After twelve verses of explaining his ministry of sharing the good news that God has included the Gentiles in His redemption promises, Paul returns, in verse 14, to the prayer he started in verse 1 of chapter 3. Notice that his first prayer (1:15-23) was that believers might be enlightened as to their position before God and the gifts that are theirs from the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. In this prayer, Paul asks that they might be enabled to live what they have learned:

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more 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. (Ephesians 3:13-21)

Now here’s where the "rubber meets the road"…Christians always want to know the "how" and, unfortunately, often loose sight of the "Who" and in many cases come to this erroneous conclusion: "If it is to be, it’s up to me!" In my preparation for this week’s lesson, I was so disappointed to see one of the commentators I really respect, take the position that because in Acts 6:4 the early believers were described as being devoted to prayer and to the ministry of the word, that the power of the Holy Spirit is released in us by devoting ourselves to prayer and the study of the Bible. Notice the focus: egocentric. It’s about what "we do" to make it happen. Talk about "pretext"…the context of that statement in Acts is the Apostles’ response to believers who were concerned that some of the widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of the food and they wanted the Apostles to make sure it didn’t continue. The Apostles responded by instructing them to select seven men from among themselves (Deacons) to tend to this so that they could devote themselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.

When are we going to realize that the proper focus is God, not us? We don’t "make it happen"…only God makes it happen. I believe the key is found in Paul’s statement, "…I bow my knees before the Father".

Some will try to show that Paul is teaching that the only proper position for praying is kneeling, but the Bible is replete with examples of people having their prayers answered while assuming varied physical positions during prayer (Abraham and Solomon stood; Daniel knelt; David sat and Jesus fell on His face)…it’s not the physical position, but the position of the heart…it is the "knees of the heart" that must be bowed!

What does the phrase from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name mean?

There seems to be more than one idea among the commentators I read, but it seems to me this is a statement of God’s sovereignty...it’s from Him that all families have descended. He is the starting point for everything, both in heaven and on earth.

In verse 16, Paul begins his petition to God and he has four requests: strength, depth, comprehension and fullness…each request leads to the other. He prays that the inner man might have spiritual strength, which will, in turn, lead to a deeper experience with Christ. This deeper experience will enable them to "apprehend" (get hold of) God’s great love, which will result in their being "filled unto all the fullness of God."

When Paul prays for strength, there is no idea of "working something up"…in the New Testament, strength is associated with the Spirit of God and it comes down to bring power (…but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth. (Acts 1:8))

When Paul prays for believers to be rooted and grounded, he is talking about spiritual depth…he is aware that these believers already have Christ living inside of them…what Paul is praying for is a deeper experience between Christ and His people. He yearns for Christ to settle down and feel at home in their hearts—not a surface relationship, but an ever-deepening fellowship.

When Paul prays that they will comprehend he is not thinking of an intellectual grasp, but a whole-hearted latching on to, but there is a paradox here. Paul wants us to know personally the love of Christ "which surpasses knowledge." There are dimensions, but they cannot be measured. "The love of Christ which surpasses knowledge" parallels "the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Eph. 3:8). We are so rich in Christ that our riches cannot be calculated even with the most sophisticated computer.

When Paul prays for filling, he knows that God wants us to experience His fullness. "Filled unto all the fullness of God" is the more accurate translation. The means of our fullness is the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18), and the measure of our fullness is God Himself (Eph. 4:11–16). It is tragic when Christians use the wrong measurements in examining their own spiritual lives. We like to measure ourselves by weaker Christians that we know, and then boast, "Well, I’m better than they are." Paul tells us that the measure is Christ, and that we cannot boast about anything (nor should we). When we have reached His fullness, then we have reached the limit.

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