The Capacity Of The Soul Series

Introduction: Beyond the Blueprints

There is a profound difference between knowing about someone and actually knowing them. You can study the blueprints of a house for years—you can know the square footage, the placement of the windows, and the materials of the foundation—but studying a blueprint is not the same as walking through the front door, sitting by the fire, and calling it home.

In the first three chapters of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul has been laying out the glorious blueprints of our salvation. He has told us about our adoption, our redemption, and our eternal inheritance in Christ. But here, right in the middle of chapter three, Paul stops teaching and starts praying. He moves from the theology of the head to the experience of the heart. He wants the church to stop just looking at the blueprints and start moving into the house.

It is vital to remember where Paul is when he writes this. He is not sitting in a comfortable study; he is a prisoner in Rome, bound in chains. Yet, listen to his prayer. He doesn't ask for his chains to fall off. He doesn’t ask for better food, a softer bed, or a change in his physical circumstances. Instead, he prays for the Ephesian believers to have their inner man strengthened. Paul understood a spiritual secret: If your internal foundation is solid, no external storm can destroy you.

Today, we are going to walk through this powerful apostolic prayer. It is a prayer that moves from our humble posture to God's infinite power.

I. The Posture of Humility (vv. 14-15)

Paul begins in verse 14: "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named."

Notice the posture: "I bow my knees." Now, we know from Scripture that you can pray in any position. You can pray standing, walking, or lying down. But bowing the knee represents something specific. It is a physical manifestation of an internal reality: total submission to a Sovereign King.

Paul isn't coming to God demanding his rights; he is coming in humble submission to the Father. And he reminds us that God is the Father of "the whole family." Our deepest identity is not found in our earthly lineage, our career, or our bank account. Our truest identity is that we belong to the family of God. When you pray, you aren't shouting into the void; you are speaking to a Father who knows your name.

II. Power for the Inner Man (v. 16)

Paul then prays: "That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man."

We spend so much time, energy, and money trying to strengthen the "outer man." We go to the gym, we buy vitamins, we try to preserve our youth. But the Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians that the outward man is perishing. It has an expiration date.

Paul prays instead for the inner man—your soul, your spirit, the very core of who you are. He asks God to strengthen you there. And notice how God supplies this strength: "according to the riches of his glory." He doesn't give out of His riches; He gives according to them. If a billionaire gives you a dollar, he gave out of his wealth. It didn't cost him anything. But if he gives according to his wealth, he gives millions. God gives us strength proportionate to His infinite, boundless, glorious riches.

III. The Permanent Resident (v. 17)

Why do we need this inner strength? Verse 17 tells us: "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love."

The Greek word Paul uses for "dwell" here is katoikeo. It means to settle down and make a permanent home. It means taking up residence. Let me ask you a question today: Is Jesus a guest in your heart, or is He the resident owner?

When Jesus is just a guest, we keep Him in the living room on Sunday mornings, but we lock the doors to the closets of our habits, our finances, and our private thoughts. Paul is praying that you would be so strengthened internally that you hand over all the keys to Christ.

When Christ settles down in your heart, you become "rooted and grounded in love." Paul mixes two metaphors here. "Rooted" is agricultural—like a mighty oak tree that sends its roots deep into the soil to find water during a drought. "Grounded" is architectural—like a skyscraper built on solid bedrock to withstand an earthquake. God's love is both the soil that feeds us and the bedrock that stabilizes us.

IV. The Dimensions of Divine Love (vv. 18-19)