...Lord...we need You...

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. 16 I pray that, according to the riches of His glory, He may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit 17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.  18 I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen” Ephesians 3:14-21.

Dear friends, if you want to pray a most beautiful prayer, a prayer that is so tender, listen again to the prayer Paul prays at the end of chapter 3 of Ephesians:

16 I pray that, according to the riches of the Father’s glory,

He may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being

with power through His Spirit 

17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith,

as you are being rooted and grounded in love.

When Paul prays “according to the riches of the Father’s glory,” this is exactly the sentiment we intend at the conclusion of our prayers, when we pray “through Christ, Our Lord, Amen,” or “we ask this in Your name, amen.” When you and I pray we always pray to the Lord that, what we want more than anything else, is that “His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” To pray through Christ Our Lord or to pray in His name is to pray that all we ask and need more than anything else is that His will be done in our prayers.

Then Paul prays that we all would know “the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ” — a love that “surpasses all of our knowledge.” That is what Paul’s prayer here is all about. Essentially, it is a prayer that Christians may discover the heart of what it means to be a Christian. It means knowing God as the all-loving, all-powerful Father; it means putting down roots into that love – or having that love as the rock-solid foundation for every aspect of our life. It means having that love turn into a well-directed and effective energy in our personal life. And it means the deep and powerful knowing and loving which we are all — as Christians — invited to enter. Paul longs that those who have come to put their faith in Jesus should know it tooth love of God.

But please read verse 20 carefully: “20 Now to Christ who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine.” Then think of what God might do in you and through you – you as a church community, you as an individual. And then reflect on the fact that God is perfectly capable of doubling that, trebling that, going so far beyond it that you would look back at the present moment and wonder how you could be so short-sighted.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.

Today’s Prayer

Oh Lord, You, and You alone, are the source of all our help.

You love us in unimaginable and deep ways.

We cannot even fathom the depths of Your love for us.

We need You in good times and in bad times.

We need You now, today, at this very moment.

Life is too overwhelming for us without You.

Fill us with the comfort and power of your Word.

Be near us as we have never imagined before.

For with You all things are possible,

but without You we can do nothing.

Help me to live with You this day.

In Christ’s Name I pray, amen.