Short answer: In Ephesians 3:14–19 Paul bows his knees and asks God to strengthen his readers by the Spirit in their inner person, to let Christ dwell in their hearts through faith, and to root and ground them in love. He asks that they comprehend Christ's love with all the saints and be filled with all the fullness of God. The measure of the asking is the riches of God's glory, not the family's worthiness. The prayer asks for God's inward work and leaves outcomes to him.
A prayer that rises out of grace
Paul writes this prayer from a prison, and he says so plainly just before it. He has told the Ephesians that his chains are for their glory and has urged them not to lose heart over his troubles (3:13). Then he kneels and prays. The posture matters: this is not a technique for managing anxiety but the overflow of a man who has already said that in Christ we have boldness and access in confidence through faith (3:12). Before he asks for anything, he has settled where he stands. Family prayer begins in the same place, from inside grace already given, not as a lever to pry it loose.
The prayer has a clear shape. Paul addresses the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named (3:15), and then builds a chain of requests that lean on one another. He asks for strength in the inner person through the Spirit, for Christ to dwell in the heart through faith, for readers rooted and grounded in love to grasp the dimensions of that love, and finally to be filled with all the fullness of God (3:16–19). Each request depends on the one before it. This is intercession, not a formula, and it asks for God's inward work rather than for a particular outcome.
The letter around the prayer sets its direction. Chapters 1 through 3 have been describing what God has done in Christ and how Jew and Gentile are now one body in him, so the prayer is asked by someone already reconciled, not by someone still earning a hearing. And the prayer does not end on the reader. It runs straight into doxology, glory to God in the assembly and in Christ Jesus to all generations (3:20–21). Family prayer belongs to a larger worshipping people, and Paul leaves the results with the God who is able to do more than we ask or think.
What Paul asks God to do in a family
Paul begins by bowing his knees to the Father, and then names him as the one from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named (3:14–15). That single phrase does two things. It roots human family in God's own fatherhood, so family is not merely a social arrangement but a reflection of something in God himself. It also stretches the word family far beyond one household, reaching every family in heaven and on earth. When you pray for your family, you are not praying into a small private unit. You are bringing your household to the Father whose name stands behind every family there is.
Notice how the requests are framed. Paul asks that God would grant (3:16), and again that you may be strengthened (3:16–18). The growth he prays for is received, not produced. The first thing he asks is strength through the Spirit in the inner person, which locates God's work where motives, affections and hidden loyalties live, not merely in behavior. Then come two images for stability: rooted, like a plant, and grounded, like a building, both in love (3:17). A family becomes steady not by tightening rules but by being loved and learning to love.
The last requests widen further. Paul wants the family strengthened to comprehend, with all the saints, the width and length and height and depth, and to know Christ's love which surpasses knowledge (3:18–19). Comprehension here is a shared activity of the whole church, not a private project, so praying for your family can include praying for the church around them. And because Paul asks God to do this inward work, the prayer leaves outcomes with God's wisdom. You can pray these things for a family member without demanding that they change, believe or be healed on your timetable.
The section closes in doxology: glory to the one able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, in the assembly and in Christ Jesus to all generations (3:20–21). That is where a family prayer can safely rest, not in a guaranteed result but in the character of the God who is asked.
Praying for inward reality in your family
Paul begins this prayer with his knees bowed and his eyes on the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named (3:14–15). That wording matters. He is not offering a technique for anxious parents but voicing a settled confidence, the same confidence he has just named: boldness and access in confidence through faith in Christ (3:12). The request that follows is measured by the riches of God's glory, not by the worthiness of the family or the size of the need. Before you ask anything for your household, this passage places you inside grace already given, asking a Father whose resources are not stretched.
What Paul asks for is inward before it is circumstantial. He prays that God would strengthen each person with power through his Spirit in the inner person, that Christ would dwell in their hearts through faith, and that they would be rooted and grounded in love (3:16–17). Notice the order: strength, indwelling, rootedness. He does not ask that circumstances smooth out or that a difficult relative change. He asks that God would do a deep work inside people, and he leaves the outcome to God's wisdom. Praying this way for family members is honest, because it asks for what God has promised to give rather than dictating what he must do.
The prayer then widens. Paul wants the readers strengthened to comprehend, together with all the saints, the width and length and height and depth, and to know Christ's love which surpasses knowledge, that they may be filled with all the fullness of God (3:18–19). Knowing this love is a shared pursuit, not a private one, and it is a knowledge that outstrips our grasp even while it is truly given. The doxology that follows turns it all toward God's glory in the assembly across generations (3:20–21). Family prayer, then, is not a private lever pulled for results. It is asked from inside Christ's finished work, in company with a worshipping people, and it ends where Paul ends: glory to God.
Where readers differ on Paul's prayer for the family
Paul begins by bowing his knees to the Father, and the prayer that follows asks for inward things: strength in the inner person, Christ dwelling in hearts by faith, love rooted and grounded, and a knowledge of love that surpasses knowledge. He does not ask for health, money, or easier circumstances. Evangelical readers generally agree here. The disagreements start with the closing request, that the family be filled with all the fullness of God. Some read it as a distinct experience of the Spirit that believers should seek earnestly; others hear it as the ordinary growth of conversion worked out over a lifetime. Both readings look to the same God, and both keep the request spiritual rather than circumstantial.
A second dispute concerns how far these requests can be claimed for particular relatives. Paul is praying for people already described as faithful in Christ, not for unbelieving family members, so the text does not hand us a formula that guarantees a loved one's conversion. Readers also weigh the plural address. Paul prays with the whole church in view, and 3:18 speaks of comprehending with all the saints, so some stress the gathered body while others stress the individual heart. What stays central is that Christ dwells in hearts by faith and that love is known and lived, not that a named relative must change on our timetable.
The limits the passage sets are worth naming plainly. Paul asks God to grant these things according to the riches of his glory, which places the outcome in God's hands rather than ours. Nothing here promises that a family member will believe, be healed, or turn around, and using the prayer that way presses the text beyond what it says. What we can do is ask for the inward work Paul asks for, trusting God with results he has not disclosed. The doxology that follows grounds that trust: God is able beyond what we ask or think, and the glory is his.
Praying for family in the name of Christ
Before Paul asks for anything, he kneels. He addresses his prayer to the Father of Jesus Christ, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named (3:14–15). That opening matters for praying over a household. The prayer is not aimed at the family itself, as though enough earnestness could fix it. It rises to the Father through the Son, and it rests on what Paul has just said: in Christ believers have boldness and access in confidence through faith in him (3:12). The family is brought before God on the footing of Christ's work, not the family's record.
The requests themselves keep pointing to Christ. Paul asks that the Spirit strengthen the inner person, that Christ may dwell in hearts through faith, and that the family, rooted and grounded in love, may grasp the width, length, height and depth and know Christ's love which surpasses knowledge (3:16–19). Notice whose love is in view. It is not a vague warmth but the love of the one who gave himself for his people. The gospel is the content of the prayer, not a decoration added to it. Yet Paul asks for inward work, not for a promised outcome; he leaves conversion, change and healing to God's wisdom, and so should we.
The section ends in praise, and the praise has a direction. Paul bows to the one able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power at work in us, and asks glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus to all generations (3:20–21). Answered prayer for a family is not finally about the family's comfort or our relief. It is about Christ being honored in his people. Praying this way takes the pressure off results we cannot produce and places the outcome, and the glory, where Paul placed them.
Praying these verses in the ordinary life of a family
Paul bows his knees before the Father, and the request that follows is directed entirely to God's granting. He asks that the family be strengthened with power through the Spirit in the inner person, that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith, and that they be rooted and grounded in love (3:16–17). Notice where the action lies. The asking is not that a child would perform better or that a spouse would finally change. It is that God would do a hidden work no parent can manufacture. A family can pray these verses aloud over one another in plain words, naming each person and asking for strength where no one else can see.
The prayer widens beyond the household. Paul asks that they comprehend with all the saints the width and length and height and depth, and that they know a love that surpasses knowledge (3:18–19). Love this large is not learned in isolation. Families can bring these requests to their church, praying them in small groups and alongside other believers, because the text ties comprehension to all the saints. And the prayer ends in praise, not in anxiety about quick results: to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think be glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus (3:20–21).
Grace is the ground of every part. Paul has just said that in Christ we have boldness and access in confidence through faith in him (3:12), so a family asks because the door is already open, not because they have earned a hearing. Then he asks that they not lose heart at his troubles, which are their glory (3:13). That is the posture: persistent asking, honest about trouble, leaving timing and visible outcomes to God. Nothing here promises that a family member will change, believe, or be healed in this life. It promises God's inward work, and it calls families to keep asking and keep praising.
Biblical fidelity check
Paul bows his knees before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, and he asks God to grant, not to demand. The request is for strength through the Spirit in the inner person, where motives and hidden loyalties live, and for Christ to dwell in hearts through faith. Read the grammar before applying it: the family is already addressed as faithful in Christ, so this is not a template for claiming a relative's conversion. Watch also the images, a plant rooted and a building grounded, and the plural address, since comprehension happens with all the saints.
Evangelical readers agree the prayer seeks inward good, not health or prosperity, yet they differ on being filled with all the fullness of God. Some hear a distinct later experience of the Spirit to be sought earnestly; others hear conversion and sanctification deepening across a lifetime. They also differ on how far these requests become promises for particular relatives, since Paul prays for believers. What stays central is that Christ dwell in hearts by faith, that love be known and lived, and that God be trusted with outcomes he has not disclosed.
Following the theme of Ephesians 3:14-19 through Scripture
For further study, compare Paul's posture of bowing his knees with the access described in Ephesians 1: Blessings and Inheritance in Christ, and trace how the love rooted in Ephesians 3: Mystery, Prayer, and Glory connects to the unity Paul urges later. The doxology in Ephesians 4: Unity, Maturity, and New Life shows where such asking ends, and Ephesians 6: Armor of God and Household Order gives a wider picture of prayer for others.
Frequently asked questions
What exactly should I ask God for when I pray for my family?
Ask for the things Paul actually asks for in Ephesians 3:14–19: inward strength by the Spirit, Christ dwelling in each heart through faith, and roots in love. Ask that each person would grasp Christ's love alongside other believers and be filled with the fullness of God. These requests are about who your family is becoming before God, not about the shape of their circumstances. Paul's measure for such asking is the riches of God's glory, so bring the request on that scale rather than sizing it to the family's worthiness.
Does praying this prayer for my family guarantee they will change?
No. Ephesians 3:14–19 gives no promise that a family member will change, believe, or be healed. Paul prays for God's inward work and leaves the outcome to God's wisdom and timing. What the passage does give is confidence in the asking: verse 12 grounds it in boldness and access through faith in Christ. So pray the substance of the prayer steadily, and hold the results in God's hands rather than treating them as owed.
How is praying for family different from praying for myself?
The two overlap more than they differ, because Paul's requests fit both. The difference is that this prayer is deliberately corporate: Ephesians 3:18 asks that you comprehend Christ's love with all the saints, not alone. Praying for family means asking that each person would be rooted in love and that Christ would dwell in their hearts, while you are also asking those things for yourself. It is not a technique for managing other people; it is asking God to do his inward work in each of you together.
