Four Prayer Requests | Ephesians 3:14-21

Let’s start by reviewing the big picture of the book of Ephesians.

Chapters 1-3 How God is gracious to us

Chapters 4-6 How we are to live-out grace

The first three chapters, chapters 1-3, don’t include many imperatives, or commands. They don’t tell us how to live as much as they tell us what God has done for us. The next three chapters, chapters 4-6, tell us how to respond to grace and are full of imperatives and commands. Grace in. Grace out. 

Paul understands how difficult this is to get because he includes a prayer for the believers to get it in chapter 1 and again today as he wraps up chapter 3. He is praying for us to experience God’s grace—everything he has just finished talking about.

Have you ever put a lot of work into a gift and given it to someone with the hope that they would like it? That they would receive it as you intended? Maybe you’ve written a letter to your husband or wife and you hope that when they read it they will realize how much you’ve thought about them and care for them. Maybe you’ve spent a bunch of time knitting a sweater or hat for your husband (or your wife…), and you hope that when they open up their gift they will be happy with what you made. That’s how Monica feels about me every Christmas. Maybe it’s how children feel when they draw a picture or make a craft and bring it to their parents. If their parents looks at it and say, “You could have done better” and put it away, do you think the child will want to make them another picture or craft? We want people to receive the things we’ve prepared for them. 

Paul has brought the Ephesians a gift. He’s brought them the gift that God worked so hard to prepare—grace. And now he is praying they will receive God’s grace. In the first three chapters of Ephesians God has given us his grace—his love given to us without us having to do anything but believe in Jesus. Will we receive what God has given or will we put it away because God could have made something better? It’s better if you earn your salvation, because you’ll feel more accomplished. It’s better if God doesn’t offer this grace to everyone, especially bad people who don’t deserve it.

I know some of you probably love to receive gifts, but some of us can have a hard time receiving gifts. Instead of seeing the love and thought behind that hand-painted pink and yellow ceramic bowl, we see how it doesn’t match with all the other dishes and how we’ll have to find someplace to store it. That’s like when we read Ephesians, and although we know we’ve received God’s grace in chapters 1-3, what really wears us down is knowing we’ll have to live differently because of it in chapters 4-6. 

In order for us to be able to receive God’s grace the way he intends, and for it to change us in a positive way, we need a change of heart. We need something deep inside of us to move. And that is exactly what Paul is praying for today. He is praying for hearts that can receive God’s grace. That’s the same thing we pray for. We pray for hearts that can receive God’s grace. I don’t know about you but I can talk and talk about God’s grace and it doesn’t change me one bit. But if God get’s ahold of my heart, and your heart, our hearts, then not only will we appreciate the gift of God’s grace, we’ll be able to live differently because of God’s grace. Paul prays for four prayer requests in his prayer. The first is this… 

1) We pray for inner strength through the Spirit. (v14-16)

Like the Lord’s prayer Paul addresses our Heavenly Father and prays this in Ephesians 3:16 “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,” (NIV^®). Paul prays for the Ephesians to experience inner strength. This Greek word for strength (krataioo) is also found in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) in stories of King David. Before David became king while he and his men were being hunted by king Saul the Amalekites attacked his encampment while he was away, burned it, and took captive the women and children. This news completely wrecks David and his men. 

1 Sam 30:4 So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. (NIV^®)

Have you ever felt that way? Something happens and you just lose it. You lose your strength to believe. You lose your strength to be a good husband or wife or child. You lose your strength to be a good Christian. This word is a different word for strength, but two verses later our word appears (krataioo). 

1 Sam 30:6 David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God. (NIV^®)

Sometimes we have to lose our strength so we can find God’s strength. Jennie told me this week, “Everyone in our church is going through something.” Everyone here has something that is stressing them out or they wish was different. And maybe you’ve been trying to handle it, but it just keeps getting worse and worse. What if like David God is allowing something bad to happen so that you can find your strength in the Lord your God? What if God wants us to get weaker before we can get stronger? What if we actually need to be weak in order to understand God’s grace?

Have you ever started working out after not working out for a long time? The first couple days you overdo it and you’re really really sore. BC (“before CrossFit”), I tried working out at Best Fitness at Drum Hill. The personal trainer must have thought I was in shape because he had me running, and doing burpees, and and whipping a big rope up and down. I almost passed out and and for the next couple days I was so sore Monica had to help me put on my shirt and I had to drink out of a straw because I couldn’t lift my arm to my face. Despite all of that pain, it was still the first step in getting stronger. The trainer helped me see my weakness. The Holy Spirit helps us see our weakness so that he can fill us up with God’s strength. 

Do you know what David did next? He asked God what he should do. He prayed. And God delivered him and his men and their wives and children and he gave them extra plunder (1 Sam 30:16, 20). They came out ahead. We pray for inner strength to grasp God’s grace, but sometimes that means he has to take away the strength we have. God would you give us the inner strength even if it means we first have to lose our own strength. First, we pray for inner strength through the Spirit.

2) We pray for Christ to dwell in our hearts through faith. (v17a)

Ephesians 3:17 in the NIV says, “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” But that makes verses 16 and 17 sound like one long prayer request. Although the two verses are connected, the Exegetical Commentary said to read the first half of verse 17 is its own prayer request. “I pray… that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” 

Now the last verse, verse 16, talked about God’s “glorious riches” and this verse talks about Christ “dwell[ing]” in our hearts. Is there any place else in the Bible where it talks about God’s glory and a dwelling? When Moses built the tabernacle God’s glory came down in the form of a cloud and filled it. When king Solomon (David’s son) built the temple God’s glory came down in the form of a cloud and fill it. And now, Paul is praying that God’s glory cloud through the Holy Spirit would fill our hearts with Christ.

What do you fill your heart with? Have you ever filled your gasoline tank with the wrong fuel? Instead of filling your sedan up with unleaded you fill it up with diesel? Instead of giving you extra power what does it do? It doesn’t work. It can cause a lot of damage. The engine is designed to run on unleaded. God built us to run on him. We run on his Holy Spirit who is centering our hearts on Christ Jesus. We are powered as we think and dwell and meditate on Christ.

The Holy Spirit is like the tech-crew in the theater department. They dress up in black and their job is not to be seen. Instead they run the sound so the actors can be heard and they shine the lights so the actors are can be seen. Without the tech crew you could still have a play, but there would be much less mystery and beauty. You would watch the actors move in and out of scene and set up props. It would be hollow. The Holy Spirit shines his light on Jesus. The more we think of Christ the more we know the Spirit is present.

As the Holy Spirit fosters a love for Jesus in you, Jesus is dwelling in your heart through faith. One of the signs of true Christianity is a deep love for Jesus himself, for his work on the cross, and for him saving us from our sins. Do you love Jesus? Do you love Christ? That’s the Holy Spirit! As the Holy Spirit strengthens our hearts and a love for Christ fills our hearts it becomes possible to appreciate God’s grace. First, we pray for inner strength through the Holy Spirit and second we pray for Christ to dwell in our hearts through faith.

3) We pray that we would be rooted and grounded in love. (17b)

Paul’s third prayer request is in the second half of verse 17. Ephesians 3:17b says, “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,” (NIV^®). Paul uses two word pictures to express what he is praying for (c.f., Col 2:6-7). 

The first is that of a plant or a tree. To be “rooted” in something is to dive deep into the soil and to draw your life from it. In the gospels Jesus tells the parable of different soils (Matthew 13:1-23). The seed the sower scatters is the gospel message—the good news that Jesus offers forgiveness and eternal life to any who will confess their sins and believe in him. He scatters some seed that doesn’t have any roots.

Matthew 13:5-6 Some [seeds] fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. (NIV^®)

Jesus explains this parable to his disciples a few verses later.

Matthew 13:20-21 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. (NIV^®)

A life rooted in the gospel won’t fall away when times get tough, and times are going to get tough. They are going to be days and weeks and maybe months when grace feels far away, but that’s what we need to have our roots deep in love—love for each other and love for God and his word and as the next verse shows us, deep in our understanding of God’s love for us. We want deep roots in God’s grace.

A believer who is rooted in God’s grace and love won’t walk away when the storms come. The NIV says “established,” which is another word for a “foundation.” A house with a good foundation won’t fall when the Nor’easter comes. I also like the word “grounded” which appears in the ESV. A house that is grounded won’t catch on fire when the lightning strikes. If you’re rooted in love you won’t walk away when your church family hurts you or the leadership does something you don’t like or when ministry doesn’t seem to be going anywhere or when something goes terribly wrong in your life. If you’re grounded in love, you’ll be able to receive God’s grace and extend it to those around you who really need it.

As I was writing this part of my sermon I was struggling to feel love for someone. I was upset with him, so I called him on the phone, and we talked about our issue. As we ended the conversation I told him I loved him and he told me he loved me. The easiest thing to do when the going get’s tough is to turn away from loving each other, but if we do that we actually uproot ourselves and become ungrounded. 3) We pray that we would be rooted and grounded in love. This naturally leads into the fourth prayer request.

4) We pray for our hearts to grasp the greatness of Christ’s love. (v18-19)

Ephesians 3:17a, 18-19 “And I pray that you… 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, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (NIV^®)

I’ve been reading Ephesians For You by Richard Coekin (a pastor in London) during this series. I want to share with you his explanation of what each of these descriptions of Christ’s love for us means. Each point comes from Coekin and I’ve adapted his explanations. 

“Wide” illustrates his accepting love. 

Christ’s love is for Jew and Gentile, white, black, Hispanic, Asian rich, poor, middle-class, grade-A students or dropouts, those struggling with obvious sins and those struggling with hidden sins. Christ’s is available for anyone no matter what you’ve done or haven’t done. Christ opens wide his arms and embraces anyone, no matter how broken. In our Grace/Truth 1.0 study, one of the chapter’s main points is “acceptance precedes obedience.” Christ accepts us, which leads us to repentance.

“Long” illustrates his lasting love.

There is nothing you have done, can do, or will do that can separate you from the love of Christ if your one of his (Rom 8:38-39). Paul already talked about how God “chose us in him before the creation of the world…” (Eph 1:4) Does that sound like there’s any time you will ever be separated from his love? 

“High” illustrates his exalting love.

Coekin points us back to Ephesians 2:6-7 and God’s promise to raise us up and seat us with Christ and then pour out “the incomparable riches of his grace” on us “in the coming ages.”  One day we’re going to get just how much goodness Christ has in store for us. 

“Deep” illustrates his sacrificial love.

The cross is a well. The longer we look into this cross-shaped well the deeper Christ’s love appears. It’s at the cross that Jesus himself took on the full burden of God’s wrath so that you and I, people who aren’t loving enough, who aren’t gracious enough, who choose self over others so that we could be forgiven and saved. Jesus took on the opposite of grace so that you and I could the receive the grace he deserves.

May we grasp how wide and long and high and deep Christ’s love is for us. In v19 Paul says this love “surpasses knowledge.” It has to get past our heads and into our hearts. So what are our four requests?

1. We pray for inner strength through the Spirit. 
2. We pray for Christ to dwell in our hearts through faith. 
3. We pray that we would be rooted and grounded in love. 
4. We pray for our hearts to grasp the greatness of Christ’s love.

We pray for hearts that can experience God’s grace. My heart in its own capacity can’t experience God’s grace. That’s why Paul’s prayer is so important. But although I can’t change my heart, Christ can. Christ can help us “get grace.” We’re reminded of his power in the closing two verses, 20-21 that tell us there is nothing our God cannot do. I’m not going to read them now but we’ll all read them together when I say the benediction at the end of the service. But first, let me pray for hearts that can experience God’s grace.

If we truly believe God can change our hearts, then let’s read the benediction together as a prayer.

Ephesians 3:20-21 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen. (NIV^®)

Pastor Jonathan Romig preached this message at Cornerstone Congregational Church. You can download a PDF copy of this sermon above, which includes further endnotes and references. Click to listen to sermons or to read our story.

Church Service

You can watch the full service on Facebook or only the sermon on YouTube.

Sermon Slides