity.

When Paul prayed for the Ephesians, his focus is entirely spiritual. I want to draw our attention to the heart of Paul’s prayer in these verses today.

Ephesians 3:16 KJV 1900

16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

Spiritual Power

The word “might” comes from the Greek word that gives us our English words “dynamite and dynamo.” It refers to “inherent power, or the power which resides within something by nature.” This does not mean that we possess spiritual power in and of ourselves. It does mean that because we are in a relationship with the Lord, we have been empowered.

Paul prays that this power might be revealed in the “inner man.” He is referring to the soul, or the person who inhabits these bodies. He is speaking about the very source of all the problems we have in our lives. The soul is the center of our will, our emotions, our thought process, and our motives.

Acts 1:8 (KJV 1900)

8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Paul prays that their spiritual power may be, “according to the riches of His glory.” He is praying that God will bless them “according” to His spiritual wealth. That is an amazing request!

Paul is praying that God will give believers spiritual power that flows from the vast, limitless resources of God Himself. Those very resources became ours when we trusted Christ as Savior. The phrase “the riches of His glory” speaks of those spiritual attributes and abilities that belong to God because of Who He is. When He moved into your heart, He brought with Him the fullness of His presence and His power. Paul’s prayer is that the Ephesians would be able to experience the full benefit of their relationship with the Lord.

Sadly, most believers live like spiritual paupers when they are in fact the possessors of limitless spiritual wealth.

What does it for the “inner man” to be empowered by God?

It means that our spirits come under the complete control of the Holy Spirit.

It means that we yield to His control, His will, His power, for His glory.

When that happens, the “inner man” grows stronger and is more able to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord. It is only when we yield to the Spirit and let Him control the inner man that we succeed in living to the glory of God.

Paul prays for their spiritual power. If there is one thing every believer I know needs today, it is spiritual power. That is a prayer we can pray for all our brothers and sisters in Christ. May the Lord ever help us to have the spiritual well-being of our fellow believers on our hearts and in our prayers.

Ephesians 3:17–18 KJV 1900

17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;

Paul now turns from praying for their spiritual power to praying for their spiritual passion. His prayer is for these believers to be filled with the love of God that manifests itself in love for God and for others.

Spiritual Passion

He prayed that “Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.” He is not praying that they would be saved; they already were.

When a sinner is saved, the Lord takes up residence in the new believer’s heart. The word “dwell” means “to settle down; to be at home.” It is the idea of someone being “comfortable in a home.”

The idea here is that Christ will not be comfortable in the house of our hearts until our hearts are controlled by the Spirit of God. He lives in our hearts from the moment we trust Him as Savior, but He will not be “at home” there until the Spirit of God controls that heart.

This verse is not about salvation, but it is about sanctification. The Lord dwells in our hearts by faith, but He is not at home in our hearts until we are under the control of the Spirit. When the Spirit of God controls us, He cleans up our lives creating a comfortable home for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Galatians 2:20 (KJV 1900)

20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

As Paul continues His prayer, he ask that they be “rooted and grounded in love.” These words speak of “putting down roots to give a strong foundation” and of being “stable or established.” He is praying for their maturity in Christ.

You see, the evidence that any life has been brought under the control of the Spirit of God is the presence of genuine love.

When the Spirit of God controls us and we are walking in His power, we will prove it by the way we love the Lord and others.

God wanted His people to be rooted in His love and built up through loving others and by being loved by others. That is Paul’s prayer for the church then, and it is still the Lord’s will for the church now. So, how’s your love life?

When we are “rooted and grounded” in the love of God, we will be in a position to “May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height” of that love. As the love of God is worked out toward us, in us and through us, it makes the love of God more understandable to all who experience it.

When Paul mentions “the breadth, and length, and depth, and height,” he is not talking about four kinds of love. He is talking about the fullness or the vastness of God’s love.

The Four Magnitudes describe an infinite, incomprehensible love.

Christ’s love is indeed incomprehensible, but Paul prays for our comprehension, that we “may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp” its dimensions—literally, to take hold of them, to seize them. He knows this is impossible, but he calls us to this grand spiritual exercise for the health of our souls. It is to be our life’s occupation.”

When we are controlled by the Spirit and filled with His love, we are brought into a place where we can “comprehend” the vast, immeasurable love of God. The word “comprehend” means, “to grasp; to lay hold on.”

Only as His love fills us can we grasp what His love means.

Only when His love flows through us can others come to “know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.” To know His love, and to show His love, is to experience a miracle like no other!

Ephesians 3:19 (KJV 1900)

19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

Paul’s final petition for the Ephesian believers is that they “might be filled with all the fulness of God.” This is a remarkable request.

How can the finite hold the infinite? How can something so small contain Someone Who fills all things?

Spiritual Prosperity

Imagine, if you will, that we are standing beside a great ocean. Before us stretches out and unending vista of water. We are nothing but insignificant specks on the seashore compared to that vast ocean. Now imagine that we dip a gal low bucket into the ocean. That bucket would immediately be filled with the power and fullness of that ocean. Our bucket could not contain all the fullness of that ocean, but it would still be filled with it.

Thus it is with Christ and His church. We dip the puny buckets of our lives into the vast ocean of His glory and we are instantly filled with Him.

However, these finite vessels cannot contain all that He is. Yet, we find that being open to His power, His glory and His fullness enables us to hold even more of Him.

Paul is praying that the people of God might know all they can of the fullness of the Lord. He wants them to be vessels filled with the Lord’s power, presence, love and glory. That is only possible as we yield our vessels to Him and allow Him to flow into us until we are filled with nothing but Him. By the way, to be filled with Him implies that we become empty of self.

The word “filled” means “to be full; or to be filled to the fullest.” It speaks of “total domination.”

The person filled with anger is dominated by hate.

The person filled with wicked desires is dominated by lust.

The person filled with happiness is dominated by joy.

So, to be “filled with the fulness of God” is to be dominated by Him.

Instead of thinking of our lives as mere buckets that can contain only a small portion of His fullness, think of our lives as ships, which have been sunk in the ocean of His grace, until we are filled completely with all that He is and can give us.

We are ships that are dominated by the sea of His glory, driven about by the waves of His will, carried by the whim of His desires. We are His and there is no room in us for us or for anything else, but Him.

Total domination is what the Lord is after. He will not rest until He controls our lives to the fullest. The longer we strive to control our own loves, the harder He will fight us. It is only when we yield to Him fully, that can be filled with all He is. I realize that this is something that will not be fully realized until we are home in Heaven, with a glorified body. But, I also know many have gone a long way toward realizing the goal of being filled with Him. Regardless of where you might be on your journey, it is always possible for you to open yourself to more of Him, His power and HIs presence in your life.

Ephesians 3:20 KJV 1900

20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

Notice,

The Greatness of His Ability.

“Unto him that is able”

The Greatness of His Abundance.

“to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.”

Why?

“because it is according to his power that works in us”

Ephesians 3:21 KJV 1900

21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

This is how the church and you as an individual through the church bring glory to God.

Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians is amazing! He asks for spiritual gifts that an only come from the Lord. Paul steps away from the usual formula for prayer, which goes, “bless me and mine and make us happy,” to “Lord, do whatever it takes to make us holy.”

What does this passage have to say to you about your own prayer life?

What is your Prayer?

and is worth coming forward and bowing your knee?

• How many need to come and pray that same pray for your own life?

• How many need to come and pray that prayer for your family members and fellow believers?

• How many need to come and deal with problem areas in your life?

• How many need to be honest about the fact that your life is more filled with you then it is with Him?