In Ephesians 3:18 Paul prays, I pray that you and all God’s holy people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ’s love—how wide, how long, how high, and how deep that love is. It's impossible to wrap our human brains around the superhuman love of God. 1 John 4:8-10 says, But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
Jesus Christ is the Son of God, so it figures that he is love too. He loved us so much that he died on a cross for us. He did that, not because we deserved eternal life with him, but so that we could deserve eternal life with him. That's epic. In Ephesians 3:17 Paul says, I pray that your love will have deep roots. I pray that it will have a strong foundation. Deep roots and firm foundations provide stability in the storms of life. Does your love have deep roots? How do you think and act when life is hard? When people are rude or unkind? God's perfect love helps us to endure hardship; to be kind, even when others aren't; to have hope; and to have joy. It affects everything you think, do and say.
I've always had a weird fascination with the sky - with clouds, stars, the moon, sunrises, sunsets, rainbows, etc. Psalm 19:1 explains why - it's because they tell of God's glory. It's hard to imagine watching a beautiful sunset and not believing that God doesn't exist. Look up and see God's glory reflected in the sky.
I love Paul's prayers for the early church. In Ephesians 3:16 he says, I pray that he will use his glorious riches to make you strong. May his Holy Spirit give you his power deep down inside you. He was praying that they would have strength to continue in their faith in the face of great persecution; that they wouldn't be discouraged because he was currently in prison for his faith.
I think this prayer is relevant today too. We don't face imprisonment for our faith where I live, but you definitely face criticism, judgement, and persecution for following Jesus. My prayer for you is that the Holy Spirit would give you power to follow Jesus, even when you face persecution; that you would have strength to love others, even your enemies; that you would have strength to have faith in God when things are hard, that you would have strength to do the good things that God has planned for you; and that you would have strength to tell others the Good News about Jesus.
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