I Bow My Knees

2018-09-29

For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, (15) Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, (16) That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; (17) That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, (18) May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; (19) And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. (20) Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, (21) Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. (Ephesians 3:14-21)

This is a prayer of Paul for the Ephesians. We will look at all that he prayed for this church in which he planted.

  1. Paul bowed the knee to the Father. We see a deep reverence for the Lord here because of his posture. This bowing of the knee may include physical posture, but it surely included great humility. With the following words he praised God for all He has done for His people. Our prayers must include the same reverence, knowing what He has done for us in Christ Jesus.
  2. The whole family of God is named in Jesus Christ. Every saved person from every age is a part of this great family, named in Christ. The saints of the Old Testament looked forward to the coming Christ since Genesis 3:15. Ever since Christ’s coming, we have seen clearly the crucified and risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We look back to what He has done for us.
  3. Paul prayed that they would be strengthened. He prayed for to be strengthened in the inner man, which is the new us created in Christ. This strength comes from the riches of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.
  4. Paul prayed that Christ would dwell in their hearts. John 14:22-23 tells us: “Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (John 14:22-23). Here, we can see that Christ being in us in contingent upon our obedience. We may all have the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9), but we do not all have Christ dwelling in our hearts necessarily. Obedience must precede this blessing.
  5. Paul prayed that they would know the depth of Christ. This “passeth knowledge,” meaning that this is more than an intellectual pursuit. The wisdom of the world cannot acquire the things of God. God must reveal this to us. His love took great sacrifice to transform us, His enemies, into His children. This humbling fact should drive us to love others as selflessly as He did.
  6. God can do more than we can imagine. If we could attain this truth, we would see that our thinking is too small. Pat Morley said, “If the Great Commission is true, our plans are not too big; they are too small.”
  7. The church is the vehicle of God’s glory in the world. No other institution out there is going to be as effective as God’s ordained plan for the world, which is the local church.