“For this reason I bow on my knees before the Father from whom every family in Heaven and on Earth is named. We bow before you, oh God, our Father, from who every family in Heaven and on Earth is named. We pray that according to the riches of your glory that you would grant others around us to be strengthened with power through your spirit in their inner being. God, we pray for followers of Christ around us, in our lives, strengthen them with power, we pray. Through your spirit, in their inner being, may they know the power of your spirit at the core of who they are, so that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith.”
– Ephesians 3:14–21
Ephesians 3:14–21 is one of these places in the Bible where we actually see a spirit-inspired prayer. Meaning in the Bible we see someone praying for someone else. This is Paul, here, praying for the Ephesian Christians, and so he prays this. It is good for us to take prayers in Bible, like this. And to pray them almost exactly for other people around us.
So, I want to read this prayer and along the way, just lead us to pray. Yes, in a sense for our lives, but also to pray for other people around us. For other followers of Christ, specifically, around us. As we pray this, let me encourage you not just to think about your life, but to think about family members. Your friends, followers of Christ around you, your church. Pray these things and think about those specific people in your mind as we pray in the same way Paul prayed this with Ephesian Christians in his mind.
Ephesians 3:14–21 Shares a Prayer from Paul
Paul’s Spirit-inspired prayer is a model for our own prayers for other believers.
“Oh, God, we pray that Christ, in all of his fullness would dwell in our brothers and sisters who we have in our minds, through faith. Christ in all of your fullness, dwell in them, we pray. So that they, being rooted and grounded in love. Lord we pray that you would help them to be rooted and grounded in love. In your love, that they would have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth of your love.
This Verse Prays for People in Our Lives
Oh, God, we pray for the people we’ve got in our minds right now. Oh God, that they would know the breadth and length and height, and depth of your love for them. God, shower your love on them today. Shower them with an awareness of your love. Captivate them by your love. Compel them by your love, we pray. May they be grounded in it.
Just like we picture the roots of a tree grounded, unshakable. May that be the picture of our brothers and sisters in your love. May they be so grounded in it. So that they may know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, and may they be filled with all of your fullness. Oh, God, please fill our brothers and sisters with all your fullness. Fill them with your fullness.
Ephesians 3:14–21, now, “To you who are able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to your power at work within us, to you be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
