Our Redemption “in Christ” Detailed to the Ephesians Volume 32

Paul Prays a second Time for these Ephesian Believers Part 4 (The Doxology)

Ephesians 3:20-21 Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. KJV

Finally, after climbing to the highest spiritual heights one can go in praying for other brothers and sisters in Christ, Paul concludes and closes his prayer for these Ephesian believers by praising the awesomeness and amazing limitless Power of God the Father who shares His Power with us His children. First, Paul gives thanks and praise with these words “unto Him that is able” (Ephesians 3:20) and this English phrase is translated by one Greek word dunamai which means who can do or to be of power to do (this word is used over 200 times in the Bible). In other words, Paul knows that our Father in Heaven is mighty in power to do everything that he has prayed for these Ephesian believers and us today to experience by virtue of His Mighty Power (Ephesians 3:16-19). Paul cannot find the one appropriate word to express his assurance to these Ephesians that our Father in Heaven will strengthen them with might and make them know the love of Christ in their inner man and inner woman, but he comes as close as humanly possible with the finite human language we have by declaring that He will do “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20).

The English phrase “exceedingly abundantly” is a rare double compound adverb and it is translated by the one Greek word perissos which means (in the sense of beyond); superabundant (in quantity) or superior (in quality); by implication excessive; beyond measure, more than is needed, desired, or required. In other words, He (God the Father) who is “rich in mercy” (Ephesians 2:4) also has “Great Power” as the Prophet Nehemiah prayed with these words speaking of our Great God, “They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your Great Power and by Your Strong Hand. O Lord, I beseech You, may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere Your name, and make Your servant successful today and grant him compassion before this man. Now I was the cupbearer to the king.” (Nehemiah 1:10-11) and likewise as the Palmist writes with these words, “Great is our Lord, and of Great Power: His understanding is infinite.” (Psalm 147:5).

Paul declares to these Ephesians and to us today that our Father in Heaven (Abba) is able or of power to do above all we ask of Him. The little tiny English phrase “we ask” is translated by the one little tiny Greek word aiteo which means to ask, beg, call for, crave, desire, require. It is the exact same word used by our Mighty Lord and Savior Jesus Christ when He said, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask (aiteo) what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” (John 15:7). Paul’s praise to our Father in Heaven declares to these Ephesians and to us today that this “Great Power” “worketh in us” (Ephesians 3:20). The English word worketh is translated by the Greek word energeo which means to be active, operative: - effectual, powerful; to be (fervent), to be mighty in working. In other words, God’s Mighty Power (through the Holy Spirit) works “in us” in our inner man or inner woman giving us spiritual strength to pray, to resist the devil, to resist temptation, to fight against the devil’s principalities and powers, to draw near to God, to love our enemies, to hate that which is evil, etc.

It is an endless supply or source of strength being wrought “in us” as Paul wrought in this manner with these words to the Philippian believers, “Therefore, my dear ones, as you have always obeyed [my suggestions], so now, not only [with the enthusiasm you would show] in my presence but much more because I am absent, work out (cultivate, carry out to the goal, and fully complete) your own salvation with reverence {and} awe and trembling (self-distrust, with serious caution, tenderness of conscience, watchfulness against temptation, timidly shrinking from whatever might offend God and discredit the name of Christ). [Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure {and} satisfaction {and} delight.” (Philippians 2:12-13) and also when we don’t know how or what we ought to pray for at times God the Holy Spirit prays in and through us as Paul declared with these words to the Roman believers, “So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid {and} bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer {nor} how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication {and} pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings {and} groanings too deep for utterance. And He Who searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind of the [Holy] Spirit [what His intent is], because the Spirit intercedes {and} pleads [before God] in behalf of the saints according to {and} in harmony with God’s will. (Romans 8:26-27).

Paul declares that it is nothing that we could think or even imagine (so long as it does not contradict God’s will found in His Word of Truth) that He is not able to grant to His Beloved children, for it is His “good pleasure” (Luke 12:32) to give to us above, beyond, or over any and everything we could ask of Him as the Apostle James declares with these words, “Every good gift and every perfect (free, large, full) gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of all [that gives] light, in [the shining of] Whom there can be no variation [rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [as in an eclipse]. And it was of His own [free] will that He gave us birth [as sons] by [His] Word of Truth, so that we should be a kind of first-fruits of His creatures [a sample of what He created to be consecrated to Himself].” (James 1:17-18).

It is only in the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Church) where our Father in Heaven receives glory here upon His earth, therefore, it is sad and even spiritually criminal that there be contention, contempt, and even controversy in His only place of manifesting His Glory upon the earth, so instead we should be doing as the Apostle James declares with these words, “Humble yourselves [feeling very insignificant] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you [He will lift you up and make your lives significant]. [My] brethren, do not speak evil about or accuse one another. He that maligns a brother or judges his brother is maligning {and} criticizing the Law {and} judging the Law. But if you judge the Law, you are not a practicer of the Law but a censor {and} judge [of it]. One only is the Lawgiver {and} Judge Who is able to save and to destroy [the One Who has the absolute power of life and death]. [But you] who are you that [you presume to] pass judgment on your neighbor?” (James 4:10-12).

My own Personal Note: World without end speaks of eternity and those of us who will be in the Bosom of our Precious and Mighty Savior Jesus Christ forever in Heaven. Paul’s second prayer here is a praise session to the greatest miracle there is and that being the “new birth” which Paul so eloquently and with precision detailed to these Ephesians and to us in the entirety of Chapter 2.

“In our applications to God we should encourage our faith by a consideration of His all-sufficiency and almighty power. According to the power which worketh in us. As if he had said, We have already had a proof of this power of God, in what He hath wrought in us and done for us, having quickened us by His grace, and converted us to Himself. The power that still worketh for the saints is according to that power that hath wrought in them. Wherever God gives of His fullness He gives to experience His power. Having thus described God, he ascribes glory to Him. When we come to ask for grace from God, we ought to give glory to God. Unto Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus.” Matthew Henry

“Confidently and boldly as we may offer our prayers, and largely as we may expect, the answer is ever more than the petition. For indeed, in every act of His quickening grace, in every God-given increase of our knowledge of God, in every bestowment of His fullness, there is always more bestowed than we receive, more than we know even while we possess it. Like some gift given in the dark, its true preciousness is not discerned when it is first received. The gleam of the gold does not strike our eye all at once. There is ever an unknown margin felt by us to be over after our capacity of receiving is exhausted. ‘And they took up of the fragments that remained, twelve baskets full.’ So, then, let us remember that while our thoughts and prayers can never reach to the full perception, or reception either, of the gift, the exuberant amplitude with which it reaches far beyond both is meant to draw both after it. And let us not forget either that, while the grace which we receive has no limit or measure but the fulness of God, the working limit, which determines what we receive of the grace, is these very thoughts and wishes which it surpasses. We may have as much of God as we can hold, as much as we wish. All Niagara may roar past a man’s door, but only as much as he diverts through his own sluice will drive his mill, or quench his thirst. God’s grace is like the figures in the Eastern tales, that will creep into a narrow room no bigger than a nutshell, or will tower heaven high.” Alexander MacLaren

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…