Ephesians 3:20 is often quoted as a promise that God will exceed our biggest prayers and dreams. But Paul’s words should not be detached from the prayer in verses 14–19. Paul has just prayed that believers would be strengthened by the Spirit, rooted in Christ’s love, able to grasp the greatness of that love, and filled with the fullness of God. Then he declares that God is able to do “exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.”

Paul is not giving us a formula for getting more than we requested. He is expressing confidence that God is able to accomplish the enormous spiritual transformation for which he has just prayed. And notice where that power is working: “in us.” We often read Ephesians 3:20 and think about bigger blessings, bigger opportunities, and bigger accomplishments. Paul is thinking about a bigger work of God within His people.

The wonder of the verse is not simply that God can give us more than we ask. It is that God can make us more than we are. The emphasis is not on the greatness of our dreams, but on the greatness of God’s power at work within us.