Paul’s prayer for strength

I LOVED PARAPHRASING THE HAPPY BOOK of Ephesians.

I finished it last week and posted it on the Casual English Bible website. I even uploaded an accompanying leader’s guide and atlas, which can be downloaded as a PDF for a buck.

Paul cared a bunch for the Christians who lived in the city of Ephesus, on the west coast of Turkey. You can tell it perhaps most of all in a short prayer he prayed for them.

Paul’s prayer for strength

All of this that I’m going through makes me drop to my knees before the Father, who knows the name of every family in heaven and on earth.

I’m asking that God would draw from the storehouse of his treasure to find strength and power that he can pass along to you, from his Spirit to your spirit.

I’m praying, too that the Messiah will live on in you through your faith, which grows its roots deep into love.

I want you and all believers everywhere to receive the spiritual power that it takes to understand just how wide and long and sky-high and ocean-deep is the love of Christ.

You can’t know it intellectually by filling up on facts. You have to fill up on God. Fill up all the way to the top.

Paul’s energetic benediction

To God, who can do more than we could ever think to ask,

I say glory, praise, and hallelujah. Praise him in the church and in the name of Jesus Christ from generation to generation to forever and ever. Amen.

Ephesians 3:14-21 Casual English Bible

Leader’s Guide & Atlas for Ephesians

I’ve just released a 20-page PDF full of Q&A covering all six chapters in the Book of Ephesians. It comes with an atlas tracking Paul’s visits to the city. Leader’s Guide & Atlas for a buck.

Blog subscribers who win books this week

• Robert Mathis
• Patricia Bolander

I give away free books every week to randomly selected subscribers to my free blog or my quarterly newsletter.

Winners now get to choose from a stack of titles, including my two most recent: A Visual Walk Through Genesis and The One-Stop History of the Bible.

Note to the two winners: send me an email and I’ll give you the full list of books from which you can choose.

The deal’s good for a month, or for as long as I have giveaway books available.

$1 Casual English Bible Leader’s Guide & Atlas for Ephesians, a PDF download

Casual English Bible

Bible Gateway