Main Reference: Key verse: Ephesians 3:17b-19

When it comes to stability, everything depends on the base. Most trees extend their roots two or three times as wide as their foliage. The tallest skyscraper in the world has a foundation that goes down almost 200 feet. The root, the foundation, of the Christian life is God’s love. His love makes love possible, and His love became knowable in Jesus Christ. That’s what Paul has in mind as he begins to bring his prayer to a close.

Empowered by the Spirit and encouraged by Christ’s indwelling, Paul prays that they’ll found themselves in love. Just as the two greatest commandments depend on love for God and our neighbor, so Paul prays that their understanding of God’s love would grow together ‘with all the saints’ who have believed and entrusted themselves to Jesus. A deep and sure foundation of love, Paul says, allows believers to consider ‘the width and length and height and depth’ of something so immense that it ‘surpasses knowledge.’ We learn in verse 19 that this mystery is the love of Christ.

Paul suggests that it takes love to know love, and he directs his prayer accordingly. God’s love in Christ is an ocean deep enough to drown all our sins (see Micah 7:19). Knowing this, we should pray that all people would know as fully as possible the limitless love of God.