<p>3:20 <i>Now to Him that is able to do immeasurably above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us</i>- This is one of several allusions to Paul's final address to the Ephesian elders; I suggested on 1:1 that Ephesians was initially a follow up letter to that meeting:</p><p>Acts 20:19 = Eph. 4:2 &quot;lowliness of mind&quot;<br />Acts 20:27 = Eph. 1:11 &quot;counsel&quot;, God's plan.<br />Acts 20:32 = Eph. 3:20 God's &quot;ability&quot;.<br />Acts 20:32 = Eph. 2:20. Building upon the foundation.<br />Acts 20:32 = Eph. 1:14,18 &quot;The inheritance of the saints.&quot;</p><p>Answers to prayer are described as &ldquo;great and mighty things, which you know not&rdquo; (Jer. 33:3)- i.e. the very nature of answered prayer is that it is above all we ask or think. It leads to a sense of wonderment with this God with whom we are in relationship. And answered prayer is indeed part and parcel of a living relationship with the Father and Son. But Paul may simply mean that the spiritual help he has just prayed for is far beyond anything the Ephesians could &quot;ask or think&quot; of requesting. He urges them to believe that God is indeed &quot;able&quot; to work the spiritual transformation he has just prayed for. And that ability is potentially within each of us; for each baptized believer has received &quot;the power that works in us&quot;, it is a question of allowing it to operate. Again we note that the Spirit works <i>within</i> us; there is no reference to the miraculous gifts, they were an incidental, temporal external witness to the profound fact that God's Spirit power has been given into the hearts of believers and is at work there. God is at work in our hearts, in our psychology- but we must be open to this.</p>