Praying For The Church

We have studied Paul's first prayer for the Ephesian church in a previous post (here), where Paul prays for spiritual illumination - that the believers may know and grasp the glorious grace of God and his spiritual blessings. In chapter three Paul prays a second time for the Ephesians. This is a beautiful and edifying prayer that we should incorporate into our own prayers for the church.

Let's take a look at his prayer, found in Ephesians 3:14-21.

1. Bowing To The Father (3:14-16a). ‘For this reason’ Paul prays (14a). For what reason? The overflowing grace of God in Christ, shown in his people, the church (chapters 2 and 3)! Because God has created a new people to showcase his glory to the universe, Paul prays for that people!

Praying Reminders. Sometimes in our prayers we simply jump to the petition itself, using as few words as possible, in order to ‘get in and get out’ of prayer (this is probably most true concerning men..right ladies?). There may be a time to be brief in prayer, but there are many examples in Scripture of lingering in prayer in order to praise God and spend time with him. This text is one example (so is the Lord’s model prayer). Paul seems to say things that are ‘unnecessary’ in his prayer; things we all already know. But this is ok! As we heap up praises to the Lord and quote his promises and who he is, we are also being encouraged and edified by reminding ourselves (and those praying with us) of precious truths! Look at Paul’s reminders in this prayer before he begins his petitions:

• Reminder: To Whom We Pray. “I bow my knees before the Father…” (14b). To whom does Paul bow his knees? The Father! What a reminder! Paul has already spoken of God’s predestinating us to adoption as sons (1:4-5), and our ‘boldness and access with confidence’ (3:12) to approach him in faith. We must continually be aware of the One to whom we are praying.
• Reminder: God is the Source. “from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named…” (15). Translations vary on this verse; the words should either be translated ‘every family’ or ‘the whole family’ (O’Brien; Stott). God’s naming of every family would speak of his sovereignty over all (ESV Study Bible notes); his naming of the ‘whole family in heaven and on earth’ would follow what Paul has been saying about the unified church, and would indicate unity between the church in heaven and those still on earth (Boice). Whichever translation is used, Paul reminds us that God is the one who names; He is the Source! The family flows from him.
• Reminder: God is Exalted. “that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you…” (16a). Paul also speaks of God’s ‘riches of…glory,’ reminding us of the exalted position of the one hearing our prayer. Prayer is not the power of positive thinking, or willing something to happen, but asking God to ‘grant’ our requests, out of his abundant supply.

2. Praying For The Church (3:16b-19). Paul now describes his petitions for the church:

Petition 1: To Grow in Spiritual Strength. “to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith –“ (16b-17a). First, notice the importance of the Trinity in Paul’s thinking! He is praying to the Father, asking for the internal work of Christ, by the Spirit. This is the 4th mention of the Trinity so far in Ephesians (1:3, 17; 2:18) [Stott]!

The internal strength of the Spirit and the indwelling of Christ seem to be two ways of speaking about the same experience (O’Brien). Christ indwells us in the person of the Holy Spirit. Paul is praying for progressive growth in spiritual strength. He has been preaching glorious doctrines to the Ephesians, and he is about to go into 4 chapters of application of these awesome truths; they need strength from God to walk in what they’ve heard!

How can Paul pray for Christ to indwell saints, who are already indwelled with the Lord (Rom 8:9-10; 1

 Cor 6:19)? Commentators point out that there are two Greek words for ‘dwell’ Paul could have used. The first one (paroikeō) has temporary connotations, meaning to dwell somewhere as a stranger or foreigner; the other word, which is the one Paul used (katoikeō), means to settle down permanently. So Paul is praying that “Christ may settle down in our hearts and control them as the rightful owner,” because “this is something they grow into as Christ takes stronger and fuller possession of every corner of their lives” (Boice). Paul is praying that the church would grow stronger spiritually and increase in their experience of Christ’s indwelling power.

Petition 2: To Grow in Christ’s Love. “that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge…” (17b-19a). The church not only needs to grow in spiritual strength, but we also need to grow in our experience of Christ’s love. Paul prays for a firm foundation of love (‘rooted and grounded’), and a supply of strength to comprehend the dimensions of Christ’s love for us, and knowledge of the unknowable! How can we know something that ‘surpasses knowledge?’ We can know by experience the love of Christ that can never be exhausted! Just as his riches were described as unsearchable (3:8), Christ’s love is beyond our ability to fathom. But we can taste this love, and grow in our experience of it, forever! Paul prays that God would grant his church to progress in their experience of the love of Christ.

Paul Prays For Christians To Know God

After Paul's long explosion of praise to God for his spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3-14), he begins to pray for the church at Ephesus. That's right; he's in prison, but he is full of praise and prayer! You can't put chains on that.

Faith and Love
Paul says he has heard about the Ephesians faith in Christ and love for the saints (1:15). These two things go together. No one has faith in Jesus who does not love his church (1 John 3:14). God’s people love God’s people. God’s people grow in their love for God’s people. This is a fruit of being born again.

As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.                 Psalm 16:3, ESV

Prayer For Revelation: To Know God (v17).
So Paul has told the church that he is praying for them. Now he tells them what he is praying! “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him…”

Notice first the God-centeredness of his prayer. Paul is praying to GOD! Prayer is not wishful thinking or listening to ourselves talk. We are speaking with the Creator God who has revealed himself to us in Scripture and in Christ! Paul also prays in a way that acknowledges the three Persons in the One God. He is praying to the Father, in reference to the Son, for blessings given by the Spirit (many commentators believe the ‘spirit of wisdom and revelation’ refers to the Holy Spirit himself).

Notice also the God-centeredness of his request. Paul is not only praying TO God, and speaking to God ABOUT God (Father, Son and Spirit), but his request is FOR God; He prays that God would show God to the Ephesians! What they need is God himself! And so Paul prays that God give them ‘knowledge’ of God. Jesus defined eternal life as knowing God and Jesus Christ (John 17:3).

The world does not know God (John 8:54-55; 1 Cor 1:21; Gal 4:8; 1 Thess 4:5; 2 Thess 1:8; Titus 1:16). God must reveal himself; we need the Holy Spirit to give us ‘wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.’ Even believers need the Spirit to continue to reveal God to us.

Prayer For Revelation: To Grasp the Spiritual Blessings (v18-23).
Paul has prayed that the Ephesians be given revelation in order to know God. But he continues to pray, that God may give more revelation to their hearts, so that they may understand the spiritual blessings given to them in Christ. “having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know…” (18a). Paul prays for God to shine light on the inward eyes, revealing truth to the hearts of these believers!

Even believers can sometimes walk in dullness, unaware of the great truths of God, the glorious spiritual blessings we already have! We need to be reminded (Rom 15:15; 2 Pet 1:13; 3:1), by preaching the gospel to ourselves daily (Lk 9:23; Rom 6:11; Jude 1:21), hearing it from the other saints (Heb 3:13; 10:24-25), and receiving spiritual illumination from the Holy Spirit, which is what Paul asks for here.

Paul prays for spiritual illumination, “that you may know” three things:

1. The Hope of God’s Call (18b). “what is the hope to which he has called you…” Before coming to Christ through the gospel, the Ephesians were “having no hope and without God in the world” (2:12). Now they have hope. What made the difference? God’s call. Through the gospel of Jesus Christ, God called the Ephesians out of darkness and into the kingdom of his Son. They now have HOPE (“confident expectation” – Mounce). Verses 3-14 have described the spiritual blessings lavished on the Ephesians (and all who are ‘in Christ’). Their hope is based on God’s gracious work on their behalf. He has chosen them, predestined them to adoption as sons, given Christ to redeem them from sins by his blood, and then called them through the work of the Spirit in the gospel call. What a solid foundation for hope!

And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. Romans 8:30, ESV

2. The Riches of God’s Saints (18c). “what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints…”
The word inheritance can either be translated as our inheritance or God’s inheritance. It is either speaking of the saints’ glorious inheritance waiting for us in heaven, or God’s inheritance of his chosen people. Both of these are biblically true statements, and so the point is this: Paul prays that we would understand the riches of the relationship between God and his people, the church, which will be enjoyed forever in glory. This is truly a lavish inheritance, for it is full of the love of God! We will be with him and enjoy his glorious grace forever; and he will bring to himself, for his own enjoyment, the people he has chosen and loved before the creation of the world!

Consider the value of the church in God’s sight. “The riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.” Paul wants us to have illumination so that we will grasp the value of the church to God. This relationship between the Lord and his people is a wealthy inheritance full of glory! This verse should correct any of us who have a low view of the church. The church is the rich inheritance of God!

3. The Greatness of God’s Power (19-23).
“and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe…” Paul not only wants us to understand the hope of our call and the riches of God’s forever relationship with his church; the last thing he prays for us to ‘get’ is that God’s mighty, infinite, sovereign power – his power that is immeasurably great – is ‘toward us who believe!’ The Almighty One is exerting his unfathomable power for the benefit of the church (O’Brien)! What a thought! No wonder Paul prays that the Ephesians have insight into this!