In this final portion of chapter three the Ephesian author at last returns to the prayer he began back in 1:16-17, thus definitively closing the first praise and proclamation portion of this epistle before the exhortative remainder of the letter (chapters 4-6).

This portion of Ephesians could easily be compared to a classic Cecil B. DeMille movie an earthquake, followed by a flood, capped off by a volcanic eruption and a tornado. The writer begins a litany of prayer requests: that we be "strengthened with might through his Spirit" (v.16), that we know Christ dwelling in our hearts (v.17), and that we have "the power to comprehend" (v.18) the love of Christ residing within us. When all this happens, we can be "filled with the fullness of God" (v.19).

The writer's exponentially increasing as…