Ephesians 3:14–16

For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

Paul is chained, but he is not distracted.

He does not pray for easier circumstances. He does not pray for political change. He does not pray for comfort.

He bows.

That posture matters. A bowed knee is not casual. It is deliberate. It is weighty. It is intense.

And what does he ask for?

Strength — but not muscle strength. Not public strength. Not reputation strength.

Inner strength.

You can reinforce a building’s exterior with fresh paint and polished stone, but if the beams inside are rotting, the structure will collapse the moment pressure comes. Paul knows this. So he does not pray that believers look strong. He prays that they be strong where no one sees.

We worry about behavior modification. God works on interior transformation.

Parents, if you care about your children, do not only pray that they make good choices. Pray that the Spirit fortifies their inner man.

Church, if we care about one another, we should not only pray for visible blessing. Pray for invisible backbone.

Knowledge alone does not hold when temptation hits. Theology in the head is like blueprints on a table. Useful — but powerless until the foundation is poured.

Prayer is how the foundation gets poured.

Paul bows because he knows something we forget: strength that lasts is granted, not manufactured.

And it is granted according to the riches of His glory — not according to our emotional stamina.

That should steady you.