Ephesians 3:14-16 “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;”
In verse thirteen, Paul expresses his desire that his audience “faint not.” As servants of God according to His will, we should always encourage His saints to not give in to weakness. While we may offer words of exhortation, we are not sufficient in ourselves to give strength to our brothers and sisters. If we truly desire to see them stand strong, then we must bow our knees unto the Father.
If we are bowed before Him in truth, it is on the account of our desire to see the church strengthened. It is also in recognition of the fact that this power does not lie within us. We must look to a higher authority and place all our hope in Him. Whether or not we are physically able to bow before Him is not the point. We are to come before Him with humility, recognizing that it is of His unchanging grace and love that we are not consumed (Mal 3:6).
We are named by the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Strong’s definition of the Greek word rendered as named is “to name, that is, assign an appellation.” Webster’s Dictionary of American English (1828) defines appellation as “the word by which a thing is called and known.” We are called by the Him who has the power to name us, and we are known by Him who has the power to name us. The origin of the calling and knowing of the whole family of God, both in heaven and in earth is found in the Father of our Lord Jesus!
When we pray for the church to be strengthened, it is not for the strengthening of the natural man that we seek. A congregation of body-builders would not necessarily make a strong church. It is strengthening by His Spirit that we pray for. When we pray to see strengthening with might, we are asking to be blessed with “miraculous power” (see Strong’s). God is the only one who can grant this might.
This might is not given to us because of our labor or our righteousness. Only God can grant this might. He does so according to the riches of His glory. The Greek word rendered as glory means “glory (as very apparent).” We are strengthened by miraculous power when it pleases God to make Himself very apparent to us. When He makes Himself very apparent, He does so richly; He makes Himself know to us abundantly!
Do we see the miraculous power of the Father of Jesus Christ through the working of the Spirit in the inner man? Some would tell you there are no miracles in the world today. Others may fabricate some hoax and try to pass it off as a miracle. Don’t let either of these groups sway you from the truth that we serve a God of miraculous power.
It is a miracle of God’s grace when His people are convicted of their sin. It is a miracle of God’s grace when He causes us to know that we have salvation in Jesus Christ. It is the miraculous power of God that causes men and women to desire to follow Jesus through the Spirit. I am not saying by any stretch of the imagination that God does not still perform miracles in the world today, because I am convinced that He still does physical miracles.
I believe He still heals the physically sick. I believe that it is He that keeps the entire universe on course. I believe that He still guides our solar system and holds the sun, the earth, the moon, and all the other planets in their proper orbits and relation to each other so that this earth can sustain life. I believe that the daily, orderly working of nature is kept so by the miraculous power of the Almighty God, and I believe that His church in the earth is kept by that same miraculous power!
May we, as the servants of Jesus Christ, humble ourselves before the Father and pray for the strength that comes by the miraculous power of His Spirit in the inner man!