Knowing Love That Surpasses Knowledge
by Margaret Silvester
There are forty or so prayers in the New Testament, and all but three are prayers for the growth of believers in their knowledge of God and the outworking of that knowledge in daily living. We can pray these prayers into our lives by making them personal. This prayer in Ephesians is one I’ve prayed more than any other into my own life. It’s an endless prayer, because God’s love is inexhaustible; there’s always more.
There seem to be two conditions to knowing this surpassing love. Firstly, Christ must dwell in your heart through faith. This means He’s not to inhabit as a stranger, but permanently reside or feel comfortable there, because He’s Lord. If Jesus dwells in your heart it means that He’s free to make all the decision. He can do as He pleases. Secondly, you need to be rooted and established in love. Love is to be the soil in which your life is rooted and the foundation on which your life is built. Because you’ve come to know something of the depth of His love, you love Him in return, with love that doesn’t depend on circumstances.
This knowledge of divine love is personal knowledge. I can’t know Jesus through another person’s knowledge of Him. This prayer isn’t about head knowledge, but heart ‘knowing’ through the Holy Spirit, who pours God’s love into our hearts (Romans 5:5) as we spend time with Him.
The love I’m talking about is described as four dimensional. It has width, length, height and depth. I wonder if Paul, in meditating on the love of Jesus, was lost for words, and knew of no better way to describe it than immeasurable, indescribable and surpassing knowledge. It’s not unknowable, but so great that it can’t be completely known; there’s always more. When we see Him in heaven we’ll know this love in perfection.
We have a Saviour who loves us beyond measure, without conditions, without change. His love has neither beginning nor end, but only in loving Him does that love become a life-changing reality. We don’t find the love of God by searching for it. But we do become enfolded in love beyond measure as we seek Him with a hungry heart longing to know Him better.
The following prayer is the verse of a hymn by Ira D. Sankey.
Margaret Silvester had a career as a teacher prior to being called into full time Christian Ministry with her husband, David, in 1986. They were involved in establishing a Healing Ministry in the local church and Margaret has a passion to see lost and wounded people found and restored. She and her husband joined the Ellel Ministries teaching and ministry team in 2000 after a clear call from God. Margaret`s book "Stepping Stones to the Father Heart of God" has recently been published.
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