The Mystery Revealed and Paul's Prayer

Log in to take the quiz and save your progress.

1. Observe

   What is the "mystery" Paul says was revealed to him and is now disclosed to the Gentiles (Eph 3:6)?

   • That the Mosaic law would be abolished and replaced by a new covenant
   • That Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of God's promise in Christ
   • That the temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed and rebuilt in three days
   • That angels long to look into the salvation planned for humanity

2. Observe

   According to Ephesians 3:20, how does God's ability to answer prayer compare to what believers ask or think?

   • God answers prayers according to our faith and persistence
   • God answers prayers in proportion to the need we bring him
   • God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think
   • God answers prayer within the limits of his eternal will and plan

3. Interpret

   Paul prays that believers would "be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man" so that they may "know Christ's love which surpasses knowledge." What does it mean to know a love that surpasses knowledge?

   • It means studying Scripture carefully until theological understanding replaces personal experience.
   • It means an intellectual grasp of love's attributes — breadth, length, height, and depth — that grows over time.
   • It means Christ's love is so vast that no accumulation of facts or experience can exhaust it, yet the Spirit progressively draws believers into a living, experiential awareness that outstrips mere cognitive knowing. Paul's prayer is not for information but for a Spirit-empowered encounter that fills believers with "all the fullness of God" (v. 19).
   • It means love that transcends emotion and is best expressed through obedience to commands.

4. Interpret

   Paul says God's purpose is that "through the assembly the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places" (Eph 3:10). What does this reveal about the church's cosmic role?

   • The church must engage in spiritual warfare to defeat demonic powers directly.
   • The church's role is primarily evangelism to the nations, which eventually affects heavenly powers.
   • The church serves as a heavenly classroom display — its very existence as a united body of Jews and Gentiles announces to cosmic powers that God's multicolored wisdom has triumphed over division and sin.
   • Individual believers gain authority over spiritual powers through prayer and fasting.

5. Apply

   Paul describes himself as "the very least of all saints" yet commissioned to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ (Eph 3:8). How should deep awareness of one's own smallness before God shape the way we serve others?

   • It should cause us to step back and let more qualified people lead.
   • It should lead to paralysis until God confirms a calling through extraordinary signs.
   • It should produce anxiety about whether we are truly saved.
   • Genuine humility about our own unworthiness, far from disqualifying us, frees us from the need to protect our reputation or prove ourselves, and allows God's power rather than personal ability to be the explanation for any fruit — just as Paul's commission came precisely because grace was given to him, not earned.

6. Apply

   Paul prays that believers be "rooted and grounded in love" before they can comprehend the fullness of Christ (Eph 3:17–18). In what practical area of your daily life does being deeply rooted in love — rather than in achievement, approval, or fear — most need to take hold?

   • Setting boundaries so that other people's problems do not drain your spiritual energy
   • Choosing a church community where you feel most spiritually comfortable and nurtured
   • Pursuing academic or theological knowledge so that your understanding of love becomes precise
   • Replacing a default response of self-protection or judgment in a strained relationship with the security of being already loved and accepted in Christ, so that love rather than fear drives your words and actions toward that person

Your journal

Write your own answers — they save automatically, and only you can see them.

Log in to write and save journal answers.