Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory. For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
(Ephesians 3:13-19, NASB)
This is my prayer for my family and friends today.
I pray, as Paul did, that each of them might be “strengthened with power through His spirit.” We live in difficult, turbulent times. So many of those I love are struggling with health issues. They’re valiantly searching for jobs, wondering how they’ll pay next month’s bills. They’re grieving over the loss of loved ones. And so I pray for a supernatural strength that comes only from our Lord.
I pray that “Christ may dwell in [their] hearts through faith.” Faith is the foundation of our relationships with God—Father, Son, and Spirit. It is the “handle on what we can’t see” (Heb. 11:1, MSG). Faith comes from having complete trust in God, knowing He is working all things for His glory and our ultimate good (Rom. 8:28).
I pray that they will truly, deeply know God’s love, the love that “surpasses knowledge.” A love that is everlasting (Jer. 31:3). A love that will never forsake (Heb. 13:5). A love that was willing to sacrifice God’s only Son for us (John 3:16).
Those of us who know God are blessed, just by being His children. And yet He gives us so much more. No matter what is happening in this world and in our lives, God is in loving control. He will strengthen us with a love that is beyond comprehension.
Amen and amen.
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