Don't Put God in a Shoebox (Ephesians 3:20-21)

A word we never use

When did you last say "immeasurably"? Nothing we do is beyond measure. Only God's work is. Paul ends his prayer for the Ephesians by praising the One who can do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.

Ask and imagine

DeWayne calls himself a hopeless optimist. His wife says he always underestimates how long things take. Even so, he admits he still prays small. Paul says God isn't limited by our requests or our imaginations, and His power is already at work in us. Jesus said we'd do greater works than He did.

In the church first

Glory goes to God "in the church and in Christ Jesus." The church comes first, and the church is us.

Failures shrink prayers

One participant observed that past failures teach us to limit God. Colonel Sanders was turned down more than a thousand times. And DeWayne's joke about wanting a red Porsche? A church member handed him a toy one. Be specific in your prayers.

Try this

• Write down one God-honoring dream you've stopped praying about, and start again.
• Read Ephesians 3:14-21 as one prayer.