A Prayer for the Church — sacred illustration
✶ Our Bible Moments No. 257 / 272

Church & Ministry

A Prayer for the Church

Ephesians 3:14-19

Ephesians 3:14-19 is the prayer the apostle Paul wrote for the believers at Ephesus while he was a prisoner, asking the Father to strengthen them by His Spirit and fill them with the love of Christ.

Father, we bow our knees before You for our church. Out of the riches of Your glory, strengthen us with power through Your Spirit, so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith. Root and ground us in love. Together with all the saints, help us grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and know this love that surpasses knowledge. Fill us with all Your fullness, and let that love reach our neighbors. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Ephesians 3:14-19 is the prayer the apostle Paul wrote for the believers at Ephesus while he was a prisoner, asking the Father to strengthen them by His Spirit and fill them with the love of Christ.

The Scripture

“... for this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love, will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

— Ephesians 3:14-19

Prayer points from Ephesians 3:14-19

  1. Bow before the Father and thank Him for your church family.
  2. Ask Him to strengthen your church with power through His Spirit.
  3. Pray that Christ would dwell in every heart through faith.
  4. Ask that your church be rooted and grounded in love.
  5. Pray to grasp, together with all the saints, the love of Christ.
  6. Ask God to let that love reach your neighbors and your community.

About this verse

In the first half of Ephesians, Paul explains how God has made Jews and Gentiles one people in Christ, “members of God’s household.” Twice he stops to pray for that church. The second prayer begins, “I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.” Paul does not ask for a bigger building, a better reputation or an easier season. He asks that they be strengthened inwardly by the Spirit, that Christ would dwell in their hearts through faith, and that, “being rooted and grounded in love,” they would grasp the love of Christ “together with all the saints.” A church that knows how deeply it is loved becomes a place of love, for one another and for the town around it. Paul wrote this as a prisoner, yet his prayer is full of riches, power and fullness. This prayer is for a congregation, a church family, a prayer meeting or anyone who wants to pray for their own church.

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