Ephesians (W6D2) Power for the Soul
Week 6. Tuesday: Power for the Soul
PRAY: Ask God to speak to you from His Word.
READ: Ephesians 3:16
16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
UNDERSTAND: get a deeper understanding of the key words
Glorious Riches (Greek: doxa ploutos): abundance, fullness
The context here is the strength and power of God.
Paul is saying that God has an abundance of strength/power to give us.
Strengthen (Greek: krataioō): to increase in strength, made stronger
In Greek, this is an action in the past that continues indefinitely.
Therefore, Paul is praying for a continual increase in strength.
Even Jesus, in His humanity, grew in strength (Luke 2:40).
Power (Greek: dynamis): inherent ability
Any power that we have comes from God’s Spirit in us (Romans 15:13).
The Gospel is the power for our salvation (Romans 1:16).
Paul’s preaching was based on God’s power (1 Corinthians 2:4-5).
Inner Being (Greek: esō anthrōpos): the soul or conscience
Paul is praying for power in our inner being to overcome our flesh.
Even Paul struggled with gaining power over his sin nature (Romans 7:21-25).
The only way to gain power over our sin nature is through the power of God.
APPLY: What is this passage calling me to do?
What’s on the inside eventually displays itself on the outside. If we are defeated on the inside, we will live that way outwardly. Life is tough. It will beat you down repeatedly. That’s why Paul prays for the Ephesians to be continually strengthened with the power of God. They would need this inner power to be able to do what Paul writes in the rest of the letter. Living out the Gospel is not easy. We can’t do it on our own. We need God’s power at work in us so we can honor Him with our lives.
What circumstances currently have you feeling defeated?
In what ways does this verse encourage you?
PRAY: Ask God to empower you with His Spirit.
