DEVO - Ephesians 3:14-19
DEVO
Ephesians 3:14-19
Today’s devotion looks at Ephesians 3:14-19. Grab your Bible, and if you can, download and print our Devotion Journal page and instructions. We are going to do two devotions on these verses because we need two days. Actually, we need a lifetime, but we need way more than two days to sink into the transforming power of this scripture. In our next devotion in Ephesians Chapter 3, we will do the crescendo in verses 20 and 21.
I encourage you to hear what God’s Word is saying in these verses today, apply it personally and specifically to your life, and then commit to an obedient response to what God impresses on you through your time alone with him today. Gather your Bible, your journal page, and something to write with, and get into that place where you can be alone with God and where you can hear him speak through his Word and by his Spirit.
Ephesians 3:14-19 (NLT)
14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,
15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.
16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.
17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.
18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.
19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Now that we’ve read through it, let’s focus on it. I’m going to take it piece by piece, and then I’ll pray through it.
Ephesians 3:14-16 says, 14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. And Lord, that’s what we need. That’s all we need, Lord. From your glorious, unlimited resources, we need to be empowered with inner strength at the very core of our being, through the outpouring of your Holy Spirit, by a daily continual filling of your Spirit, from all that you are. Lord, in all of your glory, please empower and strengthen us at the core of our being through your Holy Spirit within us.
Then verse 17(a) says, Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. And we pray, Lord, that you would truly make your home in our hearts. May you make your permanent and complete home in our hearts. May you have full rule and full reign over our entire lives, Lord, as we trust in you. But Lord, that’s where we need to be empowered with inner strength by your Holy Spirit. We need that empowering by your Spirit in order to trust you alone. We pray that you would empower us and bring us to that place of complete trust.
Then verse 17(b) says, Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And Lord, we pray that as you give us inner strength by your Holy Spirit in us, and as we learn to truly and completely allow you to make your home in our hearts, and Lord, as we learn to trust you completely, we know then, the roots of our lives will grow down into your love and keep us strong, Lord. And Lord, we know that you will do your part if we will do our part. And so, we pray that you would draw us into this place, that you would give us the passion and the desire, the drive, to abide in you. To truly abide in you in this place and at this level. And then, Lord, may we have the power to understand what verse 18 says.
Verse 18, And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. Lord, in our own nature, we don’t have the power. We don’t have the ability to understand. This is where we need your revelation power to even begin to understand how, why God, and how long, and how high, and how deep your love for us is. And so, Lord, we pray that you would pour your divine revelation power into us so that we can grasp how incredible in every way your love is for us.
And verse 19 says, May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. And Lord, we pray, Lord, we want to experience your love. We want to experience your presence, Lord. And we want to experience your life and your power living inside of us. Lord, we want it, and we need it. And we know that experiencing all of this, Lord, comes from us being with you. It comes from us being in your presence, from us resting in you, from us abiding in you alone.
We pray that you would teach us to get to that place. Lord, teach us to get alone with you, to be able to hear from your Living Word. To be able to experience your Holy Spirit leading and guiding us according to your Word. And most of all, Lord, to be able to experience your love for us as we rest in your presence and as we soak in your Word. Lord, may we be driven to that place, that place alone with you, where we can experience your love and your presence because then, Lord, you will make us complete. You will mature us there, you will refine us there, and you will transform us in that place with you, Lord. We will be made complete with all of the fullness of life and power that comes from you making your home in us and from us abiding in your presence, Lord, in the shadow, in the shelter of the Most High and Almighty God.
And so, speak to us now, Lord, through these verses and by your Spirit. Let us hear what your Word is saying. And Lord, impress on us how these incredible verses apply to our lives specifically and personally. Help us, Lord, zero in on where in our lives we need to apply these verses and then learn. Bring us to that place of obedient response to what you’ve spoken by your Word and what you’ve impressed on us by your Spirit.
And finally, Lord, help us to make that commitment to you, to respond in obedience, in what you are calling us to in these verses. And Lord, we pray it all in your mighty, and your glorious, and unlimited powerful name, Jesus, amen.
Alright, guys, if you have your Devotion Journal or if you’ve downloaded our journal page, now is the time to write. Maybe you’ve already been writing, but just follow the steps in the journal.
What is God saying in these verses? Take a minute to just put in your own words what God is saying here in these verses. And then, answer the question, how is the Holy Spirit specifically and personally applying these verses to your life today?
And then the big one. How will you respond? What action will you take to how the Holy Spirit is applying these verses to your life today, specifically and personally? And then, pray your response to God. Thank him for speaking to you, and thank the Holy Spirit for impressing the application on you. Pray your response to God, and then ask God to fill you with his Holy Spirit to bring it to pass.
And then, we’ll be back with part two of this text. We just couldn’t squeeze it all in. So, part 2 is the crescendo verses of 20 and 21. And so, you deal with verses 14-19 today, and we’ll deal with 20 and 21 next time.
Until then, may God powerfully bless you in your time alone with him.
I encourage you to hear what God’s Word is saying in these verses today, apply it personally and specifically to your life, and then commit to an obedient response to what God impresses on you through your time alone with him today. Gather your Bible, your journal page, and something to write with, and get into that place where you can be alone with God and where you can hear him speak through his Word and by his Spirit.
Ephesians 3:14-19 (NLT)
14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,
15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.
16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.
17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.
18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.
19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Now that we’ve read through it, let’s focus on it. I’m going to take it piece by piece, and then I’ll pray through it.
Ephesians 3:14-16 says, 14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. And Lord, that’s what we need. That’s all we need, Lord. From your glorious, unlimited resources, we need to be empowered with inner strength at the very core of our being, through the outpouring of your Holy Spirit, by a daily continual filling of your Spirit, from all that you are. Lord, in all of your glory, please empower and strengthen us at the core of our being through your Holy Spirit within us.
Then verse 17(a) says, Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. And we pray, Lord, that you would truly make your home in our hearts. May you make your permanent and complete home in our hearts. May you have full rule and full reign over our entire lives, Lord, as we trust in you. But Lord, that’s where we need to be empowered with inner strength by your Holy Spirit. We need that empowering by your Spirit in order to trust you alone. We pray that you would empower us and bring us to that place of complete trust.
Then verse 17(b) says, Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And Lord, we pray that as you give us inner strength by your Holy Spirit in us, and as we learn to truly and completely allow you to make your home in our hearts, and Lord, as we learn to trust you completely, we know then, the roots of our lives will grow down into your love and keep us strong, Lord. And Lord, we know that you will do your part if we will do our part. And so, we pray that you would draw us into this place, that you would give us the passion and the desire, the drive, to abide in you. To truly abide in you in this place and at this level. And then, Lord, may we have the power to understand what verse 18 says.
Verse 18, And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. Lord, in our own nature, we don’t have the power. We don’t have the ability to understand. This is where we need your revelation power to even begin to understand how, why God, and how long, and how high, and how deep your love for us is. And so, Lord, we pray that you would pour your divine revelation power into us so that we can grasp how incredible in every way your love is for us.
And verse 19 says, May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. And Lord, we pray, Lord, we want to experience your love. We want to experience your presence, Lord. And we want to experience your life and your power living inside of us. Lord, we want it, and we need it. And we know that experiencing all of this, Lord, comes from us being with you. It comes from us being in your presence, from us resting in you, from us abiding in you alone.
We pray that you would teach us to get to that place. Lord, teach us to get alone with you, to be able to hear from your Living Word. To be able to experience your Holy Spirit leading and guiding us according to your Word. And most of all, Lord, to be able to experience your love for us as we rest in your presence and as we soak in your Word. Lord, may we be driven to that place, that place alone with you, where we can experience your love and your presence because then, Lord, you will make us complete. You will mature us there, you will refine us there, and you will transform us in that place with you, Lord. We will be made complete with all of the fullness of life and power that comes from you making your home in us and from us abiding in your presence, Lord, in the shadow, in the shelter of the Most High and Almighty God.
And so, speak to us now, Lord, through these verses and by your Spirit. Let us hear what your Word is saying. And Lord, impress on us how these incredible verses apply to our lives specifically and personally. Help us, Lord, zero in on where in our lives we need to apply these verses and then learn. Bring us to that place of obedient response to what you’ve spoken by your Word and what you’ve impressed on us by your Spirit.
And finally, Lord, help us to make that commitment to you, to respond in obedience, in what you are calling us to in these verses. And Lord, we pray it all in your mighty, and your glorious, and unlimited powerful name, Jesus, amen.
Alright, guys, if you have your Devotion Journal or if you’ve downloaded our journal page, now is the time to write. Maybe you’ve already been writing, but just follow the steps in the journal.
What is God saying in these verses? Take a minute to just put in your own words what God is saying here in these verses. And then, answer the question, how is the Holy Spirit specifically and personally applying these verses to your life today?
And then the big one. How will you respond? What action will you take to how the Holy Spirit is applying these verses to your life today, specifically and personally? And then, pray your response to God. Thank him for speaking to you, and thank the Holy Spirit for impressing the application on you. Pray your response to God, and then ask God to fill you with his Holy Spirit to bring it to pass.
And then, we’ll be back with part two of this text. We just couldn’t squeeze it all in. So, part 2 is the crescendo verses of 20 and 21. And so, you deal with verses 14-19 today, and we’ll deal with 20 and 21 next time.
Until then, may God powerfully bless you in your time alone with him.