Praying For Your Roots to Grow Down into God’s Love

David W Palmer

(Matthew 24:12 NLT) “Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold.”

Just before his death on the cross, Jesus warned that “the love of many”—that’s right, he said many (the BSB says “most”)—would grow cold just prior to his return (Mat. 24:12). The Holy Spirit added that there would be a great apostasy at the same time (2 Thes. 2:3). What can we do to avoid being included with many—even most—people, whose cold love will lead to falling away? 

First and foremost, by God’s grace we need to do lots of forgiving, and then lots of praying about our love. Thankfully, through the apostle Paul, the Holy Spirit has given us some amazing prayers to pray for ourselves and for others so that God can help us keep our love hot and strong. The one we look at next is found in Ephesians 3:14–21. Let’s read the first three verses:

(Ephesians 3:14–16 NKJV) “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, {15} from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, {16} that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man.”

Although the apostle Paul hasn’t specifically mentioned love in these three verses; if we follow his progression in them, we will understand what he says about love in the next verse. 

In this prayer, the Holy Spirit led Paul in a very interesting sequence. He begins by asking God to strengthen the Ephesian believers “with might through his Spirit in the inner man.” In other words, he is praying for a supernatural strength to come into their spirit. We can easily understand what strength for the outer man would be; it is physical, muscular strength and stamina. Strength for the inner man, however, is not so obvious. It is: 

• Strength of character—a moral strength, a force of resolve to do good not evil 
• Fortitude to complete God-given vision
• Perseverance to route spiritual enemies 
• Faith to overcome in the fight of faith
• Holy power to enter the narrow gate and to stay on the “constricted path” of love (Mat. 6:13-14 DKJV) 

Empowered in this divine supernatural strength, we are then ready to see Paul’s reason or objective for praying this:

(Ephesians 3:17 NKJV) “That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love.”

The next part of this Holy Spirit-given prayer says, “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.” Now it’s becoming clearer; Christ can only dwell in our hearts, or live through us, by the cooperation of our free will. We need strength in the inner man, therefore, to give us the courage and moral ability to follow Jesus’s lordship with our choices. A single word that sums up this process is “grace.” Grace is God’s power to help us live a holy life. And we can only access this grace power—that is, have Christ dwell in our hearts— “through faith.” (See also: Rom. 4:16).

The final part of verse 17 makes the point clearer still: “that you, being rooted and grounded in love …” Following Jesus is all about living by love. Having God’s strength in our inner man is therefore essential; it gives us the courage, moral resolve, and the inner ability to keep his commandments to love God, brothers and sisters, neighbors, and even enemies. The sequence again is: pray for, and believe you receive, inner strength from the Holy Spirit so that Christ may dwell within, then you’ll be rooted and grounded in love.

Let’s pray this right now for ourselves, then for others. Read this aloud as your personal prayer to God. (Later you can memorize it, and pray it regularly.)

“For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant me, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in my inner man.”

Now you are set up for the final part of verse 17— “being rooted and g