PRAY FOR SPIRITUAL STRENGTH 

Ephesians 3:16-17-...that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,...

Paul asked that they would be strengthened with might and that the strength would be according to the riches of His glory (a most generous measure). He also prayed that the strength would come through the Holy Spirit and that it would be put into their inner man.

There is an inner man just as real as our physical body. We all understand the importance of strength in our physical body, but many are exceedingly weak in the inner man.

According to the riches of His glory: “It would be a disgrace to a king or a nobleman to give no more than a tradesman or a peasant. God acts up to the dignity of his infinite perfections; he gives according to the riches of his glory.” (Clarke)

Paul asked that Jesus would live in these believers, even as Jesus promised in John 14:23: If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

Two ancient Greek words convey the idea “to live in.” One has the idea of living in a place as a stranger, and the other has the idea of settling down in a place to make it your permanent home. Dwell uses the ancient Greek word for a permanent home. Jesus wants to settle down in your heart, not just visit as a stranger.

The glory of the indwelling Jesus is something for us to know and to know by faith. It is there for us but must be taken hold of through faith. “You have your Bible, and you have your knees; use them.” (Carr John Glynn, godfather to H. C. G. Moule)

We need spiritual strength to let Christ dwell within us because there is something in us that resists the influence of the indwelling Jesus. That something can be conquered as the Spirit of God gives us the victory of faith.

Paul asked that all this would take place as they were rooted and grounded in love. The meaning seems to be that they should be rooted and grounded in their love for one another, more than being rooted and grounded in their love for God and the knowledge of that love.

“Two expressions are used: ‘rooted,’ like a living tree which lays hold upon the soil, twists itself round the rocks, and cannot be upturned: ‘grounded,’ like a building which has been settled, as a whole, and will never show any cracks or flaws in the future through failures in the foundation.” (Spurgeon)

Prompt: Pray Ephesians 3:16-17. Pray for a friend, that the Holy Spirit would strengthen their “inner man,” and that they’d be rooted and grounded in God’s love.

Based on the Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik.