14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. – Ephesians 3:14-21 ESV
SUMMARY
Most churches primarily try to build the Kingdom of God with a new program, a new sermon series, or a new strategy. Paul had a different instinct. In Ephesians 3:14-21, in addressing a church that needed real transformation, he didn’t write a plan, he prayed a prayer. This post outlines how prayer is a framework for personal and church-wide transformation, and ends with practical next steps for praying over your own life, your disciple-making relationships, and your church family.
The Prayer That Skips the Strategy Meeting
Paul had every reason to write the Ephesians a strategic plan. He was an apostle, a church planter, he clearly knew how to organize and be strategic. If anyone had a playbook, it was Paul.
Instead, in Ephesians 3:14-21, he kneels down and prays.
No five-step plan. No new ministry initiative. Just a request that God would do something inside people that no amount of good programming could produce.
Process that for a moment, because it’s easy, especially in our current church culture, to assume that if something isn’t growing, working, or multiplying, the answer is a better model. New format. New outreach idea. New sermon series. Now sometimes those things can help, but Paul’s prayer points somewhere else entirely: transformation and multiplication flow from the indwelling presence and power of God working within His people, and not from human effort.
If this is true, then the most strategic thing we can do is pray.
Seven Things Paul Asked For
In Ephesians 3:14-21 Paul asks for seven specific things. Here they are, with a question attached to each one to help us actually pray this prayer as well, instead of just reading about it.
1. Inner strength that doesn’t depend on circumstances (v.16)
Paul asks for believers to be strengthened “with power through His Spirit in your inner being”, not strength that depends on personality, good programming, or ideal circumstances, but strength that comes from the Spirit itself.
Ask yourself: Is my spiritual life running on willpower, or on the Spirit’s power?
2. Christ actually dwelling in you, not just religious activity (v.17)
There’s a real difference between attending church services and Christ dwelling in your heart through faith. Paul prays for the second one specifically.
Ask yourself: Has faith become a habit I perform, or a relationship I’m actually living in?
3. Being rooted and grounded in love (v.17)
Not driven by fear. Not performing for approval. Rooted, like a tree that doesn’t blow over the first time it faces a storm.
Ask yourself: What am I actually rooted in right now; love, or something else like fear or performance?
4. Grasping how wide the love of Christ really is (v.18)
Paul prays for revelation here, not information. He wants people to grasp (to feel the weight of) how wide, long, high, and deep Christ’s love is.
Ask yourself: Do I know about God’s love, or have I actually felt it lately?
5. Being filled with the fullness of God (v.19)
This is a prayer for maturity, not just growth. A movement can get bigger and still not look more like Jesus. Paul wants both.
Ask yourself: Am I more like Jesus this year than last year, not just busier for Him?
6. Expecting God to do more than we can ask or imagine (v.20)
This is a direct challenge to small expectations. Paul assumes God is going to outdo whatever we bring Him.
Ask yourself: What am I praying for right now that’s actually sized to God, and not just to what feels realistic?
7. God getting the glory, not us (v.21)
The prayer ends here. Notice the emphasis? It is not about Paul having greater influence or success but with glory going to God “in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations.”
Ask yourself: If this prayer got answered in my life, who would get the credit?
Why This Matters
If you’ve been part of a local church for any length of time, you have likely watched lots or programs and plans get started hoping it would produce what only the Spirit can produce. New ideas or methods aren’t wrong. But they can’t do what this prayer is asking for. You can’t program your way into being rooted in love. You can’t strategize your way into grasping the width of Christ’s love. Those things come from God, prayed for and received.
That doesn’t mean strategy is useless, it means strategy without this kind of praying is building on sand. Ephesians 3 is an invitation to reverse the order: pray first, plan second.
Practical Next Steps
Reading about this prayer isn’t the same as praying it. Here are three ways to actually put it into practice this week:
- Pray it over yourself, once a day, for seven days. Take one request per day from the list above. Sit with it for five minutes.
- Pray it over one person you’re discipling or investing in. If you have someone you meet with regularly, spend five minutes of your next conversation praying this over them.
- Pray it over our church. Not “bless our church” in general terms, pray specifically that we’d be rooted in love, that we’d expect God to do more than we can imagine, and that He alone would get the glory for whatever happens next.
FAQs
What is Ephesians 3:14-21 about? It’s a prayer the Apostle Paul prays for the church in Ephesus, asking God to strengthen believers inwardly through the Holy Spirit, to let Christ dwell fully in their hearts, to root them in love, and to fill them with the fullness of God. It culminates in a call for God to receive glory in the church across all generations.
Why did Paul pray instead of giving practical instructions? Paul understood that inner transformation and spiritual fruitfulness come from God’s power at work within followers of Jesus Christ, not from human effort or strategy alone. The prayer reflects his conviction that real change starts with dependence on God/
How can I use this prayer personally? Take each of the seven requests; inner strength, Christ dwelling in you, rootedness in love, revelation of Christ’s love, fullness of God, expectant faith, and God’s glory and turn each into a short daily prayer for yourself, your family, or the people around you.
What’s the difference between praying this and just reading it? Reading is informational. Praying it is participatory you’re actually asking God for these specific things rather than just learning about them.
