16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 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, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
- Above is the ESV. Below Andrew added some words, removed the verse numbers and added paragraph breaks in order to try and make it clearer -
So that according to the riches of his glory God 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—
So 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,
So 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.
Questions for Reflection:
Why would Paul desire them to be rooted and grounded in Love?
Why does God's work in us seem to take so long?
How does Christ's love surpass knowledge?
How can you immerse yourself today/this week in the 'fullness of God?'
Prayer of the Week:
(Note: This week’s prayer is designed differently. After a brief prayer introduction, we will pray a portion of Psalm 95 followed by 30ish seconds of silence for us to “immerse” in the words just prayed. We will do this three times.)
Father, Son, Holy Spirit, I praise and thank You for the opportunity to be in Your gracious presence in this moment. Jesus, restore me in You and renew me in You. Fill me afresh Holy Spirit, saturate me in Your Love, saturate me in Your Life. Untangle me from my anxious thoughts, untangle me Jesus, untangle me. I am Yours and You are mine.
1 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
(pause)
3 For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5 The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.
(pause)
6 Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
7 for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.
(pause)
Amen
