Praying to know God (Ephesians 3)
For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from 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 through His Spirit in the inner man (Ephesians 3: 14-16).
You have a wonderful sense of the genuine care Paul had for the spiritual welfare of the saints in Ephesus. It was a care that extended beyond the ordinary needs of life and focused on the reality of knowing God and His love for them. He knew that this was the source of all blessing.
Paul addresses God as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In doing so, he demonstrates what he had written in verses 11-12: “Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him”. In this confidence, he asks God to strengthen his fellow believers by the Holy Spirit in their inner spiritual man. The outward man ages, but the inner man is being renewed day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16). Then he prayed that Christ would dwell in the hearts of the Ephesians through their continuing faith in Him. They were “in Christ”, rooted and grounded in His love, knowing both the security and peace of this position. We experience the love of Christ in fellowship with all the people of God. This enables us to begin to understand the vastness of the revelation of God.
When visiting the Swiss Alps, I have often looked up in amazement on dark winter nights at the stars which fill the sky. They are so far away, but they give us a sense of God’s wondrous creation. A few years ago, I experienced, for the first time, virtual reality. The image I watched took me into space, and I felt I was walking like an astronaut amongst the planets in our solar system. It was amazing to have the feeling of being close to places like Venus and Mars. But I still had an abiding sense of the vastness of the heavens. This reminded me of what Paul was explaining. We already have experience of God’s love, grace and mercy, and an understanding of His power and eternal purposes. God wants to deepen this experience and understanding of the unsearchable riches of Christ in fellowship with all His people. And, at the same time, to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge. The Queen of Sheba was filled to overflowing by Solomon’s glory. God wants to fill us with His fullness.
Paul conveys to us the immensity of the love of Christ and the riches of His grace. He also wants us to know the power of God to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, through the Holy Spirit’s work in us. The imprisoned apostle conveys most powerfully a spiritual liberty which could not be contained by his restricted circumstances. He lived in the reality of the life he had in Christ who loved him. That love empowered his prayer for his fellow believers. Often our prayers are hesitant and limited, not because we doubt God, but because we doubt ourselves. When we begin to understand the vastness of the love Christ and all He has brought us into, we begin to pray with boldness and confidence. And like with Paul, God fills our hearts with worship: “to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen”.
