A Prayer for Spiritual Power

Paul wrapped up his instructions to the believers in Ephesus with an emphatic call for persevering prayer (Eph 6:18-21).¹ Prayer was necessary for them to stand strong against the stratagems of the devil and his demonic forces (Eph 6:10-13). Without a certain kind of prayer, neither they nor Paul would be able to “walk worthy”² of their calling in Christ in that imposing metropolitan milieu (Eph 4:1). To explain the kind of prayer that Paul envisioned, this study will examine a prayer given earlier in the letter (Eph 3:14-21). It will identify the theme and structure of this prayer and its correlation to the rest of the letter. Then it will analyze key details in the prayer to clarify its meaning. Finally, it will offer some questions to help the reader both apply the content of this prayer in a personal way and teach it to others.

Theme

Words pertaining to power and love recur prominently throughout this prayer. Five cognates for power (or enablement) occur seven times. “To be strengthened” (κραταιόομαι) means “to be strong psychologically, to be brave” (3:16).³ “Might” (δύναμις) means “ability to perform and activity” (3:16).⁴ This word appears again as a verb (δύναμαι), “is able” (3:20), and as a noun, “the power” (3:20). “May be able” (ἐξισχύω) means “to be fully capable of doing or experiencing something” (3:18).⁵ “To do” (ποιέω) means “to bring something into being” or cause something to happen (3:20).(( Arndt, Danker, and Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 839.)) “Works” (ἐνεργέω) means “to put one’s capabilities into operation, work, be at work, be active, operate, be effective (3:20).⁶ At the center of this prayer, “love” (ἀγάπη) appears twice (3:17, 19). This word emphasizes an “affection based on deep appreciation and high regard.”⁷ Together, these words heavily influence the theme of this prayer.

Another prominent feature of this prayer is that all three persons of the Godhead fill vital roles in fulfilling Paul’s request. The Father is the primary recipient and responds actively (3:14). He names everyone who exists (3:15), gives strength to believers (3:15), exceeds expectations (3:20), and deserves all glory forever (3:21). In addition, Christ “dwells” in believers’ hearts (3:17), exhibits love (3:19), and glorifies the Father (3:21). Furthermore, the Spirit strengthens believers internally (3:16). In contrast to the Godhead, Paul frequently portrays people (esp. believers) in a passive role, either receiving from or being acted upon by God.

Altogether, these three elements suggest a central theme for this prayer: (1) recurring references to power and love, (2) prominent references to the triune God as the source of this power and love, and (3) frequent portrayals of believers as the recipients of this power and love. This theme may be stated as follows: Paul prayed that God would greatly empower believers to persevere through a fuller understanding of his love for them. This theme expresses the overarching message and purpose of Paul’s prayer.

Structure

This prayer arranges neatly into two main sections, with the first segment being supported by three subsections. As such, an outline of this prayer is as follows:

I. An announcement of prayer to God on behalf of the church (3:14-15)

A. For increased spiritual strengthening (1st ἵνα, 3:16-17a)

B. For increased spiritual comprehension (2nd ἵνα, 3:17b-19a)

C. For increased spiritual maturity (3rd ἵνα, 3:19)

II. An announcement of praise to God through the church (3:20-21)

The first main section opens with a formal declaration of prayer to God (3:14-15), followed by “three principal prayer requests.”⁸ The conjunction ἵνα (“that”) distinguishes each of these requests. This word, according to Wallace, signals “both the intention [purpose] and … sure accomplishment” of each one.⁹ The second main section presents a grand doxology that celebrates God’s incomparable power. By praying this way, Paul requested that the believers in Ephesus would be thoroughly transformed by the full magnitude of God’s power.

Correlation

This prayer concludes the first half of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.¹⁰ Wallace calls it “‘the hinge” prayer that introduces the second half.”¹¹ Whereas the first half of the letter reveals the nature of God’s special high calling for believers (1:1-3:21), the second half unfolds a series of noble, practical expectations for believers to follow as a result of this calling (4:1-6:9). As such, this prayer is an appeal for God to bring about the full scope of what he made possible through Christ in the lives of believers on earth. This outcome occurs when believers practice what the second half teaches, but this radical shift in attitude and lifestyle requires more than an outward reformation. God must intervene radically, empowering believers to persevere through intimidating challenges, spurred onward by a deeper awareness of his love.

In the framework of Ephesians, this is not the only time Paul uttered a prayer. In fact, he had actually started this prayer, saying, “For this reason, I, Paul…” (3:1).¹² Here he interjected a lengthy description of his apostolic mission from God (3:1).¹³ Then he resumed his prayer in Eph 3:14 by saying “for this reason” (τούτου χάριν) again. “For this reason” points back to Eph 2:11-22 as the basis for his prayer.¹⁴ That passage reveals how Christ had forged a new and unexpected union between Jews and Gentiles as one “new person.”¹⁵ Though astounding in many respects, the outworking of this union would encounter many challenges, including (1) persecution from unbelievers (Acts 18:21-34), (2) comprehending difficult spiritual concepts (1:17-19), (3) engrained cultural differences and animosity (2:11-13), (4) aberrant, deceptive doctrines (3:14), (5) a remaining fleshly nature (4:17-32; 5:3-4), and (6) antagonism from demonic forces (6:10-12). This broad array of challenges requires more than sheer willpower to overcome; it requires prayer for enablement by the extraordinary power from God.

In addition to this prayer for empowerment, Paul had offered an earlier prayer as well (Eph 1:15-23). This first prayer asked God to enable the believers in Ephesus to comprehend the full extent of power he had made available to them. His second prayer extends this request further, from knowledge to experience and from power to love. Paul desired that believers would experience God’s power so effectively that they would grasp the full magnitude of his love. Together, these prayers reveal what is needed from God for believers to live out their calling successfully in a dangerous and ungodly world.

Key Details

Paul’s opening declaration reveals some important perspective about God’s relationship to believers as Father (Eph 3:14-15). This reflects how Christ had taught his original disciples to address God as Father (Matt 6:9). Paul uses this title often throughout the letter (Eph 1:2-3, 17; 2:18; 4:6; 5:20; 6:23), reminding believers of the close, family relationship they share together with God as members of his household.¹⁶ Though he is sovereign over all people of the world, believers enjoy a relationship with him like none other, by which they may speak to him “freely and without fear (2:18; 3:12).”¹⁷

Of Paul’s three requests, he prayed first for increased spiritual strengthening (3:16-17a). He envisioned God’s own abundant glory as the source of this strength (“according to the riches of his glory”). As Arnold remarks, “God possesses extraordinary might, which he is able and willing to impart to his people.”¹⁸ Believers cannot access this strength through physical efforts or political means; they must receive it directly from God, mediated by the Holy Spirit.¹⁹ So then, Paul asked God to strengthen his people with nothing less than his own divine power.²⁰

Though this power would enable believers to withstand spiritual foes, Paul aimed his request at believers’ inner selves (“in your hearts”). For Christ to “dwell in your hearts through faith” refers not to regeneration, but to increasing surrender to Christ’s lordship.²¹ It portrays Christ as “settling in” by expanding his influence over a believer’s thoughts and actions.²² This acquiescence to Christ requires faith (“by faith), of which, Bratcher and Nida suggest a translation like “this happens when you trust him.”²³ Paul believed this would occur because God had already “established their roots” and “poured their foundation” in his love.²⁴

Following this request, he prayed for increased comprehension (3:17b-19a). Unlike his first prayer for increasing comprehension of God’s calling and power (1:15-23), this prayer solicited an increased comprehension of God’s love.”²⁵ Paul wanted believers at Ephesus to comprehend (καταλαμβάνομαι means “to process information, understand, grasp) a four-dimensional concept.²⁶ Though no clear object for this description appears, the context before (3:17) and after (3:19) emphasizes Christ and love, indicating that ‘Christ’s love’ is in view.²⁷ Paul wanted all believers (“with all the saints”), not just those in Ephesus, to grasp the vastness of Christ’s love for them and “to know”(γινώσκω) this love in a deeper, more personal way. Though he conceded that they would never understand this love completely, he prayed that God would strengthen them to comprehend it as much as possible.

In addition to these two requests, Paul prayed for spiritual maturity (3:19b). This request serves as the climactic purpose of the previous two.²⁸ Paul prayed that increased strength and comprehension would produce increased maturity. “That you may be filled with all the fullness of God” resembles “may grow up in all things into Him” (4:13) and likely refers to believers reaching the full potential of what God created and called them to be, to be like Christ.²⁹

Paul closed his prayer with an announcement of praise to God, revealing that he neither feared nor doubted the outcome of his prayer for at least three reasons (3:20-21). First, he knew God was able to fulfill his request. Second, he knew God was able to do far more than he himself could conceive. Third, he knew that God was already at work in believers’ lives to bring these changes about, which may be an allusion to the Spirit’s ongoing empowerment (cf. 3:16).³⁰ As a result, he confessed his belief that God deserved and would receive praise from this current age and forever in eternity. According to Hoerner, “glory” here “specifically refers to God’s splendor, power, and radiance.”³¹ Most importantly, this glory would be evident both in (ἐν) the church and in (ἐν) Christ in tandem, demonstrating the close and intimate union of Christ with the church, their shared mission in God’s program of the ages.

Conclusion

This study has presented the kind of prayer that is necessary for believers to fulfill their calling in a difficult world, examining a prayer by Paul as an example. He prayed that God would greatly empower believers to persevere through a fuller understanding of his love for them. Believers today should also pray for increased spiritual strength, comprehension of Christ’s love, and spiritual maturity. They should pray this way especially for the believers they know, who are in their family, members of their church, or in a mentorship relationship with them. In doing so, they should rest assured that God is responding to their prayer and should desire for God to receive all the glory for the outcome.

Reflection

The following questions may be used for personal reflection or for studying this passage with others:

• Why is increased strengthening necessary?
• Why is increased comprehension of Christ’s love necessary?
• Why is increased spiritual maturity important?
• How does the church reveal God to the world?

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Thomas Overmiller serves as pastor for Faith Baptist Church in Corona, NY and blogs at Shepherd Thoughts. This article first appeared at Shepherd Thoughts, used here with permission.

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1. “The uses of ‘all’ in Eph 6:18 are a call to an “all-out” commitment to prayer and remind Christian soldiers of its crucial importance.” James E. Rosscup, “The Importance of Prayer in Ephesians,” The Master’s Seminary Journal, vol. 6, no. 1 (Spring 1995), 57. [↩]
2. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from the NKJV. [↩]
3. Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 680. [↩]
4. James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek (New Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, 1997). [↩]
5. William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, and Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 350. [↩]
6. Ibid., 335. [↩]
7. Louw and Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 293. [↩]
8. Clinton E. Arnold, Ephesians, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010), 207. [↩]
9. Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics – Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), 473. [↩]
10. Frank Thielman, Ephesians, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, Kindle ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2010), 224. [↩]
11. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, 13.2.7.b.2. [↩]
12. Thielman, Ephesians, 224. [↩]
13. Arnold, Ephesians, 184. [↩]
14. Ibid., 184-5. [↩]
15. Harold Hoehner, Ephesians, Kindle ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002), loc. 9758-59. [↩]
16. Thielman, ,227. [↩]
17. Ibid. [↩]
18. Arnold, Ephesians, 209. [↩]
19. Stephen E. Fowl, Ephesians: A Commentary, 1^st ed., The New Testament Library (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2012), 120. [↩]
20. Theilman notes that this kind of strength often corresponds in Scripture with “the inner qualities of courage and determination,” which Paul may have desired for believers in this prayer. Thielman, 229. [↩]
21. Arnold, Ephesians, 212. [↩]
22. Hoehner, loc. 9942-43. [↩]
23. Robert G. Bratcher and Eugene Albert Nida, A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, UBS Handbook Series (New York: United Bible Societies, 1993), 86. [↩]
24. Though many translations associate “being rooted and grounded in love” with the second ἵνα clause, I have associated it with the first one, rendering these perfect tense participles as antecedent action per Wallace’s claim that “the perfect participle is almost always antecedent with reference to the main verb.” Wallace, 626. The NET reflects this view, translating these participles as “because you have been rooted and grounded in love.” [↩]
25. Arndt, Danker, and Bauer, 520. [↩]
26. Arnold, Ephesians, 214-16. [↩]
27. Hoehner, loc. 10058-76. Like Hoerner, I am fascinated by Arnold’s proposal that Paul was describing God’s power instead, but the immediate context and the fact that Arnold anchors his argument on later Egyptian papyri unknown to Paul persuaded me against it. Arnold, 216–17. [↩]
28. Hoehner, loc. 10110-13. [↩]
29. Thielman, 238. [↩]
30. Ibid., 243. [↩]
31. Hoehner, loc. 10196. [↩]