Day 17: Ephesians 3:14-17: Strengthened in the Inner Being

God desires to strengthen us from the inside out.

Paul pauses his teaching and bows his knees in prayer. Rather than praying fist for changed circumstances, he prays that believers would be strengthened through the Spirit in their inner being. True spiritual maturity begins not with external success but with Christ dwelling deeply within us.

Reflection: What practices or rhythms help cultivate your inner life with God?

Transcript

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Happy Tuesday, everyone, and it's a special day. We are meeting tonight in person. Can't wait. But let's get into our devotion first. Today we're in Ephesians chapter 3, verses 14 through 17, and our topic is strengthened in the inner being. Let's read together. For this reason, I kneel before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love. It ends there, which is a very weird ending. There's a comma there, so I guess we'll start the rest tomorrow. That's 14 through 17. That is the word of God. Let's get in to our dig deeper here. God desires to strengthen us from the inside out. Paul finally returns to the thought he began back in verse 1 of Ephesians 3, which we discussed maybe three or four days ago. Before he asks for anything, he kneels. That detail might seem small, but it would have stood out to his readers. Jews often prayed standing. Kneeling was reserved for moments of deep humility, awe, grief, or dependence. Paul is overwhelmed by what God has done. He's not just writing theology, he is worshiping. And notice what he prays for. He doesn't pray for the Romans to release him. He doesn't pray for easier circumstances for the Ephesians. He doesn't pray for financial prosperity or physical safety. Those things matter, but Paul goes deeper. He prays for strength in their inner being. The Greeks often focused on outward appearance and intellect. Roman culture prized, honor, status, influence, and power. Ephesus itself was filled with visual reminders of success, its harbor, marketplaces, libraries, temples, and wealth. But Paul knows something. External strength can exist alongside spiritual weakness. People can appear successful while being exhausted, anxious, shallow, or spiritually dry. The inner being refers to the deepest part of who we are the heart, mind, our affections, desires, and will. Paul says this strength comes through the spirit. It doesn't come through self-improvement or personality or determination. The Holy Spirit isn't just God's power working around believers. He is God's presence dwelling within believers. Then Paul says that Christ may dwell in your hearts. The word dwell here means to settle down permanently. It's not visiting, not renting. He is making himself at home. Imagine someone moving into a house room by room, rearranging furniture, repairing what is broken, throwing out what doesn't belong, beautifying what was neglected. That is the picture of sanctification, the process we go through once we surrender our lives to Christ and the Holy Spirit seals us, and we are now the dwelling place of God. He begins to change our hearts. He begins rearranging the furniture in our hearts, repairing what is broken, throwing out what doesn't belong, beautifying what we've neglected. Sanctification is not Christ occasionally stopping by, it's Christ taking residence. Many homes in Ephesus contained shrines to household gods. Families often believed divine protection came through maintaining these sacred spaces. Paul presents something radically different. The true God doesn't dwell in temples, he dwells within his people. And today we spend enormous energy strengthening our outer lives. I've said this before in here, but we're in Miami, a lot of us. To me, it's like the epicenter of wealth and status and name brands and all those outward appearances. And whether you're in Miami or anywhere else, you can look around and see how much we and everyone around us strengthens those appearances. It's our schedules, our careers, our health, our homes, our image. Meanwhile, God is deeply concerned with the hidden places, our character, our thought life, our fears, our desires, our trust. What God builds within us becomes a source of everything that flows out of us. He desires to strengthen us from the inside out. As we leave today, let's reflect on this question What practices or rhythms help cultivate your inner life with God? Love you. We'll talk tomorrow.