Where Jesus Get’s Comfortable and Settles Down A Three-minute Bible Study Print, Study and Apply Title: Where Jesus Get’s Comfortable and Settles Down Keyword: "dwell” Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation. The following passage includes one of the Apostle Paul's great prayers for believers. In it, he requests certain things from God for our benefit. We'll take a few days to explore this prayer and see how it might help us stand strong in the face of sexual temptation. Passage: Ephesians 3:14-19* 14. For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, 15. from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, 16. that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man; 17. so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18. may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19. and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fulness of God. Questions 1. Verse 16's request is for strength "in the inner man." What will be the result when this prayer is answered (see the first part of verse 17)?   2. Do you think there might be a difference between Christ being present in your heart and "dwelling" in your heart through faith?   Practical help I have always understood that Christ already lives in the heart of the believer. Why pray that Christ would "dwell" there, if He's already there? Well, He is already there, but Paul is not praying a pointless prayer. He is asking for something different than and more than the mere presence of Christ in our lives. He is praying that Christ would settle down and be comfortable in our hearts. That's what he means by "dwell." Years ago, Inter-Varsity Press put out a little pamphlet that picked up on this idea of Jesus making Himself at home in our hearts. Robert Boyd Munger is the author of the pamphlet, and it is called, My Heart — Christ's Home. Picturing the heart (also known as the "inner man") as a literal home, Munger describes the rooms in the heart. Each of our hearts has a: Library, or a study, representing the mind. Jesus makes himself at home in a heart where the study is lined with that which is "true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and of good repute" (Philippians 4:8). Dining room, representing our appetites and desires. Jesus settles down in a heart that fixes its appetites on the unseen and the eternal. When we learn to feast on doing God's will, Jesus rolls out His sleeping bag and makes Himself at home. "Recreation room," representing diversions we pursue in our away-from-work/school time. The Lord Jesus is most comfortable dwelling in the heart of the believer who welcomes Him into every activity and association of life. Workshop, representing the projects of our lives. When we are willing to use the tools — gifts, talents, abilities, passions — at our disposal for Him, He settles down in our hearts. So, never forgetting the wealth of God's supply, let's pray that our heavenly Father would, through the Holy Spirit, strengthen us in "the inner man" so that Christ will not only be present, but will actually dwell in our hearts as we trust Him. You can pick up My Heart — Christ's Home by Robert Boyd Munger at most Christian bookstores or click here to learn how to order it online. eXXit homepage Index of three-minute studies Copyright 2003 by eXXit *Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission. ----