Episode 38: Ephesians 3:16-19
Transcription
Today’s verse is Ephesians 3:16-19
I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being,so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 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, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Let’s pray together.
This is already a prayer, Father, one passed down through the centuries. May we grasp its truth and knowledge and claim it for ourselves, feeling with Paul, the need to pray these words, which were inspired by Your Spirit. May we understand the power of this prayer, the truth it can convey in our lives, and how we can use it to bless others.
Jesus, today I acknowledge how amazing You are. You have the abundant wealth of the universe at Your disposal and I am grateful You choose to use it for my benefit. You are generous beyond belief, dropping every good and perfect gift in our way. When we don’t know we need something, You provide it for us and enable us to find the way, if we will only hear Your gentle voice.
You are strong and you give us strength too. This is not just for our outer shells, the flesh we are encased with, but for our mind and soul. Strengthen our spirit with Your Spirit. We want healthy bodies, healthy hearts, healthy minds. We want to be so strong and whole that You dwell within us and we can feel and know that indwelling every day. Build up our faith.
You are so loving, LORD, so full of goodness and kindness. You are the source of all good things, the place that we can draw from in order to be that way to others. You ground us in mercy, ground us in truth, and You send us where we need to go to spread that love to everyone we meet. But, LORD, help us to understand it as much as we can. Help us to have just a little more every day, more understanding of how much You love. It is infinite and we will spend eternity learning it, but help us to move forward, never pausing, never hoarding for ourselves, never shielding ourselves from You. Let us be filled to overflowing, a fountain of endless charity and grace.
I could read these words, Jesus, and only agree with them intellectually. I could say that they’re true, but never feel them deep inside my core, never live them as if they were the mainstay of my existence. And that’s what I need to learn, not just what others say of You, but what You say of Yourself, and how it affects my relationship with You. Because I want to grow closer to You, not just deeper in understanding, but deeper in love. Trust me with abundance. I pray I am worthy of the charge.
Jesus, help me to yearn for You. I want to desire Your presence, Your company, Your goodness, more than anything else in my life. I want to be inconsolable without it. I don’t often feel satisfied, LORD, and I know it’s because nothing in this world can ever full satisfy us. No amount of power, wealth, health, connections, or knowledge. No other person or relationship. No skills, goals, achievements, or career can ever fill me with the fullness that only comes from You. We are so silly down here, trying to feed ourselves with the scraps of the world when the abundant and lavish generosity of Your table abounds, waiting for us to avail ourselves of its comforts.
I want more of You, God. I pray to overflow with Your love, with You. I want to be soaked in Your Spirit, a joyful explosion of grace to others, so happy and content with being Your child that I don’t want anything else in my life. Give me the ability to live my life on this weary earth because I am bolstered by Your love.
Pray this with me, friends, and don’t let the enemy take your contentment. It is only found in Jesus. Let’s together build up His church on this earth, flinging away from us the bindings of our old, miserable lives. They’re not worth it and they will never satiate us.
I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
