Bowing Our Hearts With Humility - Ephesians 3:14-21

I pray for my children all the time. I pray that they may develop a personal relationship with Christ. I pray I have the strength and wisdom to witness Christ to my kids. But I pray that I can be humble to allow God to work in my heart. 

Are you approaching God with a humble heart and allowing Him to have a dwelling space that is suitable for the work He has in your lives?


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Ephesians 3:14-21
¹⁴ For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family 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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Paul returns to his original prayer for the Ephesians that he opened with in Ephesians 1. What better way to return to addressing God’s grace than to humbly ‘bow our knees’? Paul finishes this chapter with prayer for the Ephesians, on his knees while under house arrest. What a great witness he must’ve been to those keeping watch on him. Paul humbles himself in prayer for the strength of his brothers and sisters in Christ. God wants us to be humble, and we should also humbly present ourselves before God. However, God doesn’t necessarily want us to only physically bow our knees, God desires our hearts to be humbly presented to Him. When we humbly present our hearts to God in faith, He will grant us the strength, through the Holy Spirit, to where we need it the most, our inner being. I am weak and need God’s strength. Without God, my inner being is weak and cannot stand on its own. 

Paul prays that we will be rooted in love, that we are steadfast and stand firm in God’s love through faith so that we may have a firm foundation for loving one another. Once we have a firm foundation, then we may gain the strength to comprehend the incredible love of Christ. Christ's love surpasses our understanding. Christ’s love is multidimensional. The breadth is so wide it extends beyond the corner of the earth and covers all our sins. God’s love has gone to incredible lengths to save us from sin. Additionally, Christ descended to the depths of hades to free us from our bondage to sin. Finally, Christ’s love extends to the heights of heaven for us to reside with Him for eternity. 

Why should our inner man be strengthened, or our hearts be firmly rooted in God’s love, or to comprehend the dimensions of Christ’s love? Because with those areas, we may be filled with the fullness of God. Being filled to the brim and being completely full of God. What more can we ask for? Paul’s prayer is that we have faith enough to reach that point to have God’s great power working in us and through us. However, it all starts with humility. We must cast aside our sinful nature and humbly bow our hearts before God to be a dwelling place for Christ.

May prayer is that I may be humble enough to cast aside my sinful man and prepare my heart to be a continual dwelling place for Christ. I pray that my children develop this kind of relationship with Christ. I pray that the Holy Spirit works in your lives as brothers and sisters in Christ. Allow God to work in your hearts, and have faith that He gives you the understanding and love needed to fulfill His will in your lives. I encourage you to humble yourselves and find the time to seek His face and His truth.