Ephesians 3:14-21 Study Prompts #2

I am currently preaching a sermon series on Sunday mornings at Wildwood Community Church called “Packed” – based out of Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians.  During this series, I am using my blog to post study prompts, devotionals, sermon audio/video, and discussion questions to help facilitate personal or group study of this book.  NOTE: At the bottom of this post, I have a set of links to previous resources in this series.

Ephesians 3:14-21 – Study Prompts #2

1. As you prepare your heart for study, know that God desires to reveal Himself to you, and He has given you His Holy Spirit to guide you into truth.  Before you open in prayer, consider Jeremiah 9:23-24.  “This is what the Lord declares: ‘Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,’ declares the Lord.”  Pray for this understanding and knowledge of God with the Holy Spirit as your guide.
2. Read Ephesians 3:14-21
3. The bulk of Paul’s prayer recorded in these verses is one long sentence (3:14-19 are a single sentence).  The main request Paul has for the Ephesians is found in 3:16.  What is the main prayer request Paul mentions here for the Ephesians?
4. Paul talks of a “strengthening” in their “inner being.”  This seems to be a prayer for something beyond physical strength or endurance.  Many times our prayer life is full of requests for physical healing, physical provision, etc.  It is not wrong to pray for physical things (praying for God’s physical provision is also a part of the Biblical record), however, our prayers should certainly not be limited to only physical things.  Spiritual strength is needed to live the Christian life.  What is an area of your life that you are dealing with right now where you could use “spiritual strengthening”?  (Spiritual strengthening would include encouragement, divine enablement to resist temptation, etc.)
5. The spiritual strengthening that Paul prays for, will enable the Ephesians to see Christ “dwell in their hearts.”  We already saw in Ephesians 2:22 that God dwells with followers of Christ through the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives.  Here, the picture seems to be not merely Christ’s presence, but the fact that Christ would be “at home” in our hearts.  As God’s people trust in Him, more and more their heart’s become Christ’s home.  Think of the home in which you live.  What would it look like for someone to be “at home” in your house, instead of just a “visitor” or “guest?”  What do you think Paul means when he talks about Jesus being “at home” in our hearts?
6. Christ being at home in our hearts is something that is tied to our faith.  Faith means to trust or depend on something/someone.  How would growing in your trust and dependence upon Jesus increase your experience of fellowship with Him?  What would it look like for you to trust or depend on Jesus more in your life this week?
7. STUDY NOTE:  The church (and our personal relationship with God) is grounded and established in the love of God.  It was God’s love that motivated Him to save us.  It was God’s love that saw fit to unite both Jew and Gentile into one Body in Christ Jesus.  It was God’s love that led Him to prepare a way for us to be forgiven and be able to relate with Him forever.  It was God’s love that had Him bless us with every spiritual blessing.  This love is so great, it defies our comprehension.  Tom Constable says this of Ephesians 3:17-19, “When believers accept Jesus Christ’s revelation of the mystery of the church, they are able to comprehend that God’s love is broad enough to embrace both Jews and Gentiles in the church.  They can appreciate that it is long enough to reach the far off (Gentiles) as well as the near (Jews) and to stretch from eternity to eternity.  They can see that it is high enough to raise both Jews and Gentiles into the heavenly places.  They can understand that it is deep enough to rescue both kinds of people from sin’s degradation and from Satan’s grip.”
8. On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being the highest), how much do you think God loves you?  Why did you answer the way that you did?
9. Take some time right now to pray for yourself and others in your life that we would be strengthened with spiritual power and that we would comprehend just how much we are loved in Christ Jesus!

For more resources related to this study of Ephesians click on the following links:

• Packed – Series Introduction
• Eph. 1:3-14 (Study Prompts #1)
• Eph. 1:3-14 (Study Prompts #2)
• Eph. 1:3-14 (Study Prompts #3)
• The “In Crowd” (Devotional/Sermon Preview)
• Packed Sermon Discussion Questions
• Packed #1 Sermon Audio/Video
• Eph. 1:15-23 (Study Prompts #1)
• Eph. 1:15-23 (Study Prompts #2)
• Eph. 1:15-23 (Study Prompts #3)
• It’s a Wonderful Christian Life (Devotional)
• Packed #2 Sermon Discussion Questions
• Packed #2 Sermon Audio/Video
• Eph. 2:1-10 (Study Prompts #1)
• Eph. 2:1-10 (Study Prompts #2)
• Eph. 2:1-10 (Study Prompts #3)
• Unbelievable Offer (Devotional/Sermon Preview)
• Packed #3 Sermon Discussion Questions
• Packed #3 Sermon Audio/Video
• Eph. 2:11-22 (Study Prompts #1)
• Eph. 2:11-22 (Study Prompts #2)
• Eph. 2:11-22 (Study Prompts #3)
• Uncommon Denominator (Devotional/Sermon Preview)
• Packed #4 Sermon Discussion Questions
• Packed #4 Sermon Audio/Video
• Eph. 3:1-13 (Study Prompts #1)
• Eph. 3:1-13 (Study Prompts #2)
• Eph. 3:1-13 (Study Prompts #3)
• Tether (Devotional/Sermon Preview)
• Packed #5 Sermon Discussion Questions
• Packed #5 Sermon Audio/Video
• Eph. 3:14-21 (Study Prompts #1)