God is Able | Ephesians 3 : 20

Paul pauses in the middle of Ephesians 3 to strengthen believers who could get discouraged by his tribulations. Paul writes from prison, yet he refuses to let his trouble become a reason for God’s people to faint, fall apart, or drift away. Tribulation brings questions that cannot always be answered, but God’s ability does not change because life gets hard.

Paul bows his knees unto the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that matters because “unto him that is able” is talking about God Himself. God is not a bank account, a job, a doctor, a counselor, or human ability. God is the Creator who stepped out on nothing and made everything, the One who heals, provides, saves, and still has all power.

The Spirit strengthens the inner man when God’s people face things they did not ask for and do not understand. Self-talk and outward motions cannot hold somebody together when the inside is falling apart. Christ dwelling in the heart by faith roots and grounds the believer in a love that “passeth knowledge.”

The love of Christ goes beyond what the mind can reason out. God’s love cannot be fully explained by circumstances, because sickness, trouble, pills, job problems, family pain, and health scares do not change the fact that God loves, stays, and does not forsake His people. The love of God constrains believers to keep doing right when church feels dry, the Bible feels hard to understand, or faithfulness does not seem to make sense.

Prayer opens the door for God-sized asking. Paul says God can do exceeding abundantly above all that His people ask or think, yet too often believers ask for the bare minimum because they have already limited what God can do. Faith does not demand selfish wants or turn God into a vending machine. Faith prays for God’s will, then believes that His will is good even when the answer comes in a way that was not expected.

The power that worketh within believers is the power of the Holy Spirit. The same power that raised Christ from the dead is not too weak to help a marriage, reach a wayward child, build a church, save a soul, or put somebody in a church pew. God’s work moves through a local church when a leader, laborers, and God’s people step out in faith. God is able, and the real question is whether His people are living like they believe it.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. God remains able in tribulation. Paul’s imprisonment could have shaken the church, but Paul turns trouble into an occasion for prayer and steady faith. Tribulation does not mean God has lost control or stopped caring. God’s people need not faint when somebody else’s suffering becomes difficult to watch. [06:11]
• 2. Christ’s love holds believers steady. The love of Christ is bigger than human reasoning and deeper than changing circumstances. Faithfulness cannot rest merely on feelings, understanding, or favorable outcomes. The love of God constrains the heart to stay right when life does not make sense. [11:35]
• 3. Prayer should ask God-sized things. Prayer often stays small because faith quietly assumes that God will not do much. God calls His people to seek His will with confidence that He rewards those who diligently seek Him. Big praying is not about getting glory for the answer; it is about asking for something only God can do. [19:29]
• 4. The Holy Spirit supplies the power. God’s work does not depend on natural talent, money, personality, or a strong human plan. The Spirit gives power to preach, sing, witness, serve, and step into places that feel too big. Faithful obedience becomes possible because “faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” [28:38]
• 5. Many laborers expand gospel reach. A local church cannot rest on one leader carrying every burden and every ministry. More laborers create more ministry, more gospel opportunities, and a greater reach into surrounding communities. God can use one saved child, one faithful mother, or one changed family to affect places far beyond what anybody first imagined.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [02:41] - God Is Able
• [05:01] - Paul’s Tribulations and Church Discouragement
• [08:28] - Prayer to the Father Who Has All Power
• [10:00] - Strengthened by the Spirit in the Inner Man
• [11:35] - The Love of Christ That Passeth Knowledge
• [15:37] - The Person of Performance
• [19:03] - The Possibilities of Prayer
• [21:02] - Biblical Examples of Answered Prayer
• [24:54] - Dreaming Big for God’s Work
• [28:05] - The Power That Worketh Within Us
• [30:54] - Resurrection Power for the Church
• [33:31] - The Lord, the Leader, and Many Laborers
• [35:23] - Invitation to Trust God’s Ability

Bible Reading

Ephesians 3:20
“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,”
[02:41]

Ephesians 3:13-19
“So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
[05:36]

Ephesians 1:19-23
“and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”
[30:54]

Hebrews 11:6
“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”
[21:46]

Observation questions

1. In Ephesians 3:13, what does Paul ask the believers not to do because of his tribulations, and why might his suffering have tempted them to do it? [06:11]
2. What does Paul pray God will give believers in Ephesians 3:16, and where does that strength take place?
3. According to Ephesians 3:17-19, what are believers rooted and grounded in, and what does Paul say Christ’s love surpasses? [11:32]
4. In Ephesians 3:20, what does God do above what His people “ask or think,” and what power is at work within them? [28:09]

Interpretation questions

1. Paul was in prison, but he answered the danger of discouragement by praying for the church. What does that show about how believers should respond when somebody else’s trouble shakes or worries the whole church? [08:28]
2. What is the difference between trying to hold oneself together on the outside and being strengthened by the Spirit in the inner man? How would that difference show up in a hard season? [10:26]
3. Christ’s love “surpasses knowledge.” How can a believer be sure of God’s love when sickness, loss, family trouble, or unanswered questions make life hard to understand? [13:43]
4. Ephesians 3:20 promises that God can do far more than believers ask or think, yet prayer must still seek God’s will. How can someone pray with bold faith without treating God like a vending machine? [23:25]

Application questions

1. Is there a tribulation in your own life—or in the life of someone you love—that has been making you discouraged, fearful, or tempted to faint? What would it look like to bring that burden to the Father instead of letting it pull you away from faithfulness? [35:27]
2. Where have you been relying mainly on self-talk, personality, routine, or outward appearances to get through a difficult time? What specific need do you need the Holy Spirit to strengthen in your inner man? [10:48]
3. When life does not make sense, what helps you remember that God has not stopped loving you or forgotten you? Is there an area where you need to keep doing right because the love of Christ is constraining you? [12:32]
4. Think about your prayers from the last week. Were they mostly small, safe requests, or did they show confidence in God’s ability? What is one God-sized, God-honoring request you can begin praying for this week? [19:29]
5. Is there a marriage, wayward child, financial need, health burden, lost person, or church need that you have quietly decided is too hard? How does the resurrection power described in Ephesians 1 challenge that thinking? [31:49]
6. The Holy Spirit gives believers power to serve, witness, teach, sing, invite, and step out in faith. Where might God be nudging you to do something you have avoided because you felt unable? [28:38]
7. A church’s gospel reach grows when many people become laborers. What ability, time, relationship, or opportunity could you offer so that more people can hear the gospel and be cared for? [34:20]