We should ask him to increase our inner spiritual strength. (3:16-17a)

Of Paul’s three requests in Ephesians 3:14-21, he prayed first for increased spiritual strength for the believers at Ephesus (3:16-17a). He viewed God’s own abundant glory as the supreme, all-powerful Creator God as the source of this strength (“according to the riches of his glory”). From this, we see there is no end to this power supply, the storehouse (or warehouse) of his supernatural enabling available for us today. A commentator, Clinton Arnold, says, “God possesses extraordinary might, which he is able and willing to impart to his people.”[1]

We can’t access this spiritual strength through physical efforts or political means. We must receive it directly from God, by the help of the Holy Spirit. By this means, Paul asked God to strengthen his people with nothing less than God’s own divine power.

Though this power would enable believers to withstand spiritual foes, Paul focused his request on our inner selves (“in your hearts”). For Christ to “dwell in your hearts through faith” refers not to regeneration, but to increasing surrender to Christ as Lord.

If regeneration portrays Christ as “moving in” to our hearts (our innermost being), then Paul here refers to Christ as “settling in” or “making himself at home” more and more by expanding his influence over a believer’s thoughts and actions.

This increasing surrender of all aspects of our thoughts, feelings, desires, and choices to Christ requires faith (“by faith”). We must relinquish increasing control over our lives to Christ, like the rooms in a house. The goal here is that there would be no area or compartment of our lives over which he does not have complete access and control.

The challenge in mind as Paul prays this prayer is not just that believers would overcome external obstacles to the growth of the church (like persecution, false teaching, and demonic influences), but that believers would overcome their own personal, inner obstacles and resistance to Christ’s lordship over their lives.

Though Paul prayed for this to happen in the hearts of the Ephesian believers, he was confident and optimistic that it would occur, that God would answer his prayer. Why? Because they had already been rooted and grounded in Christ. These are passive statements in Greek that refer to something that has already occurred to them in the past because God did it. God had already “established their roots” and “poured their foundation” in his love the moment they turned to Christ for salvation.

We should ask him to expand our understanding of Christ’s love. (3:17b-19a)

This was the second request (the next “good thing”) Paul asked his heavenly Father for on behalf of the believers in Ephesus. We know this because of the little word that. “That he would grant you” is the first occurrence and request (Eph 3:16), “that you may be able” is the second occurrence and request (Eph 3:17-18), and “that you may be filled” is the third occurrence and request (Eph 3:19). (Also note that “being rooted and grounded” goes with the first request and the second that goes with “comprehending.”)

At first glance, this second request may seem like a repetition of Paul’s request for their spiritual comprehension in his first prayer (Eph 1:15-23). In that first prayer, though, he requested for them to grow in their understanding of God’s calling and power, which he has prayed for them to put into action in this second prayer already.

Now he prays for them to grow in their understanding of God’s love. Paul wanted believers at Ephesus to comprehend (καταλαμβάνομαι means “to process information, understand, grasp) a four-dimensional concept, which is the love of Christ for them. Paul wanted all believers (“with all the saints”), not just those in Ephesus, to grasp the vastness of Christ’s love for them and “to know” his love in a deeper, more personal way. The word know speaks of knowledge that comes from experience. Paul wanted the believers to know Christ’s love in ways that affected their experience, not just in an academic, mental way.

We shouldn’t get too philosophical or metaphysical when we think about the four dimensions that Paul describes here. There’s no science-fiction here! He’s not describing Christ’s love in a scientific, measurable way. Instead, he is describing it in an immeasurable way, a way that defies exact, academic description. After all, if we could measure the love of Christ, then it would be limited, wouldn’t it? And Paul makes his point crystal clear when he says that this love “surpasses” or “goes beyond” our knowledge (Eph 3:19).

Though he conceded that we would never understand Christ’s love completely, he prayed that God would strengthen them to comprehend it as much as possible. We have so much farther to go in experiencing and understanding Christ’s love for us! Your regeneration and conversion were just the beginning. Yet Christ’s love for us is so vast that we must depend on God’s vast supply of strength to even begin to comprehend it. It takes the greatness of God’s grace towards us to comprehend the greatness of Christ’s love for us.

We should ask him for a greater family resemblance. (3:19)

Finally, Paul offered one more request to God for the Ephesian Christians, “that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” This was a prayer for their spiritual maturity (3:19b). He was asking that the believers in Ephesus would go beyond “being” children of God to “becoming” children like their God. He was praying for an increased family resemblance, for the goodness of Christ to characterize their lives more and more.

This request is the climax of the previous two. Paul prayed that increased strength and comprehension would bring increased maturity. “That you may be filled with all the fullness of God” refers to believers reaching the full, God-given potential of what both God created and called them to be – to be like Christ.

Is that how we’re praying for one another today? Are we speaking to God as our Father, asking him to increase our strength and expand our understanding of Christ’s love for us so that we become more like him? If we’re not sure how to pray for one another (beyond general health and blessing), then we should pray this way. When we do, we are praying in perfect cooperation and harmony with what God is doing through the church today.