In the first part of his inspired letter to the Christians at Ephesus, the Apostle Paul reminds them of what God has done for them through Jesus Christ. In Christ they have been granted spiritual life, forgiveness of sins, hope, membership in God’s household and peace with God and with each other. After describing God’s eternal plan to allow both Jews and Gentiles to share in the promises made through Christ, Paul breaks into a prayer for the people to whom he is writing. He does not hesitate to come before God because he had already explained in chapter 3, verse 12, “in whom [that is, Christ] we have boldness and access in confidence through our faith in him.” In chapter 3, verses 14 through 15 Paul begins his prayer by saying: “For this cause, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,”
In this prayer why does Paul address God as Father? There are at least three reasons. First, Paul had already used the metaphor of a household in chapter 2, verses 19 through 22 to describe the relationship between God and the followers of Christ. And, in chapter 1, verse 5 he wrote that God adopts as His children those who put their faith in Christ. Secondly, Paul addresses God as Father because it is from Him that “every family in heaven and on earth is named.” This points to God’s role as Creator. As Paul explains in another place, “…he himself gives to all life and breath, and all things.” (Acts 17:25) But most importantly, Paul addresses God as Father because it is He who gives new spiritual life. In chapter 2, verses 4 and 5, Paul had already written, “But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).” For all these reasons it is appropriate for the followers of Christ to address God as their Father.
All too often, when we pray to God, we spend most of our time asking for blessings. We ask for healing, for success and for material possessions so that our lives may be more comfortable. But Paul does not pray for blessings. Instead he prays for growth in character. In verses 16 through 19 he says:
“[I pray] that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
Paul prays that his readers may be strengthened with power. In chapter 1, verse 19 he had prayed that they would know God’s power. Here we see the purpose of knowing that power, or being strengthened by it. It is so that Christ may dwell in their hearts by faith. In chapter 2, verse 22 Paul had already mentioned that the followers of Christ are being built into a dwelling in which God lives. Notice in both places that this action takes place by, or through, the Holy Spirit. What Paul is saying is that the followers of Christ become a temple in which God, in His fullness, wishes to live. The question is, Have we submitted ourselves to Christ so that our hearts are a fit place for God to live?
Paul also prays that his readers will be rooted and grounded in love. Just as it is impossible to be saved without faith in Christ, faith without love is useless. As Paul writes in another place, “If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don’t have love, I am nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:2) Love is one of the defining characteristics of a follower of Christ. Jesus told His disciples, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35) Paul wants his readers to love so that they, too, can make progress with the rest of Christ’s followers. This is why he writes that they are to be rooted and grounded in love “with all the saints.”
The reason why we must be rooted and grounded in love is so we may grasp the full dimensions of Christ’s love. We will never be able to comprehend Christ’s love for us until we, also, learn to love.
Paul next prays something which sounds quite strange. He prays that his readers might know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge. What Paul is saying is that Christ’s love is much more than something we can know with our minds. It is something which must be experienced. Because of that love, Christ died so we might live. But love does not merely look back at what God has already done for us, it also causes us to imitate that love. As Paul writes in chapter 5, verses 1 and 2, “Be therefore imitators of God, as beloved children. Walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling fragrance.”
The purpose of Paul’s prayer is that his readers “may be filled with all the fullness of God.” As has already been pointed out, God has adopted the followers of Christ as His children. It should be possible to identify the children of God by their godly characteristics. God wants us to be like Him. The Apostle Peter writes, “…he has granted to us his precious and exceedingly great promises; that through these you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust.” (2 Peter 1:4) When people look at us do they see God in us?
But is it possible for Paul’s prayer to come true? Is it really possible for someone to participate in God’s nature? Yes, it is! Paul continues in verses 20 and 21, “Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to him be the glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”
God is not only able to accomplish what Paul has asked, but also what we are afraid to ask and even what we cannot comprehend. The question is whether we are willing to allow God’s Spirit to work in us so that it will happen. As long as people are willing to put their faith in Christ and allow God’s Spirit to work in their inner being God will be glorified not only in us as individuals but, as Paul indicates, in the church as well.