I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit.

Ephesians 3:16

“What a wee little part of a person’s life are his acts and his words!,” Mark Twain wrote. “His real life is led in his head, and is known to none but himself … The mass of him is hidden — it and its volcanic fires that toss and boil, and never rest, night nor day. These are his life, and they are not written, and cannot be written.” 

Our acts and our words are like the proverbial tip of the iceberg. There is so much more below the surface, that no one but God can see. 

And yet, our culture seems bound and determined to ignore this. Our world is fixated on what can be seen: what we look like, what we act like, what we say and do, what kind of car we drive, what kind of house we live in, and on and on and on. Or, even worse, our world seems fixated on the outside lives of other people: what our celebrities look like and act like. 

All of us are more, much more, than what can be seen on Facebook or Instagram. This is such a wee part of who we are, of who anyone is, to paraphrase Mark Twain. There is so much more below the surface. Our inner life, the life that others cannot see. That sometimes tosses and boils, as Twain says, and never rests. But that is the most real and often most vital part of who we are.

The Bible on the Inner Life

One place where this truth is acknowledged quite frequently is the Bible. Today, as we continue our series on Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, we hear Paul praying that we would be “strengthened in our inner being with power through his Spirit” (Ephesians 3:14-21).

Strengthened in our inner being. You see? Paul is concerned not just about what it is outside us, but what is inside. Because Paul knows how important our inner life is. And Paul prays for this because he knows that a Christian will not always be easy. 

Paul began this letter reminding us that we, as Christians, have been chosen in Christ. And that God has chosen us for a very special mission, to continue what Jesus began, as the body of Christ in the world. But he also knows that this means that sometimes we will experience the repercussions that Jesus did. It’s not always easy to do what Jesus did, to be a Christian, then or now. 

Paul went on to remind us that part of what it means for us to be chosen in Christ is to be called into a community that stands united in a divided and divisive world. We heard about that last Sunday. And, again, our world does not make it easy for us to stand united. 

So, if we are going to live as God’s chosen, and if we are going to stand united in a divided and divisive world, we are going to have to be strong, from the inside out. Which is why, I think, Paul prays in today’s passage that we would be strengthened in our inner being with power through his Spirit.

But Paul doesn’t just pray for this. He shows us, throughout his New Testament letters, just how to do this. Paul offers us specific, practical ways to strengthen our inner beings.

So, today, I thought I would share four specific ways that Paul teaches us to strengthen our souls, to strengthen our inner beings. I am going to pull from various places in Paul’s letters to do this – all with the intention of showing us how one person, Paul, strengthened his inner being, his soul, and how he teaches us to do the same. 

Be Thankful at All Times and In All Circumstances

One way that Paul teaches us to strengthen our inner souls is by developing an attitude of gratitude – by learning to give thanks in all circumstances. In letter after letter, Paul gives thanks to God for the communities to whom he is writing. Even in letters he wrote from prison, Paul’s letters are soaked through with gratitude. And he continually reminds his readers to be thankful, too. 

As he will say later in this Letter to the Ephesians: “Give thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.” 

And as he says in his First Letter to the Thessalonians: “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 

Give thanks to God at all times, and in all circumstances. We can always find something to complain about, that’s true. But it is just as true that we can always find something to be thankful for. And Paul teaches us that if we want to care for our souls, to find strength in our inner beings, then it is important to develop an attitude of gratitude, and to give thanks to God at all times and in all circumstances.

Learn to Be Content

Another way to strengthen our inner beings, which is related to the first, is to learn to be content with what we have. Not just to be thankful for what we have, but to feel as though it is enough. But we have to learn to do this, according to Paul. 

Listen to these words in his Letter to the Philippians: 

“I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” 

Through Christ who strengthens us, we can do all things, even learn to be content. 

This is a challenge, I think, for a very simple reason: Our world teaches the opposite. And our economy is built on the opposite. Being content with what we have is not what made Amazon or Wal-Mart the companies they are. And every advertisement we see is geared to make us discontent with what we have. No wonder we must learn to be content. No wonder we need God’s help to do this. 

But learning to be content frees up a lot of energy to do and to be what God would have us to do and to be. It cares for our souls, and strengthens our inner beings, just as it did for Paul all those years ago. 

Pray Without Ceasing

The third thing that we learn from Paul about how to care for our souls is to learn to pray without ceasing. As he teaches us in his First Letter to the Thessalonians: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances.” 

How do we “rejoice always”? How do we “give thanks in all circumstances”? By praying without ceasing. 

What does this mean? Well, it doesn’t mean that all of our prayers must be of rejoicing and giving thanks. There are plenty of prayers throughout Scripture that are filled with complaints, with lament, with frustration, with heartfelt cries for help, and even with doubt and despair. 

God wants us to bring everything to him in prayer. But what praying without ceasing does mean is to do just that: To bring it all to God: To never give up on prayer, and to turn to God, throughout the day, with whatever is on our mind.

Are we struggling with being content? Bring it to God in prayer. Are we finding it difficult to be thankful? Bring it to God in prayer. Pray without ever giving up, and God will help us to learn to be content, and to be more thankful. And God will strengthen our inner beings with power through his Spirit.

Trust that All Things Work Together for Good

A fourth and final way that Paul teaches us to care for our souls and to strengthen our inner beings is not so much a practice, but a basic belief, a way of looking at the world. Paul shares this belief in a powerful but sometimes misunderstood verse from Romans 8: “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” 

Consistently looking at the world this way will change your life. It certainly has mine. But notice what Paul is not saying here. He is not saying that all things are God’s will. Sin and evil are never God’s will. There are plenty of things that happen in our life that are not God’s will, but that are instead the result of God giving us all free will, and the result of the abuse of that free will. Not all things that happen are God’s will. 

But what Paul is saying is that God can take it all – the good, the bad, and the ugly of our life and of our world – and make something beautiful out of it. 

Paul believed this down to his core, and this gave him incredible strength to face all sorts of challenges with faith and with hope and with love.

It is a basic belief that can change us from the inside out: To believe that all things that happen in our life can work together for the good when we love God and trust him. 

When we believe that, then there is nothing that happens in life that can cause us to give up. Instead, whatever it is that happens, we look for what good God is bringing out of it, and how we can participate in that good thing. 

And when we have that mindset, that belief, then our inner being, our soul, is so strong and fit that nothing can weaken it. Or, as Paul puts it so beautifully in that same chapter from Romans, we are convinced with Paul 

“that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

And when we are convinced of that, there is nothing that our inner being cannot handle. 

Closing

These are four specific ways that Paul found strength in his inner being – specific ways that Paul’s soul was strong enough to withstand the challenges of the Christian life:

By having an attitude of gratitude; by learning the value of contentment; by praying without ceasing; and by trusting God to make all things in his life work together for the good. 

And Paul’s prayer for us today is what we, too, would be strengthened in our inner beings in this same way. 

And he knows that when we do, we will be able to “accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine.” Just as Paul once did.

And that is why he concludes this passage with a powerful word of praise, which is itself a reminder of why what is within us is so very important:

“Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”