The Dimensional Prayer

¹⁴ For this cause, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, ¹⁶ that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, ¹⁷ that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

For this cause: likely what causes Paul to bend his knee is the glory and power in the revealing of the “manifold wisdom of God to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places” of verse 10. This revelation is in the time context of the Father’s “eternal purpose” accomplished in Jesus (v. 11) which adds the forth dimension of time (t) to the three spacial dimensions x, y, z (though expressed in the four common directions of measurement, v 18). This same time context appears in v. 21.

Stemming from this revelation, Paul hopes to encourage the Ephesians to boldness and confidence in faith, despite Paul’s sufferings (v. 12 & 13) — thus this prayer.

from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named [ref. heaven (α) and earth (β) in previous chapters, two poles of the Intercessional Axis of the Present Prime. Also ties in the ministry of reconciliation between us and God and we (Jews) and they (Gentiles), two sets of Alpha – Beta and self-same and other, assigned relatively according on the frame of reference.]

that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, [The first of two “strenthenings”. This is an empowering flow from the Father through the Son into Spirit¹ which, using [3] Tabernacle Tricotomy, fills the inner person, namely from Spirit into Soul or from above the Ark in the Holy of Holies then into the Sancturary of our thoughts and relational intents. This is the height-depth or vertical axis.]

that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love, [This intercession flow now spreads out into incarnation: first, in the in-dwelling of Christ in our hearts, and then in the rooting and grounding of Jesus infused in loving relationships — which if they are rooted and grounded, must be real, localized, life-on-life community. This is the width-length or horizontal axis.]

may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth, [The second of the two “strengthenings”. This happens “with all the saints”, so in the context of the holy community who is now experiencing a spiritually distinct journey. While they are traveling in an existence tied to the incarnational plane, their perception and awareness is 4-dimensional because of the dwelling of Jesus. I would suggest that width is relatedness from self to other (x, -x) that is building the bond of the new humanity and reconciliation to all creation. Then, length is the historically-informed mission forward (y, -y) to manifest the Kingdom-reality demanded by heaven and that relatedness. Height and depth are then the intercession axis between heaven and earth (z, -z) — even extending “under the earth” — which is symbolic of the deep issues of the human condition occasioned by the human world’s idolatrous Bashanic orientation to elemental and hellish principalities and powers. The order of the listing could be a natural sequence, but may also reflect a kind of chaistic structure where the sourcing of the system was vertical-to-horizontal, so the community’s response is horizontal-to-vertical.]

and to know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. [Now Jesus, filling through love all the dimensions of the Present Prime, creates an ineffable incarnational reality in believers — the full indwelling of God. This references the grace and power economy of the [5] The Five Equipping Gifts to be explained in Paul’s next chapter — gifts that, when purposely doing the work of capacity building in the Body, manifest the fullness of Christ in our maturity.]

²⁰Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, ²¹ to him be the glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

The prayer closes with a short doxology, and the reason given for the Father’s worthiness of praise is the potential now unleashed from the fullness of God indwelling his people: the ability to exceed in our works our requests or even imagination. Such a manifestation of glory is truly bright, but with also tremendous gravity.