Or maybe I'll stay up a bit longer.

I was listening to an old podcast from the young adult's group at my church and there were a few things that were said that hit me like... A ball in the face. So keep in mind that these are not entirely my own words, but partly copied from a sermon on Ephesians 3:14-19. Also, not only did I just listen to this podcast three or so days ago, but I was at the same young adult's group tonight and it was on the same prayer in Ephesians. I think someone's hinting at something. Goodness knows if I have any idea what it is though.

First of all, this is the passage...
(14) For this reason I kneel before the Father (15) from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. (16) I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being (17) so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, (18) may have power together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, (19) and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

So I'm going to just jump right into the middle and throw out the most common question... Why? Why is Paul praying this prayer? I mean, he's praying about something that is already said to be reality.

In verse 17 he prays that Christ may dwell in their hearts, but earlier in Ephesians 2:22 he says, "And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit." So basically he says, "If you're a believer Christ lives in you by his Spirit." Well, if God already lives in us, why would Paul feel the need to pray this? Also, in verse 18 he prays that they may know the love of Christ. And again, in, like, the whole book of John it says, "If God's love is not in me, I'm not a Christian." And in verse 19 Paul prays that they may be filled with the fullness of God when Colossians 2:9-10 says, "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority." That's the third time in as many verses where Paul prays something that has been stated as a reality.

Well, here's why Paul is praying this. Even though we know this - that Christ dwells in us, the love of Christ - and have been given the fullness of God, it doesn't affect us. It is one thing to believe in and trust the love of Christ, it is a whole other thing to EXPERIENCE the love of God that is in Christ.

The love of Christ is functioning very minimally in me. The love of Christ is not shaping my mind, it is not guiding my feelings, I'm not thinking about the love of Jesus and I'm not pausing to form my response to the day, the people I interact with, the situations I'm in, the future, etc with the love of Jesus. I'm just living life and getting through. How true that is for so many people, sadly including myself.

We need to develop habits that create sustainable momentum. Like, if you've ever gone to the gym... The first few times you go, you do great. You feel great and you work hard. But then as time goes on the gym seems more like a far fetched dream. If you go, you spend most of your time in the sauna rather than actually working out. This happens because you haven't developed any habits that have created sustainable momentum. It's the same thing... You need to be intentional about developing habits and living and grounding and being consumed by the reality of the love of God.

Someone needs your prayer. Someone needs a word of encouragement. Now, I don't know who that someone is, but there is always, ALWAYS someone. And when we are grounded in the love of God, this is in Christ Jesus, NOTHING shakes us in a way that paralyzes our prayer.

Now if you look at verses 16-19 Paul's not praying that we would understand the love of God (which is important), but that we would take it in to our inner being. That we would experience it, that we would be overwhelmed by it, that the love of Jesus would become more real to us than the chair we're sitting on.

So if that's WHY Paul prayed this, the next question is... How do we get into this? How do we access it? In verse 18 Paul prays that they may grasp, together with all the saints, how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. This is the habit that will develop a sustained momentum. Grasp the love of Jesus in your day no matter how hard it is. Wrestle the love of God into your inner being.

When you and I are grounded with an experience and understanding of the love of God that is revealed in Jesus Christ, no matter what tomorrow brings you and I will stand on a rock. And it doesn't mean that your heart won't break. And it doesn't mean that you won't struggle. And it doesn't mean that you and I won't experience loss. But it means that when we pray and when we bring the love of Jesus and work at that, that there is a sustained momentum. And it means that we don't have to bang people on the head and convince them that the love of Christ is real. All we're doing is we're standing on the rock of Jesus because we know that we know that we know that my God reigns. And even though we don't have the answers we have Jesus. Jesus chose to identify himself with his wounds. He showed up to the one that was struggling the most (Thomas) and told him to put his hands into the gaping holes so he would believe.

When you start developing a sustained momentum that is grounded in the love of this Jesus, then when we pray, we don't pray out of hoping. We don't pray out of some measure of uncertainty. We just pray with this non-anxious presence. We listen. We don't have all the answers. It is not understanding that brings peace, it is presence that brings peace.

No one is beyond the width of God's love. No one.

In Philippians 2 Paul says that we serve a Jesus who emptied himself. He became a servant of servants to walk this earth that we might be impacted and draw close. Oh, that we would know the height of his love. And in John 17 Jesus prays, Father, I want them to share my glory. What an amazing love.

In Acts 4, when a small group of people were faced with overwhelming fear in the knowledge that they were going to sacrifice their lives, the kingdom of God would be set loose over the face of the earth. When they came together, they came together with lives that had wrestled the love of Jesus into their very foundation. And when they prayed, when they were done, the place shook. Because when we go beyond knowledge into the overwhelming experience of the love of Jesus and we wrestle that into our life, when we pray things will shake. Lives will shake.