Praying for Strength to Experience God’s Fullness
14 I bow my knees to the Father...15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 THAT He
would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in
the inner man, 17 THAT Christ may dwell (release His presence) in your hearts (mind and emotions) through
faith (confidence); THAT you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the
saints what is the width and length and depth and height -- 19 to know (experience) the love (affection)
of Christ which passes knowledge; THAT you may be filled with all the fullness of God (destiny for each
stage of our lives). (Eph. 3:14-19)
I. MAIN THEME: RECEIVING STRENGTH THAT ENLARGES OUR SPIRITUAL CAPACITY
A. This is a prayer for God to enlarge our spiritual capacity to experience more of Him. It takes God’s power to
love God. The more we experience, the greater our capacity to experience more.
25 For whoever has, to him more will be given… (Mk. 4:25)
9 In Your light we see light. (Ps. 36:9)
B. Paul describes the heights of glory that God invites us to experience in this age. This life vision requires a lifestyle
that is most demanding but most rewarding. The higher a mountain climber ascends the more difficult yet rewarding it is.
We want all that God will give the human heart.
C. Paul presents a 4-fold progression of how we grow in the Spirit. This is seen in the 4 times he uses the word ‘that’
designating the
4 different stages of growth. This prayer provides us with a biblical pattern for pursuing the deep things of God
(1 Cor. 2:10-12). It is in itself a theological statement of how to cultivate intimacy with God.
D. Stage #1: Asking for God’s strength to sustain righteous choices in our pursuit of 100-fold obedience (finances,
time, speech, eyes) which is required for all who desire to experience more.
E. Stage #2: Jesus’ initial activity in our hearts (mind/emotions) to prepare us to experience more
F. Stage #3: new ability to comprehend (experience) Jesus. Only the pure in heart can see the deep things of His
heart. Wrong thinking and desires cloud our heart like smoke in our eyes.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (Mt. 5:8)
G. Stage #4: fulfilling God’s purpose in each season of our life in this age and the age-to-come.
H. This prayer is based on Jesus’ promise to visit those who seek 100-fold obedience.
21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. He who loves Me will be loved by My Father
(experience God’s love), and I will love him and manifest Myself to him...23 If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and
My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. (Jn. 14:21-23)
II. STAGE 1: PRAY FOR STRENGTH TO SUSTAIN OUR CHOICES TO OBEY GOD
16 I bow my knees to the Father...16 THAT He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened
(renewed) with might through His Spirit in the inner man… (Eph. 3:16)
A. There is no substitute for obeying God. Nobody can do this for us. God will not do this for us but waits on us to ask
Him for help to sustain our voluntarily choices for righteousness. Denying our lustful desires is the theatre God chose
for us to express our love to Him. Each of us has a different struggle according to our personality and circumstances.
Thus, we each have a different “assignment” from which we offer and express our gift of love to God. Jesus takes it
personally.
B. We pray for God’s 3-fold strengthening of our inner man (mind, emotions, will).
1. Strengthen our mind with introductory understanding of God’s love
2. Strengthen our heart with introductory feelings of love (from God, for God, self, others)
3. Strengthen our will with inspiration to be resolved to voluntarily choose obedience. Paul prayed that the saints be
strengthened with perseverance to follow through in obedience.
11…strengthened with all might…for all patience (perseverance)… (Col. 1:11)
C. Jesus urged His disciples to pray to receive strength to overcome temptation. We will receive the Holy Spirit’s
strength to the measure that we ask for it (Mt. 7:7). In prayer, we focus our mind on God in two ways: on the Father sitting
on His Throne (Rev. 4) and on the Spirit who lives in our spirit. We walk in the Spirit to the degree we talk to the Him
(2 Cor. 13:14).
31 Satan asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. 32 I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail…40 He
said, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation"…46 He said, "Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter
into temptation." (Lk. 22:31, 40, 45-46)
III. STAGE 2: EXPERIENCING GOD’S MANIFEST PRESENCE IN OUR HEART
17 THAT Christ may dwell in your hearts (mind, emotions, will) through faith (confidence); that you, being rooted and
grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend… the love of Christ. (Eph. 3:17-19)
A. Jesus dwelling in our hearts speaks of Him being active in us our heart (mind, emotions and will). Jesus is
formed in us as He manifests His presence in us as we grow in the Holy Spirit.
19 My children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you… (Gal. 4:19)
23 We (the Father and Son) will come to him and make Our home with him. (Jn. 14:23)
4 Abide in Me, and I in you…5 He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears fruit… (Jn. 15:4-5)
20 I stand at the door…If anyone…opens the door, I will come in to him… (Rev. 3:20)
B. Paul had earlier in this epistle established the idea of believers being “God’s dwelling place in the Spirit.” This had
not yet happened to the Ephesian Christians.
22 You are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. (Eph. 2:22)
C. We experience Jesus’ presence in our hearts as we are rooted and grounded in God’s 4-fold love (from God,
for God, self and others). This speaks of having an introductory foundation in love. Paul used an agricultural (rooted)
and architectural (grounded) metaphor to emphasize this.
D. Christ will dwell in our hearts through faith or through pursuing God with confidence that comes from having the
right foundation in love. Condemnation, accusation and fear function like smoke in the eyes of our heart that hinders us
from experiencing more of God.
E. We change our mind, then God changes our hearts. We change our mind (understanding about God), then God
changes our emotions (unlocks our hearts). Wrong understanding about God damages our hearts. Wrong ideas about
God’s personality leads to blocking our intimacy with Him.
IV. STAGE 3: NEW CAPACITIES TO EXPERIENCE GOD’S HEART: EXHILARATED IN LOVE
17 THAT you…18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints (available to all) what is the width and length and depth
and height (inexhaustible ocean) -- 19 to know (experiential intimacy) the love (affection) of Christ which passes
knowledge (requires supernatural help)… (Eph. 3:17-19)
A. God has called all believers to a deep encounter with His love (affection). He has “volcanic desire” for His people.
He wants us to experience the ocean of His love (Eph. 3:18-19a). It takes God’s power to prepare us to experience
the deeper dimensions of God’s love.
B. Dark thoughts and desires defile our spirit and hinder our ability to see God’s love and majesty.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (Mt. 5:8)
C. To comprehend God’s love or emotions requires that our spiritual capacity be supernaturally enlarged to enable
us to experience more of God. It takes God to experience God’s depths of love. Paul is echoing David’s prayer that the
saints be exhilarated by God’s affections. The river of God’s pleasure is the river of God’s affection which brings pleasure
to the human spirit.
8 You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures. (Ps. 36:8)
D. The width speaks of His manifold provision for any person (Jew and Gentile) or situation in this life. The length speaks
of reaching far beyond our sin and continuing forever. The depth of love points to the depths that Jesus descended to
pay the price that we might be His Bride (Phil. 2:6-9). The heights of love speak of the measure of exaltation that we
receive in His grace.
E. This unusual measure of God’s love “passes knowledge”. In other words, it requires supernatural aid to
experience it. Thus, we must be prepared by the Holy Spirit who escorts us up this glorious mountain of God’s
pleasure. The Holy Spirit will pour out God’s love in our hearts (Rom. 5:5).
V. STAGE 4: THE FULLNESS OF GOD’S BLESSING IN EACH SEASON OF LIFE
19 THAT you may be filled with all the fullness of God (our earthly destiny). (Eph. 3:19)
A. When exhilarated in God’s love (stage #3), we feel no need to seek our greatness in being successful in man’s
eyes. We find success, identity and satisfaction in the ocean of God’s love.
B. God’s full destiny for our life can only be released in those who receive strength (v.16) to sustain their voluntarily
choices to obey God in follow through. This prepares us to experience more of Jesus’ presence in our hearts because
we are rooted and grounded in confidence in God’s love.
VI. EXPERIENCING GOD’S FULLNESS REQUIRES A RADICAL PURSUIT OF GOD
A. The paradox in the Church is that many talk about the love of God while being content to not press into it to
actually experience its power. In a spiritual culture of compromise, some are falsely comforted by references to God’s
love without understanding the glorious reality of it.
B. The experience of God’s affection makes us ravenously hungry for more. We go hard after God’s heart to
experience more of His affection. Holy diligence is not an attempt to earn us God’s love, but positions us to experience
more of it.
C. We were created to delight in the feeling of being loved by God. Our spirit craves this. God desires to release
this to us. We are too often content with a Christianity that is devoid of feeling, or a Christianity that is mostly an
intellectual exercise and not a heart experience. He wants our hearts ravished because His heart is ravished. He feels
such intense feelings towards us and desires that we have intense feelings for Him.
D. We do not base our experience on feeling, but they do enhance our experience of Jesus. God is glorified in us when
we are exhilarated with Him (His emotions, wisdom and power).
E. Christianity is an invitation to relationship with supernatural strength touching our inner man (heart). Many
Christians are content to live without experiencing God’s power at the heart level. This passage builds confidence in
the process to have a heart alive with power and is within reach for all. Eph. 3 is a theological statement of how to
cultivate passion for Jesus and intimacy with God.
F. People are only too busy until we are persuaded that the high vision in God is real. Believers in college, the
marketplace, serving children at home or in ministry are too busy to seek Christ in this way until they have confidence
that is for them and is attainable. Then we find time.
G. We were created to love not just receive it. We were created to be passionate. In other words, to give ourselves
away in love. We will never come to the full pleasure of our human experience without receiving the power to fully give
ourselves to God and others in love.