Paul’s Prayer Continued.

Ephesians 3:14-17

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,

15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,

16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,

17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

As we saw yesterday, Paul’s prayer for the believers at Ephesus is a great pattern for our prayer lives for our fellow believers. It’s interesting that he doesn’t pray for their troubles to be removed or for material things for them. He prays for the one thing that can fix all their problems – their spiritual growth.

When Jesus Christ is comfortable and at home in your thinking, you will be rooted and grounded in love. I believe this word deserves some special attention. You’ve heard it before, but it’s the Greek word AGAPE.

Where does this love come from?

Philippians 1:9

9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment,

Love comes from knowledge! The more you learn about how God loves you, the more you will show that same love to others. Look at this passage:

1 John 2:5

5 but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:

The Greek word for keep is TEREO, and it doesn’t mean to keep as in follow the rules, but it means to guard or protect, or to place high importance on. Jesus said the same thing in:

John 14:15

15 "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

The only way that you will be rooted and grounded in the love of God is to treasure His word.

This AGAPE love is not necessarily a mushy, emotional love. If God wanted us to have that emotional love for people, how impossible would it be to follow this command that Jesus gave us:

Luke 6:27

27 "But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

That’s not what AGAPE is about. It’s more a case of treating people better than they deserve to be treated, because God treats us better than we deserve to be treated! The best passage that describes what this AGAPE love is all about is the wedding passage. Don’t take this as the way you are supposed to treat only your spouse, but as the way you are to treat EVERYONE.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,

5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,

6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;

7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Being rooted and grounded in love comes down to this principle: we treat other people kindly and patiently because we know that is how God treats us. The more you treasure the Word of God, the more you will understand how God loves you (yes, that even means you {{name}}). The more you understand how God loves you, the more you will want to reflect that same AGAPE love to everyone around you.