“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.” Ephesians 3:16-19
Two long complex sentences comprise the four verses in the passage above, and it’s easy to miss their power when you just read them quickly. But if you take time to read them slowly and work to digest their meaning, you’ll likely find yourself saying, “Wow!” at the power of this prayer. It’s power to help us navigate the challenging times in which we live.
Paul prays that God will strengthen believers with power through his Spirit out of his glorious riches. This is spiritual power to which there is no limit because God has an infinite supply of riches, the best of which is Christ’s indwelling presence in every believer.
Through the personal fellowship we have with Christ we are rooted and established in God’s love as a plant is rooted and firmly established in fertile soil. The deeper our fellowship with Christ the greater will be our grasp of his boundless and measureless love, a love that surpasses knowledge.
The result of being strengthened by the power of God’s indwelling spirit and being established in his endless love is that we will be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Of course, we cannot contain all the fullness of God. It’s like dipping a cup in the ocean. The cup is filled with ocean, but the fullness of the ocean exceeds the capacity of the cup.
Be filled up with God, then you will have the power to take on the day—any day.
Having begun as a guest speaker in 2005, Dan was appointed Interim Pastor in 2008 and has been serving Maple Root Baptist ever since. As a small group leader and Chaplin for the Connecticut Tigers, Dan has a heart for the lost and the God that saves them.