A Prayer Full of Blessing

"For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God."

Ephesians 3:14-19

I have always viewed this passage as a blessing, but it's actually a prayer. It's not merely a sentimentally-worded expression of Paul's hopeful wish, it is something he specifically asks God for. It's not, "May you" be strengthened with might in the inner man, etc. etc., it is, "I bow my knees to God SO THAT He would grant you this."

This makes the whole thing far more definite, far more concrete, and far more palpably attainable, for Paul would not pray for something that God did not burden his heart in the first place to pray, and having prayed, he would not fail to attain the object for which he prayed.

Therefore, it removes the whole passage out of the realm of "Wouldn't that be nice if we could have that," and squarely into the realm of confident expectation, both for ourselves, that we can have all this in our Christianity, and for others, that we could pray this for them, and that they could receive it. This surpassingly breathtaking blessing is for the taking!

It would be like a child looking through a Christmas catalog full of toys, and he says to himself, "Wow, I wish I could have this thing and that thing," and then his father says to him, "I have put in an order for every item in the catalog." The promises of God are far better and richer than what a child could find in a toy catalog, and all these things are "Yes" and "Amen" in Christ. What treasure! What privilege!


"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen."

Ephesians 3:20-21