Ephesians: A Prayer for Cross Pointe

A Prayer for Cross Pointe? – Sermon Notes                     Pastor Mike Snodgrass Ephesians 3:13-21                                                               March 1, 2026

Review:

• Last time we discussed the “Mystery” that God had revealed to Paul.
  • Paul stated that Jew and Gentile were co-heirs to Christ and ONE in Christ!
  • Paul called this the Third Race.
  • Division among races is anti-scriptural and not what Christ established His church to be!
• Today we conclude Chapter 3 where Paul gives an eloquent prayer for this Third Race!
  • Ephesians 3:14-21

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Today’s message is found in Ephesians 3:13-21. Please follow along in your Bible or on a Bible app. Follow the Sermon Notes through the Church Center App as well.

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth is named, 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.

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This prayer carries a unique beauty. What has led so many to reflect on it over the years is that it is not distant or abstract—it is a prayer for us, for the Church, and for Cross Pointe Church.

• Paul is continuing his letter to the church in Ephesus and just concluded the first half of the letter.
  • Just finished revealing the “Mystery” that Christ is joining Jew and Gentile
  • Reminding us who we are in Christ and the “family of God”
  • Prior prayer for the reader to be enlightened and ultimately the understanding of the call of God on a person’s life.
• It is possible that because of these themes that Paul is describing that he take a very humble posture in verse 14, 14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
  • This is not typical or customary for a Jew – to kneel in prayer…
  • Modern day example – wailing wall in Jerusalem
  • Ordinary posture was standing
  • Kneeling indicated an extraordinary event or extreme passion:
    • King Solomon kneeling at the dedication of the temple – 2 Chronicles 6:13
    • Jesus falling to the ground in extreme emotions in Gethsemane – Mark 14:35,36
    • Even Paul saying goodbyes to the elders in Ephesus, knelt and prayed – Acts 20:36-38
• The two primary reasons for this posture for Paul is indicated in both verse 14 and 15, 14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth is named,
  • First – The Truth in God’s Word. What has been revealed to Paul and therefore stated in this letter. The revolutionary magnitude of what, how and why God was doing what He was doing.
  • Second – The soul healing Fatherhood which he rested. Bringing all into the unity and family of God and knowing the inheritance and rights of a child of God.
• Paul was moved by these two areas towards a posture and stance within his heart, mind and body, I bow my knees before the Father.

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It is a reasonable question to ask ourselves, “What is my posture”?

• • Are we understanding the reality of what God has done for us?
  • Are we understanding the circumstances that we are in?

• Our cultural climate is rapidly rising to a feverish boiling point…
  • Political divide…
  • Foundational morality confusion – right vs. wrong…
  • Apathy of life and the sanctity of it…
  • Even within the church we struggle to operate in this climate…
• We are often looking for solutions outwardly: to affect change and bring peace
  • Consumerism and materialism
  • Gluttony and overconsumption
  • Unbiblical view of love and compassion
  • Unhealthy and unbiblical relationships
• But I believe Paul’s posture and prayer is the solution
  • It is an inward reflection
  • It’s a prayer for a change
  • Not just knowledge but inner transformation
  • And ultimately the increase of God and a decrease of ourselves
• Paul’s prayer is for three specific things to occur for the person who puts faith in Christ
  • Strength
  • Love
  • Fullness’

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1. STRENGTH

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

• Note that where this strength and power come from – “according to the riches”
  • God is not giving “from” his riches
  • This is an exhaustible resource
  • When we receive, there is no loss for God in Kingdom economics
• Another important aspect of this gift is what it is coming in the form of: His Spirit!
  • 2 Corinthians 4:16 – Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
  • Acts 1:8 – But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

The Holy Spirit is the one who gives us strength—freely and generously, out of His abundant riches. He renews and empowers us for life, so even as our bodies age, our inner strength keeps growing. We may be fragile on the outside, but we carry God’s power within us.

• This power is for everyone!
  • Joel 2:28 – And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.
  • Acts 2:39  – For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

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2. LOVE

verse17b.—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…

• Paul is praying for a lifestyle of love
  • Rooted – agricultural (trees have strong roots that grow deep into the soil)
  • Grounded – architectural (buildings have solid, strong foundations)

If we are properly rooted and properly constructed on a foundation of love, nothing will shake us

Love is intrinsic or the core value of all of the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22 “Love is the key. Joy is love singing. Peace is love resting. Long – Suffering is love enduring. Kindness is love’s touch. Goodness is love’s character. Faithfulness is love’s habit. Gentleness is love’s self-forgetfulness. Self-Control is love holding the reins”.

• Paul also references the we are to have this love along with, with all the saints
  • This is a relational love
  • Critically important within the Kingdom of God and what Paul stated earlier, Third Race.
  • Love must continually grow on until the grave, where it then fully blooms
• Paul continues with an odd statement – to consider the infinite love of Christ: verse 18 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…
• The Four Magnitudes – breadth (width), length, height and depth
  • These are poetic expressions of the infinitude of God’s love.
    • A love that is wide enough to embrace the whole world. John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
    • A love that is long enough to last forever. 1 Corinthians 13:8 – Love never ends…
    • “It is so long that your old age cannot wear it out, so long your continual tribulation cannot exhaust it, your successive temptations shall not run it dry; like eternity itself it knows no bounds” – Charles Spurgeon
    • A love which is high enough to take sinners to heaven. 1 John 3:1-2 – See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are…
    • A love which is deep enough to take Christ to the very depths to reach the lowest sinners. Philippians 2:8 – And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
  • The key of the Four Magnitudes is that they are not fully understood in a solitary or isolated environment. The reality is that we, along with all the saints, task ourselves with this!
    • We need each other in order to comprehend His Word!
• Paul wanted us to experience Christ’s love not just know it…verse 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge…
  • This is a bit confusing – You cannot personally know what is beyond knowledge
  • Paul wants us to experience His love!

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3. FULLNESS

19b…that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

This fullness is the fullness with which God fills himself…

• How can we understand this???
  • Colossians 1:19 – For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him…
  • Colossians 2:9-10 – For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.
  • Think of the expanse of volume of the ocean…
    • The Atlantic Ocean contains about 74 million cubic miles of water.
    • That equals roughly 82 quintillion gallons.

Because Christ is infinite, he can hold all the fullness of Deity. But whenever one of us finite creatures dips the tiny vessel of our life into him, we instantly become full of his fullness. We can always open to hold more and more of fullness. And the more we receive of his fullness, the more we can yet receive!!!

• What a prayer to ask and then to receive!!!

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.

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4. DOXOLOGY

• High theology always becomes doxology or high praise!
  • Paul concludes this prayer with a burst of praise!
  • The God Paul is praying to is able to do more than we could ever ask for—or even imagine.
• To him be the glory! AMEN

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5. OUR PRAYER?

• We have learned that there are three things the third race must put on its prayer list:

1. Prayer for inner strengthening so as to enhance our capacity to hold what he has for us.
2. Prayer for love so our practical lives will be rooted in love and so we will further understand and experience his unfathomable love, and
3. Prayer for ever growing fullness in this life and in eternity.

• If we pray through this list, we have every reason to be hopeful because of the promise we’re given in the First Epistle of John 5:14–15 – This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
• Our optimism comes because Paul’s Ephesian prayer is God’s revealed will. Therefore, if we pray for its three grand emphases, we will receive them!!!

Do you and I desire these three things in our Christian walk? Do We, as Cross Pointe Church, desire these three things in our ministry and the execution of them?