Eph 3:16-19 NIV: “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 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, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
This Sunday I’m preaching at my local church on this passage. Spending time reflecting and studying inspired me to do a piece on my own take-aways. This is a prayer that Paul wrote out for a church of believers in Ephesus. I view it as a step-wise progression, and all of these are interlinked. Specifically, he prays that we would be strengthened inwardly by the Holy Spirit, that Christ may dwell in our hearts, that we could grasp the Love of Christ and know this love and ultimately be filled with the fullness of God. Can you see how I incorporated these into the art piece?
The word strengthens, whether in physics, psychology, or nature, implies the ability to withstand or endure force. Inward strength is standing up to all the “forces” that pressure our inner self (emotions, thoughts, desires, will, etc). Things like discontentment, exhaustion, temptations, jealousy, shame, failures, anger, and fears. I pictured these as the storm raging around the subject.
So often, we assume it is our job to be strong to stand up to these storms. We white-knuckle our addictions or berate ourselves for our inner weaknesses when we give in to our anger, fears, or pride. But notice who is providing the power to be strong? The Holy Spirit. Zech 4:6 reiterates, “It’s not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit…”
When we acknowledge and invite the spirit to work in us, he supplies power to withstand the forces trying to beat us down and enables the rest of these things mentioned in this prayer. He provides the ability to abide consistently in Christ (and Christ in us). He makes it possible to comprehend and understand the indescribable love Christ demonstrated by giving his own life for us. The Spirit makes it possible for us to “know” (in Greek, this means to experience (as with all you being) Christ’s love). Finally, through the work of the spirit, we are then filled to overflowing with the fullness of God. That word for “filled” in Greek means complete, crammed full, and I love this one… satisfied.
All of these promises are offered to every single person. However, it’s up to us to ask and receive—not just a one-time ask, either, but daily!
Leave a Reply