We have just embarked on this year’s 21 days of prayer and fasting– this season of disconnecting from the world in order to connect more deeply with God.
With these 21 days in mind, John challenged us to look closely at Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:14-19 and to pray this way during our season of prayer and fasting.
“For this reason I kneel ( posture of urgency and distress), before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being (connecting the Eternal with our internal), so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith (constant connection to God). And I pray that you, being rooted and established (firmly grounded) in love (the never-ending love of Christ) may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
There is so much in that prayer!! Every word is purposeful and powerful, but my mind keeps dwelling on…being rooted and established IN LOVE may have POWER, together with all the saints, to GRASP how wide and long and high and deep is the LOVE of CHRIST, and to know THIS LOVE that surpasses knowledge THAT you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Three times in one sentence Paul uses the word “love”–three times in one sentence! And his urgent prayer is that we “get it”. As I flip the words over in my mind the words “power” and “grasp” catch my attention.
The word “power” appears twice in this prayer. Being strengthened in my inner being, AND being able to comprehend His love for us takes power, and my personal power is not going to be sufficient…it is the power of His Holy Spirit that will strengthen me and help me “grasp” the depths of Christ’s love. Am I willing to let the Spirit have access to my whole life, am I willing to let Him unleash His power within me?
The word grasp means to seize and hold firmly, or to get hold of mentally. Paul is praying ON HIS KNEES that we, the followers of Christ (all the saints), will allow the Holy Spirit access to our lives in order that we may grab hold of how loved we are and never let it go. He tells us that this love surpasses knowledge, it is greater than anything earth has to offer, it can’t be explained, only experienced. The result of this power, this grasping, this love, is that we will be filled with all the fullness of God. That’s a pretty amazing result.
I can’t help but think that Paul is so passionate about this subject, because he had experienced a deeply personal encounter with Christ (Acts 9) that forever changed his life. He met a loving Savior, he experienced forgiveness, and his life became all about the Kingdom of God from that point on. Persecution couldn’t stop him, prison couldn’t stop him, being slandered couldn’t stop him, shipwrecks couldn’t stop him, snake bites couldn’t stop him, nothing was going to keep him from sharing the love of Jesus-which he had personally experienced- with everyone he encountered. And his desire was for every believer to experience the love of Christ to such a level that they too, WE too, would be unstoppable. Have you experienced His love? I have, and it has forever changed me. Every day of my life I am desperate for Him. He is my treasure. Like Paul, I am passionate that every one experience the depths of God’s love. Oh–don’t miss it!!! Ask God for His power to strengthen your inner being, your place of wrestling, through the power of the Holy Spirit so that you can grasp His love!
My heart burns within me as I write these words. Oh that we–the Church–would let the powerful Holy Spirit have His way in us so that we can grasp this love personally, and grasp this love outwardly in order to share it with the people of this world that desperately need to know that they are loved by God. Oh that we would pray to be so deeply in love with God that nothing, nothing, nothing would ever stop us. May we make this prayer our own during these 21 days. And may we dedicate ourselves “to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to HIS POWER that is at work within us…” Ephesians 3:20
His power. His love. His mission. His purpose. His heart. His fullness. My prayer. My surrender. He is worth it!
-Luanne
Imagine if we adopted this prayer and prayed it throughout the next 21 days, believing God for every word…
Luanne’s passion screams through the words she wrote, doesn’t it? It is clear that she believes every word and she invites us to believe with her. She invites us to believe enough to pray this prayer that is pregnant with possibility, with the expectation that God will answer. It is an invitation to the abundant life, to the kind of life that is “filled to the measure of all the fullness of God”, a life that spills over and brings Glory to God and God alone.
Does your heart burn within you as you read the words of Paul’s prayer? What is your immediate response? Do you believe that you can be empowered this way through the Holy Spirit? Have you experienced this power-the same power that raised Christ from the dead? (Romans 8:11) Do you move throughout your days with the knowledge of the love Jesus has for you? Jesus tells us, “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you…” (John 15:9) Just as God loves Jesus… Jesus loves us with a love that big? He says yes, that’s how much He loves us. I can’t begin to fathom the width, length, height and depth of God’s love for Jesus, His Son. Nothing we know in our humanness can compare with a love like that. But I have felt it. I have felt Jesus’ love for me. He has shocked and overwhelmed my heart with His love. He has changed me with His love. He has given me love for others that I couldn’t manufacture on my own. He has loved me with a love that turns my brokenness into beauty. What about you? Have you felt the love of Jesus, have you known it through experiencing Him?
Though I have experienced this wild love of my Savior, I can all too easily forget to live from that place. I can slip back into old lies, old ways and pick up chains His love has freed me from. John told us that the love of Christ produces humility, is found in community and exemplified in solitude. But, sometimes, I can get caught up in the opposites. An attitude of superiority can sneak in. The temptation to compete, to hustle for my worth, can steal the sweetness of community. And the desire to hide, to isolate can overwhelm the practice of solitude. None of those things display the love of Christ and none bring him Glory. I don’t want these things to have any breathing room in my days, in my life. So how can I-how can we-avoid these pitfalls? We can commit to pray this prayer, believing God will answer. We can look beyond the words we can’t quite comprehend and search out the truth in them for ourselves. I want to pray like this, not just during these 21 days, but for as long as I have breath to pray.
Will you join us in praying this prayer? Can you imagine if we each personalized this prayer and prayed it for ourselves and over one another? For the global Church of Jesus? What might our lives look like if we prayed these words and believed fully on the One who is able to do immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine? I have an idea what we might look like… a whole lot more like Jesus.
I have made this prayer personal below. Will you take a moment and pray it over yourself today?
For this reason I kneel before you, Father... I pray that out of your glorious riches you might strengthen me with power through your Spirit in my inner being, so that you may dwell richly in my heart through faith. And I pray that I, being rooted and established in love, may have power through your Spirit, together with all of your people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep your love is, and to know, really know in my core, this love that surpasses knowledge—that I might be filled to the measure of all of your fullness. Now to you, My God, who is able to do immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine, according to your power that we believe is at work within us, to you and only you be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen!
I can’t wait to see what God will do during this season of prayer. I hope you will all join us!
–Laura
(The link to the sermon that was referenced can be found below. Just scroll down and click on the First Baptist Church of Casper Facebook page.)
Enter In. . . 