14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Paul now entered a prayer for the Ephesians that runs from verse 14 to the end of the chapter. This is a prayer for unity.
14 For this reason
“This reason” is the provision of the mystery of the church, a new status in Christ, for the believer. Paul now launched a prayer that the Ephesian church would be strengthened with the knowledge of their new status in Christ (v. 16).
I bow my knees
Kneeling in prayer is one of a number of proper positions for addressing God. Bowing of the knee presents a physical attitude of humility toward God. It is a unique deference we give Him in prayer (Lu 22:41; Ac 20:36). Kneeling as a posture in prayer is not a mutually exclusive way of praying.
to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Prayer is to be addressed primarily to the Father.
Some manuscripts omit “of our Lord Jesus Christ,” but the majority of manuscripts include the phrase.
PRINCIPLE:
Because God is a Father to us, we can access Him and His help for anything we face.
APPLICATION:
The prayers of Paul are for the benefit of believers. Even while in prison, he prayed for the spiritual welfare of others. We indicate the character of our prayers by whether we pray for others (Php 1:9-10; Co 1:1-11; 1 Th 1:2).
The thought of our omnipotent God dwelling positionally in the believer is a staggering thought. We do not have to appease Him, because Jesus did that for us. There is no way He will rebuff our approaching Him.
