Exceeding abundantly above
“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.”Ephesians 3:20
Reflection
Pay attention to the escalation of words Paul uses, because each one amplifies the previous. God is able to do what we ask — that alone would be much. No: "ABOVE" what we ask. Even more: "abundantly above". Still more: "EXCEEDING abundantly above". And the climax: "exceeding abundantly above all that we ask OR THINK". Paul is stacking superlatives because human language simply has no word big enough to describe God’s capacity. He does not just burst the ceiling of our requests — He bursts the ceiling of our very imagination.
This confronts the size of our prayers directly. How often do we ask small? We pray for the minimum to survive, for the crumb, for the quick fix — like beggars before a King who owns the universe. C. S. Lewis said our problem is not desiring too much, but too little: we are like children who prefer to keep making mud pies in a slum because we cannot imagine what a holiday at the sea is. God is not offended by the greatness of our requests, but by their smallness — because smallness reveals a small view of who He is.
But be careful not to misread this verse, because it is not a blank check for whims. "Exceeding abundantly above" does not mean God will give you everything you imagine the way you imagine it — it means His capacity is greater than any request. Often God’s "more" comes in a different form from what we asked: you ask for a problem’s solution, He gives you that AND a strength of character you did not have; you ask for a door, He opens that one AND others you did not even know existed. God’s "above" frequently includes things we did not even have the intelligence to request.
And do not miss the final phrase, which anchors everything: "according to the power that worketh IN US". That infinite power is not a distant force up in the sky — it is the same Spirit who already dwells in those who believe. The power plant that created the galaxies is switched on inside you. This means the limitation is never on God’s side; if there is a limit, it lies in the smallness of our faith and vision. Today, when you pray, dare to ask according to the One you are asking. Do not ask like someone begging crumbs from a poor God; ask as the child of an infinitely rich and powerful Father. And after asking big, get ready: He usually answers even bigger than the biggest request you had the courage to make.
Prayer
Lord, forgive my small prayers, made as if You were a poor God. You are able to do exceeding abundantly above all I ask or think — and that power already works within me. Enlarge my faith and my vision. Teach me to ask according to who You are, and to trust that Your "above" is always better than my biggest request. Amen.
Put it into practice
Review your recent prayers: have you asked for "crumbs" or according to an infinite God? Pray today a deliberately bigger, bolder prayer for something you had been considering "too big to ask".
To reflect on
Do your prayers reveal a big God or a small one? What would change if you prayed believing in the "exceeding abundantly above"?
Bible text: King James Version (public domain).