Every relationship, has seasons of relational dysfunction that need to be dealt with. Key phrase, dealt with, not ignored. And the same is true of my relationship with God. There are seasons where the fruit (behavior, affections and thoughts) of my life prove that my love for the Lord is lacking. When my behavior doesn’t match my words there’s something unsettled inside of me.

What do you do in these moments? You need to pray for power. Power to change. Power to grow up. Power to endure the pain and hardship of growth. Power to persevere. Power to climb the mountain of relationship with Jesus. That’s exactly what the Apostle Paul is praying for as he prays for the Ephesian believers.

Ephesians 3:14 – 21…

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in Heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith – that you being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

This prayer from the Apostle Paul is much like climbing a mountain of relationship with Jesus. The journey up the mountain is very hard. Sometimes you want to quit because it feels like the journey will never end. Truthfully, there are mountains in your life that you have never climbed because the journey becomes too much for you to bear. Too painful. Too hard. Too costly.

All to often, your journey of character growth becomes stunted or stuck. So you wind up walking in circles around the base of the mountain. You remain stuck in your daily patterns of sin and weakness and brokenness. You struggle to gain the clarity or strength of Christian character exhibited in the fruit of the Spirit. You struggle to find the power you need to climb to the top of the mountain of your relationship with Jesus.

Inside the hallways of your heart you subtly believe lies from Satan. You believe God doesn’t think you’re significant. He doesn’t think much of you. You are not important to him. He has better things to do than to be with you. He doesn’t love you. He can’t even look at you. He doesn’t want you anywhere close to him. He’s hiding out in the other room. He’s the angry dad. He’s the absentee father. He left you to face this horrific world alone. He’s the cheating spouse. He has someone better to spend his time with. These are just a sprinkling of the lies we believe.

The only thing that can destroy the lies you’ve believed is a growing relationship with Christ. When you are stunted in your growth or stuck in your sin or cold and distant towards God, you need power to transform your relationship with Jesus. But what does that look like? What should you pray for so you can overcome the lies you’ve believed? What do you need to pray for while you’re on this journey up the mountain of relationship with Jesus?

#1: Pray that Jesus would dwell inside you…

When Paul says he is praying that God would give you power “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith” he’s explaining a doctrinal truth of real depth. He’s explaining a mountain of truth in regards to our relationship with Jesus. He’s explaining that the Son of God is ready to settle down inside the crowning jewel of his creation. He’s not ready to settle down in a tree or a flower. He’s ready to settle down in you.

The Greek word translated into “dwell” means “to settle down”. If you are a believer, then Christ lives within you through his Spirit. But the condition of your heart may be unsettled because Christ hasn’t settled down in you. It’s not that Jesus comes to visit you when you are good. He doesn’t come for a visit when he has extra time. He doesn’t show up when he’s done with his other kids. He doesn’t come when he’s done playing somewhere else. He lives inside of you and he wants to settle down in you.

When you’re in a crowded home it’s hard to settle down and rest. The same is true of your heart. When your heart is crowded with sin it becomes unsettled. When your heart is crowded with ungodly desires, unbelief, despair, despondency, loneliness, boredom, laziness, anger, unforgiveness, selfishness, pride, bitterness, resentment, lust, worry, fear, frustration and every other imaginable thing known to man, then the presence of Christ will be crowded and unsettled in you. Christ will still be in you but he won’t be settled in you.

#2: Pray that Jesus would dwell inside your heart…

The application of this message is to pray that the Spirit of God would give you strength “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” But what does the Bible mean when it talks about the heart? What does it look like to pray that Jesus would dwell in your heart?

The heart is the epicenter of your being. It is the intersection of three major highways. The highway of your thinking, the highway of your affections and the highway of your actions. Your mind, your desires and your will. The Scriptures are very clear that when you trust in Christ he takes away your old, dead, hardened heart of stone that was in chains and he gives you a knew, soft, heart of flesh that is alive and free.

If your thinking is crowded with thoughts of anger, selfishness, pride, worry, loneliness or lust, then you need to invite Jesus into those thoughts and ask him to change them as he settles down there. If your affections or desires are busting at the seams with self-promotion, self-preservation or self-protection, then you need to invite Jesus into those desires and ask him to change them as he settles down there. If your behavior is full of sexual, financial, relational or vocational sin then you need to invite Jesus into those behaviors and ask him to change them as he settles down there.

#3: Pray that Jesus would dwell inside your heart through faith…

The biblical teaching regarding faith never places us, our personal desires or our abilities at the center of the message. The center of the message of biblical faith is Christ. Christ is the one who writes the pages of your faith. Christ gives you the gift of faith. Christ is the object of your faith. This is why Paul prays that the Spirit would give you power “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” But what is faith? And how do you get the kind of faith that invites Christ to settle down in your heart?

When the word faith is used in the Scriptures it means to believe and trust. If you take away belief then you have no real faith. If you take away trust then you have no real faith. Belief and trust are the twin tracks that the engine of your faith rides on. Take away or damage one of those tracks and the engine of your faith will crash and burn. You need to seek biblical belief and biblical trust so your faith will grow into a robust, mature faith that stands the test of time without shipwrecking on the rocks of sin and suffering.

The Bible says that, “faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Rom. 10:17) The Bible also says that it is, “by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Eph. 2:8) The Bible also says that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1) The Bible also says that we are to “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.” (Heb. 12:1-2) The Bible also says that the Spirit will give us power “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” (Eph. 3:17) Pray that Jesus would dwell inside your heart through faith. Pray that Christ would settle down into your ability to believe in him. Pray that Jesus would dwell in your ability to trust in him.

Application Questions and Prayer…

  1. What caught your attention as you listened to this sermon and read this study guide?

  2. What do you think is preventing Jesus from settling down or dwelling inside of you? Which highway in your heart is crowded the most right now? The highway of your mind and thoughts? The highway of your affections and desires? The highway of your will and behavior?

  3. Faith is made up of belief and trust. How would you describe the difference between these two train tracks of faith? How are you struggling right now with these two train tracks of faith? What truths from God’s Word have strengthened your belief and trust in the Lord lately?

  4. Spend some time praying for each other.