Ephesians 3:16
What does Ephesians 3:16 mean?
that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man;
The short answer
Ephesians 3:16 is the opening request of a prayer Paul offers for believers in Ephesus. He asks that God would grant them strength — not a vague wish, but a specific gift: power, given through God's Spirit, working in what the verse calls "the inward man." That phrase points to the inner self, the hidden center of a person where conviction, love, and endurance actually live. Paul is not praying for better circumstances. He is praying that God would make people strong on the inside.
Just as striking is the measure of the gift. God grants this strength "according to the riches of his glory." The supply is scaled to who God is, not to who we are. A wealthy giver who gives out of his riches might give a little; one who gives according to his riches gives in proportion to everything he has. Paul asks God to strengthen believers at that scale — from the fullness of divine glory rather than the limits of human capacity.
This verse also functions as a foundation. Everything that follows in the prayer builds on it: Christ dwelling in the heart through faith (3:17), the ability to grasp the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ's love (3:18), and being filled with all the fullness of God (3:19). Readers have long noticed that the prayer's chain of "that" clauses can be parsed in more than one way — as one central request with unfolding results, or as a series of parallel petitions. Either way, the logic is the same in spirit: inner strengthening is not an isolated blessing. It is the doorway through which believers come to know Christ's love and experience God's fullness. The power Paul asks for is interior, Spirit-given, and generous beyond measure.
What scholars say
How do the pieces of Paul's prayer fit together? Lynn H. Cohick lays out two legitimate ways to parse its chain of "that" clauses — as one request whose outcomes unfold from it, or as three parallel petitions — clarifying how the strengthening of 3:16 relates to knowing Christ's love and being filled with God's fullness.
“In the first clause, the term introduces the content of Paul's prayer, and the remaining two clauses express the outcome of that prayer. In this case, Paul prays for strength by the Spirit in the inner self and for Christ to dwell by faith in their hearts ( 3:16–17 ). The second and third clauses would enumerate the goals of such prayer, namely, that the Ephesians would know Christ's expansive love and be filled with God's fullness. On the other hand, one could analyze the prayer as having three main requests introduced by the term "that": that God grant them strength for Christ to dwell and be established ( 3:16–17 ), that they would have the power to understand the magnitude of Christ's love ( 3:18 ), and that they would be filled with God's fullness ( 3:19 ).”
What it means for you
This verse reframes what it means to ask God for strength. Most of us pray for changed situations — health, work, relationships. Paul's prayer aims deeper: that God would fortify the person underneath the circumstances. That kind of strength is not self-generated; it comes through the Spirit, and it is measured by God's abundance rather than your reserves.
It also suggests where spiritual growth begins. Before you can grasp how wide and deep Christ's love is, you need inner capacity to hold it. So when you feel depleted, this verse gives you words: ask God to strengthen the inward self — and trust that he gives according to his riches, not according to your track record.
Ephesians 3 in context
Ephesians 3 opens with Paul reflecting on his calling to announce the "mystery" now revealed — that Gentiles are full members of God's people alongside Jews. He writes as a prisoner, yet insists his sufferings are the readers' glory. Then, in verse 14, he kneels in prayer, and 3:16 is the first request of that prayer, which continues through verse 19: strength within, Christ dwelling in the heart, knowing Christ's love, being filled with God's fullness. The chapter closes with a doxology praising the God who can do far more than we ask or imagine.