Today's Scripture: Ephesians 3:14–21
Insight
Because Paul led the Ephesian believers to faith (Acts 19:1–10), he considers them his spiritual children and is unwaveringly committed to pray fervently for their spiritual growth (see Philippians 1:3–6; 2 Thessalonians 1:11–12). Ephesians 3:14–21 is one of the few recorded prayers of Paul in the New Testament (see also Philippians 1:9–11; Colossians 1:9–12), and is the second of two prayers in Ephesians (also Ephesians 1:15–23). In these prayers, Paul doesn’t pray for their material well-being but focuses on their spiritual development and maturity.
In the first prayer, which emphasizes knowledge, Paul prays they’ll have “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation” so that they may “know the hope to which [God] has called [them]” (Ephesians 1:17–18). In his second prayer (Ephesians 3:14–21), he focuses on love and prays that having been “rooted and established in love” they’ll “grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” (Ephesians 3:17–18).
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