Love That Passes Knowledge written by Susan Zacharia

Love That Passes Knowledge

(Ephesians 3:13-21)

St. Paul begins this epistle passage by comforting his readers (Ephesians 3:13) – to not look at his struggles and lose hope. Rather than continuing to comfort them with simply his own words, St. Paul responds by submitting their worries to the Lord. Often times, when we see or hear of someone in need, many of us might think to ourselves, “what is it that I can do for him or her?” We take on the responsibility of comforting others as if without us, comfort cannot be found. As St. Paul humbly did in this passage, it is important for us to turn to the Comforter Himself to provide others (and ourselves) comfort. It reminds us, as St. Paul explains later in this passage, that God is above all things imaginable and is more capable than any of us, as He is our Creator. This is not to take away from the works that we are called to do – but this is to say that we must seek out the Lord in all that we do, including our interactions with others.

St. Paul bows his knees (Ephesians 3:14), showing his sincerity in his desire to pray for his readers and prays to the Lord, to whom the heaven and earth belongs (Ephesians 3:15), that

“He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:16-21)

What if our personal prayers could look like this? What if our prayers for others could look like this? Often times, we pray for what it is that we want, what we feel that we need, what others want, what others feel that they need. We pray with the thought that we know what is best for ourselves and therefore we ask for just that - but there is a deeper request that is embedded in this prayer of St. Paul. He asks God to strengthen His people so they may invite Him to abide in their hearts. He prays that they, like the saints, may be able to understand that He is beyond the intellect of man and therefore know the width and the length and the depth and the height of His love and that by doing so, they might become full in Him. There is nothing more that we can ask God for that will complete us than the humble request to help us know Him better. As St. Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 2:9, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him.”

Questions for Meditation:

1.     In what ways can you more earnestly ask God in your prayers to dwell in your hearts?

2.     How has your personal prayers changed over the past?