Prayer in the River – 5th July 2006
Yesterday, we broke off from Paul’s prayer almost mid-sentence. I love to think of Paul getting carried away in prayer as his thoughts rise and soar. It is almost as if the Holy Spirit is praying in and through him as he gets excited about what God is doing and can do.
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Eph 3:17-19
Again, there is a sense that in order to grasp, or know or appreciate God’s love and power, we need revelation. To get hold of the width and length and height and depth of the love of God is a bit like trying to hold a river in your hand. You can grasp it, you can feel it, you can even stand in it but it is a river of love that surpasses knowledge.
This is such a powerful prayer to use for your own life. To pray this prayer is to be drawn into the vast river of the love of God. We sometimes ask God to fill us or fill others with His Holy Spirit. But how do we measure full? What does Paul mean “filled to the measure of the fullness of God?”
I picture it as standing before God with a glass in my hand and asking Him to fill it. Then I realise that He is standing there with a waterfall in His hands. I sense Him saying, “This is what I mean when I say full!” And I drop my little glass and just step into that waterfall and allow it to flow over me.
As I have been suggesting all this week, try praying this prayer for someone else or for yourself. And as you do, imagine yourself standing in the river or in the waterfall of God’s love and allow Him to fill you according to His measure of fullness.
If you have time to read on to the end of Ephesians chapter 3, you’ll see what I mean! | 