For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
And I pray that you, being rooted and grounded 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 with all the fullness of God.
Now 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, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Notes
This prayer brings us into the very heart of New Covenant life: communion with the Father, indwelling by the Son, empowerment through the Spirit, and fullness in God. Paul does not pray for changed circumstances but for a deeper experience of God’s indwelling power. He bows before the Father—not in ritual, but in reverence—acknowledging Him as the source and name-giver of every family in heaven and earth.
Paul prays first for strength through the Spirit in the inner being. This is not physical endurance, but spiritual vitality. The Spirit’s presence is not theoretical—it is experiential. He strengthens us so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith. This is not a second step of salvation—it is the daily life of the New Covenant: Christ in you
(cf. Galatians 2:20; Colossians 1:27).
Rooted and grounded in love, the saints are now invited to explore the vast dimensions of that love—wide, long, high, deep—immeasurable and eternal. This is not intellectual knowledge only; Paul prays that we would know what surpasses knowledge. This paradox is the soul of worship: encountering the infinite love of Christ not merely with the mind but in the heart.
And then comes one of the most breathtaking phrases in all of Paul’s writings: “that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” This is not a future promise—it is a present possibility through the Spirit. What the tabernacle and temple once contained, the believer and the Church now embody
(cf. John 1:16; Ephesians 2:22).
The doxology that follows is not just poetic—it is revelatory: God is able to do immeasurably more than we could ever ask or think, not merely around us but within us, through His power already at work. And this power leads to glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus—a glory that will never fade, spanning all generations, anchored in eternity.
This is the apex of the first half of Ephesians: the Church as the temple of God, filled with Christ, rooted in love, and radiant with divine fullness. The New Covenant is not a modified law system—it is a Spirit-filled communion, where Christ lives in us, love defines us, and God’s glory is displayed through us.
Moe Bergeron 
Leave a comment