Scripture: Ephesians 3:14-19

I. You will change as you pray for Christ to dwell in your hearts.

A.We begin to see what Paul prays for the Gentiles in vs. 16. And Paul’s prayer is all about power – the power to change. He prays that God would grant the Ephesians to be strengthened with power through His Spirit. And what does God want the powerful Holy Spirit to do? Paul wants the Ephesians to be strengthened with power through His Spirit so that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith (vs. 17). But doesn’t Jesus already live in these Ephesian Christians? Yes. Why then is Paul praying for them to have power so that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith? The issue for Paul in his prayer is not the initial indwelling of Christ in the Christian. The issue is that Paul wants the continual, living presence of Jesus in the believers. He wants Jesus to make His home address in the believer.

II. You will change as you pray for knowledge of Christ’s great love for you.

A. In vs. 18 Paul talks about the four different dimensions of Christ’s great love for us in the church. And again he prays for power for the church. He prays that you may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth of the matchless love of Christ. The fact that Jesus’ love is broad (vs. 18) indicates Christ’s accepting love. Paul had written about Jesus’ accepting love earlier in Ephesians 2:17: “And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.” Paul writes about the length of Christ’s love in vs. 18. Christ’s love for you began forever into the past as we see in Eph. 1:4-5: “He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.”

B. How high (vs. 18) is Jesus’ love going to lift you? How about into heaven? Ephesians 2:6-7: “(God) raised us up with (Christ) and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” How deep is the love with which Jesus has loved us? It is so deep that He sacrificed Himself for us. Ephesians 1:7-8: “In (Christ) we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight.”

 III. You will change as you pray for spiritual maturity.

A. What does a deeper grasp of Christ’s love for you give you the power to do? When you regularly experience the incomparable love of Jesus, you are filled with all the fullness of God (vs. 19). The word “you” in vs. 19 is plural. Paul is praying for all of the Christians in the church at Ephesus. So, it is as we all together grasp the greatness of Christ’s love for us that we become filled with all the fullness of God. This verse refers to God in all of His perfection, including His presence, His life and His power. Paul is praying that the church will be all that God wants them to be. Basically, he is praying that the church will come into spiritual maturity. He is praying that the church will be completely changed into Christ’s likeness.

Application:
Pray Ephesians 3:14-19 every day for the next six months to be changed by God’s love.

Sources:
The letter to the Ephesians
Commentaries on Ephesians by Peter O’Brien, Bryan Chapell and Richard Coekin