STRENGTH IN THE HEART (5)

“That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be STRENGTHENED with MIGHT through His Spirit in the INNER MAN” – Ephesians 3:16

The New Testament also reveals God as the Source and Supplier of STRENGTH in the HEART: “That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be STRENGTHENED with MIGHT through His Spirit in the INNER MAN” (Eph.3:16). Here, Paul prayed that God would grant believers His Might or Strength “through His Spirit in the inner man” – in the heart! This is possible to the God “who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (v.20).                                                        

The first three chapters of Ephesians speak to the glorious riches that God has blessed believers with in Christ Jesus, by the Holy Spirit. Chapters 4-6 teach believers how to live godly using this spiritual wealth. Paul concluded this epistle by encouraging believers to “BE STRONG in the Lord and in the power of His might,” by putting on “the whole armor of God” (Eph.6:10-11). Paul’s prayer for Strength is sandwiched between the two halves of the epistle; and it reveals the Source, Means, and Purpose of Divine Strength.

God is our Source of Strength: “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (vv.14). Paul’s prayer for strength was with humility, bowed on his knees. His focus wasn’t to emphasize a particular prayer position; rather, he was conveying an attitude of lowliness, which is crucial in the life of every believer. Paul appealed to God as the ultimate Father – the Patriarch of patriarchies “from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named” (v. 15). He reminded the believers that they were all united by God who is Father of all creation. All saints are unified in the brotherhood of the universal church over which Christ is the head.

The Means of the Strength: “that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man” (vv.16). Paul requested God – the Source of all Might – to strengthen His people with power “according to the riches of His glory.” That’s God’s means of supplying all our needs: “And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ” (Phil.4:19). The word “glory” refers to the perfection of God’s attributes: the fact that God is perfectly holy, loving, kind, just, righteous, and hateful of sin to an incomparable degree. The Glory of God is the essence of what makes God who He is! It is this immeasurably infinite wealth of God’s Glory that supplies Strength “through His Spirit” to our “inner being.”

The Purpose of the Strength: “That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (vv.17-19). Christ longs to make His home in our hearts through the faith that God supplies. The goal of this Strength is to enable us grasp the unique Love of Christ: “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created things, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom.8:38-39).

However, only those first rooted and grounded in love can “comprehend with all the saints” the sheer enormity and immensity of Christ’s Love (v.18). In place of our feebleness, ignorance, and laziness, we are granted Strength to comprehend and manifest this incomprehensible love. Paul prayed for comprehension because this is what leads to being “filled with the fullness of God” (v.19). The capacity to know and live out Christ’s Love that’s beyond carnal comprehension comes through His Strength in our hearts!