Prayer for Inner Strength

Pray for Inner Strength

Ephesian 3:14-19
For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
from 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 through His Spirit in the inner man,
        that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;
            that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
            may be able to comprehend with all the saints
                what is the width and length and depth and height——
                to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge;
                    that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

The strengthening in the inner man is the development of a man of conviction. But this is not an end in itself. Notice the progression. A man of conviction is one who submits his will to God. This results also in Christ dwelling in us so as to affect the desires of our heart that we develop a character of love. This indwelling of Christ and our practicing Christian love leads to further revelation of Christ's love resulting in us being filled with all the fullness of God.

Now let's take the in reverse. How can a person be filled with all the fullness of God? Such a person needs the revelation of Christ's love. (Many do not realize this connection) How does one obtain the revelation of Christ's love? By having Christ dwell in our hearts through faith - affecting the desires of our heart and practicing Christian love. And how do we get Christ to dwell in our hearts? It is through faith. But not any old faith. It is through strong conviction.

Conviction leads to Submission leads to Revelation leads to Maturity

And now I pray for you, the reader, that God will develop in you strength of conviction - the strength to live the Christian life through faith - with the expected result that Christ will affect the desires of your heart such that you may develop and practice Christian love. And that this would further result in you knowing Christ's love better resulting in a mature walk with the Lord.

If you notice significant effects to this end in the future, feel free to glorify God and let me
know that I and others may be encouraged to pray further along these lines.

Steve Amato

The Berean Christian Bible Study Resources