I bow my knees before the Father

 Ephesians 3:14-19 

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 

In Ephesians 3 verse 14 we'll be looking  at Ephesians 3:14 through 19 today and I know you've been in the book of Ephesians so you understand the context of this but he says for this reason I bow my knees before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named that according to the riches of  his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith that you being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 

... this up to us and help us understand this passage this   morning by the power of your Almighty Holy Spirit in Jesus name. Amen. this passage is very much about the Holy Spirit and his power and the power he can give you but typically when I think Holy Spirit, I think power, its power, to do this power, to do that power, to perform miracles power, to change people's lives and yet here he's talking about something different. He's talking about  this inner power for us, a strength that he gives us a power that he gives us, so that we can know and understand 

okay I've met my match that is not even a clue I surrender who in the world am I am getting on my knees, I'm getting on my face, you're Almighty God, I bow before you and Paul says and I bow before the Father, this is the reason, you want to know why I bow, he goes I'm bowing on your behalf, I'm bowing in prayer for you, for this reason I bow my knees before the Father from every family in heaven on earth his name I'm bowing before the Creator of everyone I'm bowing before our God, the One that saved us and gave us his name Christian that we've all taken on this name no matter what background , denomination you came from, you know, the bottom line is right now you really take on the name of Christ and we've become a part of his family, we bow before Him and he says according to the riches of his glory he may grant you, see that's like such a key word there, that he may grant you to be strengthened, see Paul  understood this it was something that God does, grants to a person, I can't, I no matter how hard I work, I can't make you understand how much Jesus loves you. God has to super naturally do that by the power of His Holy Spirit and as someone you just get it and while we waver in and out of that, it's the Holy Spirit that keeps you getting it, it's granted to you, and it happens through prayer. That means if you come happens through prayer that means if you come in here and you do not love Jesus Christ and you do not understand that Jesus Christ really loves you, I am NOT going to talk you into that right now, it's something God's got to just do and that's why Paul understood, I'm gonna get on my knees  , it's almost like that where it's the same thing here. I can't make you fall in love with Jesus Christ. I can make the introduction okay, you can walk in this room and I can tell you listen, God who so love you, the Creator of the world, the only One that matters, he so loves you, more than your wife, more than your kids, more than your mom, your dad, any friend, any girlfriend, boyfriend, he's crazy about you. He so loved the world so much that He gave His Son and do you understand how wicked you were, how much you rebelled against him. And he loved you in the midst of that while you were a sinner he gave His Son. Can you believe that, gave us his son. And he watched his Son on a cross, I mean, who does that. What kind of love is that, that watches his Son die for someone else. And then his Son rises from the grave after being buried for three days. He just gets up by the power of the Spirit and he's just talking and you know ascend back into heaven and then he can put his Spirit inside of you. He will change everything. What an amazing God. And some of you will go, say 'that's nice' . And I can make that introduction. And seriously nothing will happen until somehow here like Paul says the Holy Spirit gives you a strength - no - no interesting phrase that you may know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, he lets you know something that you can't know. You get to a depth of this real understanding, your inner man, there's knowledge of God loves us. Oh how He loves us and we sing these songs, with his depth and this understanding if I get that, Oh how He loves us, see, I can make the introduction but for you to get that love, that happens as I get on my knees and pray for this and say, "God would you grant this to them because if they got  your love, they wouldn't love their sins so much. If they got your love, they wouldn't fight with each other. You realize there has never been, never in the history of this earth, a spirit-filled couple that has divorced, never. So the issue is not about his needs or her needs or love languages or this or that. The issue is somehow, as individuals you don't understand the love of Jesus, you don't understand them, you don't get him and filled with that love. And so that is why you start fighting and arguing and quarreling. It is because of that emptiness that you want that other person to fill. It all goes back to the seed, that is the core issue. I think about how many hours I've wasted counseling people and marriages when it really  wasn't about the marriage. And I was like now you don't really understand how much God loves you. Do you? You do not really understand this love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. To you, if you understand how much you would just be filled in him to where you'd be overflowing. And so you need this and need this from other people. So let me just get on my knees and pray that you would really understand the love of Christ that you would be strengthened in the inner man, not the outer man and we all understand the outer man uses, 

 Some of you guys spent a lot of time this morning looking at the outer man or outer woman, fixing it up, looking right and everything else. And how much time did you spend on that inner man just praying now, it's about my soul. My soul we work and we were. Let me ask you something, because it is about knowing the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. Are you sure right now? Are you sure? Do not quickly answer this one. Don't nod your head. This is just between you and God. No one needs to know. You can keep the facade going, but between you and God. Are you sure right now, that Jesus Christ is crazy about you. Are you a hundred percent sure? Not that he so loves the world, but that he so loves you as an individual. Do you, can you really come with that type of security before God and go I know, I know without a shadow of a doubt that you love me, or is there a part of you that's insecure. I don't know, I think he loves me, I mean I've been told it my whole life I've been a part of this church but right now as I have to confess to you that I go in and out of this sometimes and there have been times as I look back I go  because the Lord is revealing to me that I minister to some of these symptoms because I have some of these issues.

 And there are times I'm so sure of the love of Christ that he loves me and I can sing that oh how he loves me but the way that I wandered, the way that I am prone to wander is I wandered toward insecurity and I wander back towards trying to earn it somehow and I think you guys have seen some of that pattern in my life and so no doubt that reflection is going to come into some of your lives too of this coming in and out of this assurance and so I got to ask  you again right now. Are you sure that God loves you? A friend of mine was just sharing about his own life and he quoted a verse that I preached two years ago but I haven't preached in a long time it's it's John 15:9,  where that every before we even turn there, let me ask you something how much do you think God the Father loves his Son could try to try to imagine that just right now. How much you think right now God the Father loves Jesus pretty good amount pretty much a perfect love right that's why John 15:9 is one of the most difficult passages for some of us like me to embrace because in John 15:9 Jesus says just as the Father has ....

(John 15:9 states, "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love." This verse reveals a divine flow of love where the same perfect, sacrificial, and unconditional love the Father has for Jesus is extended to His disciples. ) ... yeah that's why for us to comprehend that I cannot physically comprehend that, it is a knowledge, it is a love that I can't know just physically, I can't just study and know that, I can't just see, you know, check it off on an exam. Something has to happen through the power of the Holy Spirit to where I get it. It's a power that, it's a strength that is required for us to get love of God and that only comes through the Holy Spirit and so we try, try, try, many of you, you know, talk to me and you say hey how can I help my spouse understand the love of God, how can I share with my friend at work to get the love of God and I'm going and every time I touch like oh man that's the million dollar question. You can't. You can't make someone else fall in love but unlike a physical relationship and this one you can actually pray like Paul does. Get on his knees on behalf of that person. And so I say , you know,  I do know that God loves me and there have been times and there are periods when I am so secure in that and there are other times when I am NOT sure. And that's me. Different people have different issues. This is mine. And I also realize I have not prayed about that issue as much when I pray for the power of the Holy Spirit. I pray four times like this, God give me a power so that I can impact other people's lives that I love, empower me, gift me for the common good. These are all biblical good prayers and yet I've neglected this one in my own life and for that for others I don't pray enough okay God now empower me strengthen me so that I can understand your love from and empower these people in this room whom I love strengthen them right now by the power of your Holy Spirit so that they can know your love and rest secure in it security that's what I'm praying for this morning  security debating whether now to share something is it's kind of weird but I  think I'm supposed to share it