Rooted in Love
A love too big to measure — and a heart made completely clean
Paul reminds us that because of Jesus we can come to God with complete freedom and confidence — no fear, no barriers!
Then he drops to his knees and prays one of the most beautiful prayers ever written. He asks God to make us strong in our INNER being — not just strong on the outside, but deep within, where nobody else can see. He prays that our lives would grow deep roots in God's love, like a great tree that no storm can knock over.
Then Paul tries to measure Christ's love: how WIDE is it? How LONG? How HIGH? How DEEP? He discovers it cannot be measured — it passes knowledge! This love is the love that can reach the deepest part of us — even the hidden sin that we carry, the part of our heart that still pulls toward wrong things even after we are saved. Paul ends with a firework of praise: God can do IMMEASURABLY MORE than we can ask or imagine — including making our hearts completely clean and filling us with all the fullness of God. Have you asked Him for that?
✨ Memory verse
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine... to him be glory!”Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV)
Tap the words in the right order:
🎉 You did it!
Type the verse from memory:
🎵 Sing along: Wide, Long, High and Deep
❓ Quiz time!
🖍️ Printables
👨👩👧 Parent & teacher guide
Big idea: Paul's prayer in 3:14-21 reaches toward what
Scripture calls Entire Sanctification. The prayer asks that believers would be 'filled with all the fullness of God' (3:19) — this is not describing the new birth; it points to a deeper work. The love that 'surpasses knowledge' is the sanctifying love that reaches the very root of sin in the heart.
Scripture teaches that after justification, the believer discovers there is a deeper level of heart cleansing available — a second, definite work of grace. The prayer of 3:19 is essentially a prayer FOR entire sanctification: 'filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.' And 3:20 promises that God can do immeasurably more than we ask — which means whatever depth of heart-cleansing we request, God's power exceeds it. Plant this seed carefully: 'After you give your life to Jesus, there is a deeper work God wants to do in your heart — making it completely pure. Begin to seek that.'
Conversation starters: (1) What is the difference between being forgiven of sins and having a completely pure heart? (2) The roots of a tree go down in the same direction as the branches go up — how does being 'rooted in love' make us grow? (3) What does it mean to be 'filled with all the fullness of God'? Pray Paul's prayer together over each family member by name.