3:14

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ^F19

3:15

from whom every family ^F20 in heaven and on earth takes its name.

3:16

I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit,

3:17

and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.

3:18

I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth,

3:19

and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

3:20

Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine,

3:21

to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

FOOTNOTES:
F19: Other ancient authorities add [of our Lord Jesus Christ]
F20: Gk [fatherhood]

3:14

My response is to get down on my knees before the Father,

3:15

this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth.

3:16

I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit - not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength -

3:17

that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love,

3:18

you'll be able to take in with all Christians the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights!

3:19

Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.

3:20

God can do anything, you know - far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.

3:21

Glory to God in the church! Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus! Glory down all the generations! Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes!