Day 4: Praying for the Source, Not Just the Symptoms
Reading: Ephesians 3:14-19
Paul’s Prayer for Spiritual Growth
14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,[a] 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.[b] 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.
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Devotional:
Paul does not pray that the Ephesians would behave better. He prays that Christ would make His home in their hearts. He prays for the source, not the symptoms. This is a rebuke to the way many of us approach God in prayer. We bring Him our fruit problems when He is waiting to address our root condition. When Christ truly makes His home in your heart, when you are rooted and grounded in His love, the behaviors that you have been straining to produce begin to grow naturally. The prayer that changes everything is not "God, help me be better." It is "God, give me more of You."
What does your prayer life reveal about where you believe transformation actually comes from?
Rewrite one of your recurring prayer requests today. Instead of asking God to fix a behavior or circumstance, ask Him to fill you more deeply with His Spirit and presence.
Paul’s Prayer for Spiritual Growth
14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,[a] 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.[b] 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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Devotional:
Paul does not pray that the Ephesians would behave better. He prays that Christ would make His home in their hearts. He prays for the source, not the symptoms. This is a rebuke to the way many of us approach God in prayer. We bring Him our fruit problems when He is waiting to address our root condition. When Christ truly makes His home in your heart, when you are rooted and grounded in His love, the behaviors that you have been straining to produce begin to grow naturally. The prayer that changes everything is not "God, help me be better." It is "God, give me more of You."
What does your prayer life reveal about where you believe transformation actually comes from?
Rewrite one of your recurring prayer requests today. Instead of asking God to fix a behavior or circumstance, ask Him to fill you more deeply with His Spirit and presence.
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6 Comments
Sometimes I get caught between "God made us without sin" and "He loves me despite my sin because of Jesus." It makes complete sense to crave more of God in my heart because then my sinful nature would take a seat and I could see life more through His lens. It's so easy to get caught up in the mess around us, but if I craved more of the Lord..like with a deeper passion than I have currently, how much more and better could I serve Him? My prayers are going to start sounding different TODAY.
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I like how Paul addresses the fact that people are not going to understand the fullness of God’s love. It’s pretty hard to fully know the extent that God loves us, but that’s what makes it amazing! As far as prayer goes, I want to start praying that God would fill my day, not just grant me a good one. God has to be the center of what we do, think, say, etc.
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I love the image of our roots growing deep. Not wide, not everywhere, deep. To the Source. I want my roots singularly deep in my pursuit of Jesus. I want them to grow deeply into Him alone and not pursuing nourishment from any other place.
This might seem like a little shift in our thinking and the way we approach prayer, but I believe this might be one of the most significant things we ever do. Jesus changes everything!