Today we come to the close of chapter 3 of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Paul leads us into a most holy place, giving us the words of his prayer for the Church. This glimpse of Paul’s prayer for the Church, is to be a guide for us, as we enter His gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise.
I want to make a few observations of this prayer and then we’ll spend some time praying it.
It is my hope if you’re not accustomed to praying the Scriptures, that you might use the bible as your chief means of prayer. For all New Testament worship is grounded in the life of the Holy Trinity. Thus prayer becomes a participation in this life, a communion of love.
Let’s begin with verse 14: For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
For this reason… Spanning three chapters, Paul is recalling his comprehensive, cosmic vision of salvation in Christ.
I bow my knees before the FATHER (the Spirit, v. 16 & Christ, v.17 – we share in the life, the True reality, of the Holy Trinity).
Let us enter his gates together as I walk through … let your hearts ascend to the heavenly Kingdom, around the Throne, with all the company of heaven … fix the eyes of your heart now.
v. 15—from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named –
Paul is actually condensing everything he’s said about the salvation of the cosmos in this little phrase …
Paul is affirming that the one new humanity in Christ has become his sons and daughters through adoption in Christ. Therefore, “every family” could be understood to mean the whole family of believers. There is one family of God, whose name is derived from God the Father. The idea of fatherhood and family is rooted in the eternal family, before creation, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
From whom the whole family of God in heaven and on earth is named … the Church militant, on earth, and the Church triumphant, in heaven … One Family, One Body, One Church.
These are the realities that we receive as gifts from the unified nature of God.
This morning we bow our knees BEFORE, in the presence of, the Father from whom the whole family of believers in heaven and on earth is named identified, chosen.
The prayer is asking for the gift of salvation to be realized in the life of His Family. The work of salvation is now being reflected back in prayer, asking for four things:
Strength … Love … Knowledge … Fulness
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.
This is the work of salvation that we are to more fully apprehend and appropriate in prayer …
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.
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