Proclamation:
“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 surpasses knowledge; that you may be
filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:16-19 (NIV)
Explanation:
These words were written by the apostle Paul, under the
influence of The Holy Spirit of God, in a letter to the believers in the church
at Ephesus . Paul began this third chapter by asserting that
he is an apostle given by God to preach to the gentiles. (Ephesians
3:1-12) He asked them not to be
discouraged because he was in prison. (Ephesians 3:13) Then he offered this prayer for them. He prayed for their strength and power in The
Lord, and that they would appreciate the vastness of the love of Christ.
Application:
This prayer has four petitions on behalf of believers. First, that all believers would be
strengthened in The Spirit. Second, that
Christ would dwell in our hearts by faith.
Third, that we would know the extent of the love of Christ and be
grounded in it. And fourth, that we
would be filled up with all the fullness of God. This is a prayer that we should pray for all
believers so that we would be strengthened and grow in the knowledge of God and
the love of Christ. This is something
that we all could use as we continue our Christian journey in this sin-sick
world.
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