Paul’s Prayer
I’m sure by now, you know of my admiration for Apostle Paul in the Bible. If you aren’t familiar with who he he is; simply put he went from being a man known for persecuting Christians to being completely transformed by God and mightily used for God’s glory. After being made anew in Christ, his character traits were known to be bold yet humble, transparent, courageous, extremely honest, on fire for Christ and completely committed to spreading the Good News of Jesus -even through major physical persecution until eventual death. Paul is definitely a biblical figure who’s example I strive to follow, not only as a leader but as a forever student of God.
See, I admire Paul because he was completely devoted to the Lord while still being transparent about his weaknesses. In his writings, he makes it abundantly clear of his desperate need for the power, presence, love and help of God. And because of his continual reliance on God and Holy Spirit, he was continually empowered by God through Holy Spirit.
Because his mission to spread the Gospel, took place in countries that had not yet accepted Christ, you can imagine the extremity of difficulties he encountered. Some include, physical abuse, being imprisoned, mocked, ship-wrecked & constantly targeted. None of these however, stopped him from carrying the Gospel to the ends of the earth. As a result, many were saved and we have thirteen books of the New Testament, written by Paul.
Paul had a heart for God AND people, because it is not enough to just one. He exemplifies this in our focus verse found in Ephesians 3:16-18 which reads,
16 I pray that from His [God’s] glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit.
17 Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.
18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is.
These three verses are a part of Paul’s prayer to God for the spiritual growth of His people, including you and I. His ability to pray for others despite suffering was fueled by the evidence of Christ in his own life. And truth be told, I completely feel him. I’ve experienced His love the most during suffering. As a matter of fact, I’ve felt His overwhelming love in the hospital bed, on the floor shot, in the midst of heartbreak & rejection and even in uncertainty. So when it comes to those who reject God’s love through the Gospel; my heart grieves. For the believer who is living below the standard God intended for them; my heart breaks. For those who have not fully experienced the love of God, not because He has not made His goodness evident to them, but because they allow the enemy to blind them from it; my heart cringes. Like Paul, I often pray for the body of Christ to be empowered and experience the fullness of God’s love because of the love I, myself have experienced through Christ Jesus.
This is the type of longing that God wants us to have! He wants our longings for His love and strength to push us into prayer, like it did Paul. Why? So that He can grant it to us. See, God is not a forceful God and at times, He is waiting for us to ask.. AND persist in prayer. But also, the enemy wants to prevent us from asking for the Lord’s unlimited resources, strength, faith and love. So he attempts to throw guilt, fear, unbelief, apathy & spiritual laziness our way. I pray that you take a moment to really meditate and understand the depth of what Paul is praying here in Ephesians 3:16-18.
The strength that Paul is praying for in verse 16 is not the result of our own striving, hustling, logic or plan. It is the inner strength of Holy Spirit Who empowers us to do what we can’t on our own from the unlimited resources of God.
When we invite God to make our hearts His home - even the ugly places; we begin to see a work being done inside ourselves. He renovates, rebuilds and remodels us from inside out. It is literally synonymous to the reconstruction of a physical home. Though the process of being torn down to be built back up again is not always pretty; it always results in deeper roots which makes us stronger than before. Sometimes we must be rebuilt because we’ve allowed contamination in our hearts. Things like false perspectives, impurity, validation from others, toxic relationships, etc. These make up weak roots but when our roots instead are strong in Him and His love; we too are made strong. Everything we need, points back to the love of God and the empowerment of Holy Spirit.
The love of God is so rich that it surpasses any physical need we may have. His love heals, sets free, delivers even the most messed up person. And look at Paul, who went from not believing in Jesus, to dying for Jesus. When you look back and really examine the love of God over your life, you begin to long for more of it -not just for self but others too. We often don’t realize just how much of a mess we are without Christ but now is a great time to recognize His love, strength and grace that has been carrying us through. His love has no boundaries, His forgiveness is unlimited when we ask, His power is limitless, His grace overflows us. When we are prideful, He is still humble. When we are faithless, GOD IS FAITHFUL, in our mess, He purifies us white as snow. All of this is scripture. These facts, should constantly ignite us to pray Ephesians 3:16-18 because we don’t want to just experience the love of God. We want to LIVE in it! We want others to live it too! We want our understanding of “how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is” to influence us and those around us, in every way possible.
His love will begin to shape the way we think, influence how we view and treat others and guide our decisions. So imagine if the entire world understood the love of God. Oh how beautiful the world would be! But for now we can start where we are. Praying for our own hearts and interceding for those in our spheres. Instead of speaking about the shortcomings of others, let us make our first resort prayer. Rather than talking about how the next person needs God, let’s first examine our hearts so that we can therefor present God to them by how we love and how we live. God can change the heart of any man by His love. He did it for Apostle Paul. He can do it for us and those whom our hearts grieve for. Determine to pray Ephesians 3:16-18 for yourself and those connected to you. May God’s love be made evident as a result!!
Lets pray:
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your word. Please Empower me with inner strength through Your Spirit and glorious, unlimited resources. Make Your home in our hearts as we trust in You. May our roots grow down into Your love and keep us strong. Give us the power to understand, as all Your people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep Your love is.
In Jesus’s name, amen
