EMMDEV 2011-11-01 [Ephesians] Incredible Prayer

For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Ephesians3:14-19

Now, after a 13 verse digression about the mystery of God's purposes in spite of suffering, Paul prays for the Ephesians. It is an incredible prayer.

It is incredible in two aspects:

1. The One being prayed to: He is praying to the Father who is at the heart of everything: The Son, the Spirit, the Angels and all of earth derive their name from Him. He is the centre, source and fountain of everything - Paul will return to this theme later (we'll look at it tomorrow...)

2. What Paul prays for:
Firstly that we'd be strengthened so that Christ could live in us. Although we were created in the image of God and were able to receive Christ in our hearts, sin has damaged us - we are not ready to receive Jesus - BUT we receive help from the Holy Spirit.

Secondly that we need Divine Help to understand God's love for us!! Our brains are too small to grasp that God loves us unconditionally. Our minds can barely understand that He gave His one and only Son for us. We can hardly conceive the love that took Jesus to the cross. So God helps us: He roots and establishes us in love and then He gives us power to grasp the length, breadth, depth and height of Divine Love.

Thirdly we must realise that He doesn't just want us to grasp this love, He wants us to know it experientially, so that we understand the fullness of God.

There is no escaping the fact that knowing God means we have to come to terms with love. Not sloppy sentimental love, but the self-giving love that transforms you and me. The love that beats at the centre of God's being and that He gives to each of us and even helps us to understand it.

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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/