Ephesians 3:20
“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.”
Some translations say exceedingly abundantly. Others say infinitely more. One says, He will outdo your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination.
No matter the wording, the point lands in the same place.
Your imagination is not the ceiling. God’s ability is.
But if we stop there, we miss what Paul is actually saying.
This Verse Is the End of a Prayer
Ephesians 3:20 is not a motivational line. It is the closing sentence of a prayer.
Before Paul says God can do “immeasurably more,” he prays that believers would:
Be strengthened with power in their inner being.
Have Christ dwell in their hearts through faith.
Be rooted and established in love.
Grasp how wide and long and high and deep Christ’s love is.
Be filled with the fullness of God.
And then he says, God is able to do even more than that.
This is not about success.
This is not about bigger plans.
This is about God’s ability to do deep work in people that people cannot do in themselves.
Formation before function. Always.
Paul Is Stretching Language to Its Breaking Point
In Greek, Paul stacks words that almost do not fit together. It is like he is saying, beyond, beyond, abundantly beyond.
Immeasurably more.
More than we ask.
More than we imagine.
Infinitely more than our greatest request.
Beyond our most unbelievable dream.
This is language straining under the weight of God’s capacity.
For those of us who love words, this matters. The grammar itself is preaching.
The Most Overlooked Phrase in the Verse
“According to his power that is at work within us.”
Not around us.
Not someday.
Not when we feel ready.
Within us. Constantly.
Paul already told us what that power is earlier in the letter. It is the same power that raised Christ from the dead.
Resurrection power is the operating energy inside ordinary believers.
This is not poetic encouragement. This is theology.
We Quietly Shrink Our Prayers
As leaders, planners, and responsible adults, we learn to ask for what seems reasonable.
We pray for what seems wise.
We imagine what seems possible.
We plan within what seems resourced.
And Paul gently says, your imagination is still too small.
Not because you lack vision, but because you underestimate what God is doing inside people.
God specializes in outcomes that cannot be explained by inputs.
He forms depth we cannot measure.
He prepares hearts for impact we cannot predict.
He builds capacity we do not yet see.
This Is Not Individual, It Is Corporate
The “us” here is plural.
Paul is talking to a diverse community learning to live as one new humanity in Christ. Different backgrounds, different histories, one Spirit at work within them all.
The immeasurably more is not about personal dreams. It is about what God will do through His people together to reflect Christ to the world.
Communal. Missional. Church-shaped.
Ask or Imagine
Paul includes both.
What you can articulate in prayer.
What you do not yet have language for.
God is not limited by your vocabulary, your theology, your vision, or your understanding of what He is doing.
He is already working beyond your awareness.
What This Verse Is Not About
This is not about what we can get from God.
It is about what God is shaping within us.
It is the quiet confidence that God can do in people what people cannot do in themselves.
It is a holy expectancy, rooted in who He is, not in what we can accomplish.
The Invitation for Leaders
What if the prayers you are praying are smaller than what God intends to do in you?
What if this season is less about what you accomplish and more about what God is forming within you that will overflow far beyond you?
What if the thing God is doing right now is deeper, quieter, and far more significant than you realize?
This verse invites us to lift our expectations, not of ourselves, but of Him.
To lead with confidence that His power is already at work within us.
To trust that He is doing more than we can currently perceive.
How This Is Changing Me
If I am honest, I have often heard Ephesians 3:20 used when we are asking God for more, more provision, more opportunity, more expansion.
And while God absolutely provides, that is not what Paul is praying for here.
He is praying for inner strength.
Rootedness.
Depth.
Love that can be grasped and lived.
Then he says God can do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine.
That has been confronting me.
Because I realized how often my “more” is external. More outcomes. More momentum. More visible fruit.
But Paul’s “more” is internal first.
More depth.
More formation.
More Christlikeness.
This verse is reshaping me. It is moving my prayers from asking God to increase what I can see, to trusting Him to deepen what I cannot.
And that changes everything.
A Prayer to Carry With You
Lord, forgive us for shrinking our prayers to the size of our understanding. Teach us to trust your mighty power at work within us. Form in us what we could never produce on our own. Help us lead with faith that expects you to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine. Amen.
You may not yet have language for what God is doing in you.
That does not mean He is not doing it.
It may simply mean it is immeasurably more.
