Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
This verse is the closing line of a prayer Paul wrote to the early Christians in Ephesus — a major city in what is now western Turkey. Paul is wrapping up a long, breathtaking prayer by directing praise to God, specifically highlighting God's capacity to exceed every human expectation. The phrase "immeasurably more" is actually a stacked set of Greek superlatives — something like "super-abundantly beyond all." The key detail is the phrase "according to his power that is at work within us" — Paul isn't pointing to some distant divine force, but to the same Spirit already living and active inside believers. It's an anchor for hope grounded not in wishful thinking, but in what is already present.
God, my prayers are often small and safe — shaped more by what I think is realistic than by who you actually are. Expand my imagination beyond my backup plans. Remind me that your power is already at work inside me, not waiting to be earned. Teach me to pray bigger. Amen.
You probably have a mental ceiling for what you think God will do in your situation. Most of us do. We pray, but we quietly draft a backup plan on the side — because deep down, we suspect God will deliver something reasonable, not remarkable. But Paul isn't writing theory here. He's praying this over people with real problems — fractured communities, personal failures, enormous cultural pressure. And he anchors his confidence in a specific claim: there is already power at work inside you. The Greek word he uses for "power" shares a root with our word "dynamite." That power isn't waiting for you to unlock it. It's already present, already moving, already in excess of your most ambitious prayer. The question isn't whether God is capable. The question is whether you're praying like you actually believe that — not in your theology, but in the honest, specific requests you bring on an ordinary Tuesday morning.
Paul says God's power is 'at work within us' — not just available from the outside, but already active inside you. What does that actually mean to you, and how might it change the way you see your own capacity to face hard things?
Think about a specific prayer request you've been holding back because it felt too big or unrealistic. What would it look like to bring that to God without editing it down to something more 'reasonable'?
Paul says God can do more than we 'ask or imagine.' Do you think our imagination sometimes limits God more than our prayers do? Why might the imagination be the harder ceiling to break?
How does believing in a God who does 'immeasurably more' change the way you show up for people around you who feel stuck, hopeless, or beyond help?
What is one area of your life where you've quietly settled for 'reasonable' instead of asking for something that would require God to genuinely show up? What would you pray this week if you believed this verse completely?
Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?
Jeremiah 32:27
Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
Hebrews 7:25
Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
Jude 1:24
Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:
Jeremiah 32:17
And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
Ephesians 1:19
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:
2 Corinthians 9:8
Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
Jeremiah 33:3
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
1 Corinthians 2:9
Now to Him who is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think [infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams], according to His power that is at work within us,
AMP
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,
ESV
Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,
NASB
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,
NIV
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
NKJV
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
NLT
God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.
MSG