Thursday, April 10, 2014

Paul's Prayer For The Ephesians... And You

"I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 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. 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. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:16-21

In this prayer for the Ephesians, Paul says that God's love is total. It reaches every corner of our experience; that nothing and no one can surpass His love for us. It is sufficient. It is wide - it covers the width of our knowledge and reaches out to the whole world. God's love is long - it continues the length of our lives. It is high - it rises to the heights of our achievements and elation. His love is deep - it reaches to the depths of discouragement, despair, and even death. Whenever you feel shut out or isolated, remember that you can never be lost from God's love (Romans 8:38-39)God's fullness is only expressed in Christ

"For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority." Colossians 2:9-10 NLT

 In this union with Christ and through His empowering Spirit, we are complete. We have all the fullness of God available to us. But we must appropriate that fullness through faith and through prayer as we live daily for Him. Paul's doxology - prayer of praise to God - for the Ephesians is also for us. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to fill every aspect of our life to the fullest!