The Ephesians 3:20 Power Sandwich - Encouragement for Faithful Saints

14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,^[c]

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, ¹⁷ that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— ¹⁹ to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now 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 glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

I have been wanting to do a peace on this verse that many use to "claim" material prosperity when in fact the Scripture is not about that and it does not apply to everyone. So I want happy when the Lord used a situation to trigger this revelation on Ephesians 3:14-21, particularly verse *20. I am calling it a "sandwich" revelation. It is the victorious result of His love and power. 

My mom's home helper was off one day when at lunch time, I was wondering what to serve her for lunch. Without any prior notices the worker stopped by on their way from NY to introduce us to her family. I was in the midst of prepping my mom's lunch when I noticed her helper put something on the microwave. I simply acknowledged it and kept going.  It was not until she was leaving, and we'd eaten the Trader Joe's pizza, that I peaked in the Styrofoam container. The meal was a Jamaican one: akee and salt fish, cooked green banana and callalloo/greens. We immediately warmed it up and ate it. Over the top delicious!

I heard the Lord speak through this chain of events. He was saying "how many times have you prayed, I provided the answer, you failed to notice and went ahead and prepared your own provision, which paled compared to what I provided exactly in the time that you needed it? In other words, I needed the lunch, God delivered one that was already prepared and delicious but I failed to notice it, asked no questions and simply continued as I was before the visit. He wants us to open our eyes because He has already provided the answer to whatever is our greatest prayer need. (We receive it by faith. Open up our eyes, Lord!!! Amen. (See this great song asking God to open up our eyes. "Open up our Eyes" ). 


The Act of Prayer:

         14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,


Our Position in Christ:

¹⁵ from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

The Blessings From His Limitless Resources:

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,

Our Access Point of Faith Grounded in Love:

¹⁷ that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

Crucial Revelation of His Love and Desire to Fully Provide:

¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— ¹⁹ to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

The Over Abundant Blessings According to His Revealed Power at Work in Us:

20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,

      THE EPHESIANS 3:20 POWER SANDWICH

Half bread bun: "filled with all the fullness of God" then (end of V. 19)
Meat: we receive the wonderful promises of abundance beyond our comprehension (V.20)
Half bread bun: "according to the power that works in us." (end of V. 20)


Through It all Christ Continues to Glorify The Father Forever:

²¹ to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Remember as we operate in faith to God, His promises will find us and His blessings will chase us down. The problem is when some try to claim Scriptures that do not apply to them due to bad teaching and greed. The Bible is not to be used as a "name-it-and-claim-it" gimmick. This relationship is based on covenant and life-time commitment. It is impossible to operate in His true power without first being in a love relationship with Him. His power works through love.

Finally, it's important to always be on the lookout for Him and He will always show up, often in unpredictable ways and at inconvenient times through the most unlikely people.
That's what happened that day when right at lunch time God provided a delicious meal that I did not have to prepare. I pray that when He shows up, not only will you notice Him, but that you stop everything and turn your attention completely to Him that you do not miss the season of your visitation.

God bless you!