Intro
Illus: Running low on Fuel with my wife and the kids near the Poconos.
o My wife pointed out we needed fuel. In a somewhat remote part of Pennsylvania.
o I passed a gas station and she pointed out that we needed Gas. Not wanting to turn back, I said we will get some at the next opportunity.
o We got to a sign that pointed to a gas station. We drove a mile or two down the road to a CLOSED gas station. Now I wasted fuel and we were running pretty low.
o We finally got fuel when the computer said we had 13 miles left.
As Christians, we often run on an empty tank. Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3 identifies three things that we can pray for ourselves and others so that we do not run on an empty tank, but that we “may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (v. 19b)
READ Eph 3:14-21
Looking at prayers in Scripture can help us know how to pray
- Often we fall short of knowing what to pray
- Often we focus on physical aspects of life
- Look out for Spiritual welfare of others
- Paul’s prayers help us
- Rom 8:26 – Spirit’s Help
To help us know how to be filled, Paul shares three attitudes and three specific items He is praying for and we too should include these items in our prayers.
Before we consider the three truths in the way we approach God in prayer.
I. Approaching God in Prayer
Take a quick not of the start of verse 14, “for this reason”. Paul is taking this time to share this prayer in light of the doctrinal truth he has shared this far. Such things include:
• We are his workmanship
• We are no longer strangers
• Jews and Greeks are brought together in one body
Knowing who we are in Christ should drive us to Him in prayer. In doing so, we can…
1. Approach God in Humility (v. 14)
Bow my knee to the Father
We approach God boldly, but we must also approach in Humility and submission. Paul demonstrates this by dropping to his Knee.
2. Approach God as a Loving Father (v. 15)
“To the Father” of Lord Jesus and the one from whom the whole family is named.
In this introduction, Paul is not describing God as the universal father of all creation, but this is a reference to the special place we have as His Children. When Paul says “from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,” He is talking about believers. Interesting, the words for “all” (translated “whole”and “family” are singular. Paul is talking collectively about the entire body of believers as one. In chapter 2, Paul has spent a significant amount of time explaining that because of Christ, the Jews and Gentiles are being built together into one body. That is an amazing picture. He carries that idea in this prayer when he says “the whole family in heaven and earth is named.”
Where do we get our surnames? Typically from the Father. In his initial statement, Paul is acknowledging the God the Father of the Lord Jesus is also our heavenly father.
In the Lord’s prayer, Jesus taught us to begin “our Father who art in heaven” – When we come to the father, we can come in confidence like a child to a loving father.
ILLUS: I broke a window and came to my dad in fear, but also knowing that He loved me. He was gracious to me and together we worked to replace the single pane of glass in the old sliding glass door I had broken.
3. Approach God ACCORDING TO the riches of His Glory (v. 16)
John MacArthur points out that:
For a millionaire to give $50 or $100 would be simply to give out of his wealth, but to give $25K (or I might say $1M) would be to give according to his wealth. The greater a persons wealth, the greater his gift must be to qualify for giving ACCORDING to his wealth .
Do you catch the breath of Paul’s meaning? Think about how great God is and the riches of His Glory. They are without limit.
In Psalm 50:10-12, The Psalmist (Asaph) describes God as saying “For every beast of the forest is Mine. And the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know all the birds of the mountains, And the wild beasts of the field are Mine.
“If I were hungry, I would not tell you’ For the world is Mine, and all its fullness.”
II. Prayerful Desire for Believers (3 Specifics Set off by Greek Infinitives)
Now that we have looked at the attitudes with which Paul demonstrates our approach to God in prayer, Let’s consider three specific requests Paul makes to fill an Empty Christian – or at least a Christian with additional capacity in their tank, which should be all of us.
His prayerful desire is highlighted in three specific items that are set off in the Greek through Paul’s use of three Greek infinitives. The name of the grammatical form is not important, just note that it is more clear in the Greek that there are three specific requests here than it may appear in our English translations.
1. To be Strengthened (Infinitive-Aor Passive) in the inner man (through glory /by means of His Spirit) – by power (DAT. Fem sg., glory is fem gen sg) (v. 16)
He is not calling us to do something to be strengthened, but for God to work in the Secrete place of the “inner man” through His glory and the power of the Spirit.
NKJ Psalm 3:3 But You, O LORD, are a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
ILLUS: We spend a lot of time working on the outer man.
The world throws ads to care for that person, you can try hair grow, wrinkle cream, exercise plans, tooth whitening and a million other items. It is good to care for ourselves, but Paul is not praying for strength in the outer man – but in the inner. I wonder in our prayers if we are praying enough for the strengthening of the inner man or are we more concerned with the outer?
Paul’s prayer points us to a change of focus, from the strengthening of the outer man to the inner.
2. To Experience the comfortable residency of Christ in our Hearts (v. 17) Christ dwelling, (Infin. – Aorist Active to have Christ live in your heart) by faith and in love – rooted and grounded firmly
When Paul prays that Christ may dwell in their hearts, he is not saying that they do not have Christ in their hearts. On the contrary,
In Eph 1:13 Paul writes “…having believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.” The indwelling Spirit comes to the believer at the moment of salvation.
2 Cor 13:5 Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? -- unless indeed you are disqualified.
NKJ Colossians 1:27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
So if Christ is in every believer, what does Paul mean in this prayer?
In many of our lives Jesus lives as a guest but the idea here is a more permanent resident. The Greek is a compound word more literally “DOWN in the HOUSE”. Jesus isn’t just present, he takes up residence. As “Lord” he is the one to be in control.
Illus: Someone in your house leaves their mark. Nathan – John Deere Green for His room
This dwelling means that Jesus has run of the house. Imagine if you will someone living in your house who decides not just to change the color of their bed room, but knocks out a wall to expand upon the rooms in the house. He may look at a closet of anger or resentment that we hold against someone in our past and he says, “well that room needs to go.”
It is a scary thing to give someone that much control in the house, but Paul is praying not that Christ lives in us which has occurred at salvation, but that He settles into the heart – working to make improvements so that we may become more like Him. Look back at v. 17 – that which begins with Faith and because of Jesus, we are “rooted and grounded in Love”.
NKJ Romans 5:5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
When the one living in our hearts is Jesus who loves us enough to die for us, we can rest assured that the renovations He wants to make are for our benefit.
ILLUS: Several years ago we remodeled the kitchen. I pulled down the wall between the kitchen in dining room, we moved appliances and added an island. Doing a lot of the work myself and with a very knowledgeable friend, I made a big dent in the project in the week I took off. But I did not finish. We went about three weeks without the kitchen being usable. It was not the most comfortable situation for a house of 5, but now, that is probably my wife’s favorite room.
When Jesus dwells in our hearts, there may be times he wants to make changes and the process can be difficult, but the results are spectacular because His presence is rooted and grounded in Love.
3. To Know/Comprehend (Infin – Aor Active) the diminsions of Christ’s love – which exceeds knowledge (v. 18-19)
a. To know the Love of Christ
Rom 5: 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
ILLUS: Child stretches arms “I love you this much”.
You may have seen a poster or other illustration of Jesus being asked, “how much do you love me” and with a picture of Jesus on the Cross the response is “This much and He stretched out his arms and died.”
That kind of love is beyond anything anyone has done for me. He has done that for you andit will take more than a lifetime to fully undersand the Love Jesus shows us through Hi Sacrifice.
Notice that understanding this is not a solo effort. He is praying for the Saints together to know this. (v. 18). That is perhaps part of the beauty of celebrating Communion together. We all remind each other of the Love of Christ seen in His Sacrifices.
David tried to express this knowledge of God in Psalm 139
NKJ Psalm 139:1 For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.
3 You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.
5 You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it.
When David looked at God, he saw that He could not comprehend all of God. Paul likewise is praying that we understand full dimensions of the love of God and then says this is beyond our capabilities. In essence he is praying for something that is impossible, but we should continually grow into.
I like what F.F. Bruce says on this passage, “To speak of knowing something that “surpasses knowledge” is to be deliberately paradoxical; but however much one comes to know the love of Christ, there is always more to know: it is inexhaustible.
b. To realize the dimensions of that love are beyond comprehension
ILLUS: Several years ago, I traveled to Massachusetts and stopped at a place known as “Battleship Cove”.
They have several ships there, including a WWII era Battleship. The Battle ship was huge. Around 3 football fields long and with several stories in the hull. I was exhausted just on the one tour.
As a historical aside, Battleships became obsolete in WWII. They are replaced by planes and missiles. Gone are the days of two ships battling it out cannon to canon.
The Battle of the Coral Sea, fought from May 4–8, 1942 – first naval battle where the battle ships never engaged one another – the enemy was unseen from other ships.
As large as that ship is, it is still something I can comprehend.
Size of the universe 93 Billion light years – that is the “visible” portion. The size is beyond anything we can imagine.
I Stand In Awe of You (1986)
You are beautiful beyond description
Too marvelous for words
Too wonderful for comprehension
Like nothing ever seen or heard
Who can grasp Your infinite wisdom?
Who can fathom the depth of Your love?
You are beautiful beyond description
Majesty, enthroned above
And I stand, I stand in awe of You
I stand, I stand in awe of You
Holy God, to whom all praise is due
I stand in awe of You
III. Result of the prayer – filled with the fullness of God (v. 19b)
Paul is praying for the Ephesians to be:
1. Be strengthened in the inner man
2. For Christ to take up residence in our heart
3. To comprehend the dimensions of Christ’s love for us
All for the purpose of being filled with all the fullness of God.
The fullness here is to the brim, so that there is not room for anything else.
IV. Conclusion – the Lord’s Glory
In capping this teaching, Paul includes a doxology of Praise to the God who
Strengthens, Indwells and loves saying:
Eph 3:20-21 Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
This is a great doxology to dive into. The short thought is that God is more than able to answer this prayer. When we have presented our requests before God, a time of Praise and recognition of His power is a great way to conclude our time with God and expect Him to work.
Two Challenges:
1. Include in your prayers this week:
1. Be strengthened in the inner man
2. For Christ to take up a comfortable residence in our heart
3. To comprehend the dimensions of Christ’s love for us
Second challenge:
2. Pray the same for this local church or some specific members of the church.
Imagine the power of a church “Filled with the Fullness of God”
The God who described in the Doxology Here
Eph 3:20-21 Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the Church and in Chrsit Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
