I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:13-19

This, too, is my prayer for that. First, that you will know that God is with you, for you, in you, and that you know this by faith, a faith that surpasses understanding, circumstances and feeling. Second, once you trust this truth that God is with you, for you and in you, you can feel the presence of love and the Spirit establishing and making home. Here, you never feel alone. Even when you feel stuck or stagnant, you can trust that each moment the Spirit is spreading more of their presence and roots in you, with bloom on the horizon. And finally, as you become firm in this truth that God is with you, for you, and in you, shining through you, marking you, renewing you, those around you can see your expansion of love. I pray your expansion of love spills out and shines through so that those around you can sense with more certainty and wonder God’s presence. May you become so full of God’s love and presence that the boundaries between you and not you blur, so that love permeates throughout. This is my prayer for you. This love expansion is not a muscling or doing; it stems from a belief that God is with you, for you and in you. Your love will expand if you allow for your surrender to God’s love. Surrendering to God’s love is scary and requires courage. I pray courage for you.