Articles
“Pray Big”
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:14-21
Paul concludes the first half of his letter to the Ephesians with this profound prayer for spiritual strength. It recycles and develops some of the same concepts of his earlier prayer for the church (1:15-19). He has been unfolding the eternal plan of God to unite Jews and Gentiles into one new humanity in Christ by breaking down the barrier that separated them (the law of Moses) and the barrier that separated all humanity from God (sin). Now he wants the Ephesians (and us) to have supreme confidence in God’s power so that our spirit would be strengthened to know his boundless love for us.
This is a big prayer. We hear the magnitude of his requests, the depths of God’s power and the eternal scope of his plan. The prayer is so big, it’s easy to get lost in it. Do your prayers sound like this? Perhaps, like me, your prayers seem awfully puny in comparison. That’s okay. Praying like this takes years of spiritual growth and maturity. Paul’s prayer is more than just a recitation of his requests; it is a model prayer for us. So where would we begin if we wanted to pray big like Paul?
The attitude of prayer: boldness — Praying big begins with our attitude. In the prior section (3:1-12), Paul outlines his ministry on behalf of the Gentiles. He said that “in [Christ] we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.” (3:12) Because we are “in Christ” we have “boldness”—complete freedom of speech with God—and “access with confidence”—complete freedom to approach God. We have no audience, much less the freedom to speak so openly, to the important people of this world. Yet “through faith… in Christ” we have the freedom to approach the Creator of the universe with such boldness. Don’t mistake this boldness and ready access to God for a casual, familiar approach in prayer though. It is only through Jesus’ sacrifice that we can stand with such assurance in the presence of a holy God.
The content of prayer: spiritual — Praying big means reconsidering what we’re praying for. Because the focus of Paul’s petition is spiritual, not material, it is a monumental request. He is asking God to grant them power through his Holy Spirit, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead (1:19-20), so that Christ can take up residence in their hearts granting them the ability to comprehend God’s unfathomable love and filling them up with all the fullness of God. The scope of those requests is breathtaking! What are we asking for in our prayers? Many times, our requests reflect our preoccupation with this world, temporary concerns like financial stability, bodily wellness or a better job. Though it’s not wrong to pray for such things (Mt. 6:11; Phil. 4:6), if our prayers are solely focused on this world can we really say we are seeking the things which are above? (Col. 3:1-2) These concerns may seem important to us now, but in the grand scheme of things—which Paul has been laboring to describe in the letter—they are rather shortsighted. Praying big means focusing on the spiritual, unseen and eternal things (2 Cor. 4:16-18).
The basis of prayer: God — The introduction and concluding doxology of Paul’s prayer reveal how he could ask God for such big things. He is praying to “the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.” He is praying to the God who is abundant in “the riches of his glory.” He is praying to the God who “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think.” He is praying to the God to whom belongs "glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.” In other words, Paul could pray big because the God he is praying to is so big. Sometimes our prayers are so small because our view of God is so limited. Paul illustrates God’s big-ness in the universal scope of his eternal plan, the limitless dimensions of his love and the cosmic power he works on behalf of his people—all things displayed in Christ.
In Christ, we have the freedom to approach God and speak openly with him in prayer, asking for big things all because we are praying to a transcendent, perfect and incomparable God.
