Day 4
"14 For this cause, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth,
Ephesians 3:14-18
My Prayer
Yahweh, my Heavenly Father, thank You for this scripture.Y I praise You for the power that is in it. I thank You for what You will do through it (Isaiah 55:11). Please reveal its meaning to our minds (Psalm 119:18). For all who read here, please lead them to pray this page with me...
My Father, this letter is from You, through the apostle Paul to the church at Ephesus. I see in the first verse that You have addressed it to converts, who You call "saints". In verses 1:3-13, You have revealed "every spiritual blessing" that they have in Christ. In fact, the passage says that "in Christ" we have every possible blessing in the heavenly realm.
And in the above passage, 3:14-19, Paul is praying those blessings into them.
In verse 16 Paul prays "that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person". So, inner strength and power comes from Your indwelling Holy Spirit. It comes to us as we ask for it in prayer. The initial result of this prayer is "that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith" (verse 17).
I know that Your phrase "that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith" doesn't indicate conversion because Paul has acknowledged in verse 1:1 that he is writing to "saints". The Greek word translated as "dwell" is also used elsewhere in scripture for "dwell in" Nazareth, Capernaum, Jerusalem, etc. When You speak of Christ dwelling in people, You speak of intimacy.
Your Son, Christ, is in us (Galatians 2:20). But, Paul also wrote in Galatians 4:19 that he was working "until Christ is formed in you". So, the dwelling of Christ in our hearts is a progressive process, as Christ is formed in us. Paul accomplishes this process of forming Christ in us with two simple steps. He repeats Your words and prays. Paul explained all of Your blessings in the spiritual realm in verses 1:3-13. Then He prayed them into the hearers in verses 3:14-18.
Praise to You. You have made progress in Your kingdom very simple. We repeat the words of the Father and pray.
So, the initial result of this prayer for power in the Holy Spirit is that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith (verse 17). As Christ dwells intimately in our hearts, Your goal is that we, "being rooted and grounded in love, may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth
Your Son told the disciples before He was crucified that they would be "clothed with power from on high" (Luke 24:49).
Power...
And this power comes to those who ask for it in prayer!
May Your name be praised!
In this passage, Ephesians 3:14-18, You have revealed just one of the Endorsed Prayers for Spiritual Needs... You have revealed the Endorsed Prayer for Power!4.3d Thank you for revealing this in Your word! For, how can we walk by the Spirit, if we don't know to receive power to walk in the Spirit?
Heavenly Father, teach us the prayers that scripture has taught us to pray. By Your Spirit, lead Your children to click this link: "Endorsed Prayers for Spiritual Needs"
You deserve all praise!
Amen.
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About this Devotional
You are reading the Walk by the Spirit Daily Devotional Series, which is subchapter 3.7 of the free, online book Fellowship with God in the Sixth Path. In the Walk by the Spirit Daily Devotional, readers learn how to how to walk by the Spirit. Walking by the Spirit is one way the New Testament describes fellowship with God, the subject of this online book.
Fellowship with God in the New Covenant is defined as, "a two way conversation in the spiritual realm, as we follow Christ, bearing His yoke in the world". The area below the white section on this page will reveal every word and phrase in that definition, from the scriptures.
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