Sunday Worship Service · August 23, 2026 

Scripture: Ephesians 3:14–21; Genesis 48:20 

Message at a Glance  How you see your future determines how you live your present. Joseph named his sons out of his own theology of life — Manasseh, “God made me forget,” and Ephraim, “God made me fruitful” — believing deliverance had to come before fruitfulness. But Jacob crossed his hands and set Ephraim before Manasseh, overturning that order: God makes you fruitful in the very land of your affliction, not only after it. Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3 shows what that fruitfulness looks like from the inside — a strengthened inner man, Christ dwelling comfortably, love that is measured in four dimensions, and a life filled to the fullness of God — all accomplished by the One who does exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think.

Key Scriptures  Ephesians 3:14-21 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from 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 through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your  hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.  Genesis 48:20 So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will bless, saying, ‘May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!’” And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh.  Genesis 41:51 Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: “For God has made me forget all my toil and all my father’s house.”  Genesis 41:52 And the name of the second he called Ephraim: “For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my af liction.”

The Way You See Life Determines the Way You Live It 

It is not a biblical quotation, but a word spoken by an anointed man of God, and it carries the weight of Scripture: the way I see life will determine the way I live my life. If you could see your future, it would change everything about your present. 

That anointed man once put the question to a young girl in a Bible study. If you could see your future, he asked, how would you live now? The child answered that it would depend entirely on what the future held. If the future ahead of her was failure — a future with no hope, very difficult, full of despair — then, she said, I will live my life any how. If there is no hope for the future, I will live as I feel. But he pressed further: if your future is blessed, pleasing to God, full of hope, healthy, a future in which you see the joy of generations — how then? And she said, then I will give glory to the Lord and live straight, the way God likes. 

Somebody who is mismanaging their present is doing so because they cannot see anything meaningful in the future. That is the root of it. And so there is a word for you today, whether the issue is the one the church is facing now or something in your own personal life. One thing can be said with certainty from the Word: you have a future with hope. Not a future of failure. God has a future of mercy and a future of blessing kept for you. 

The way you see your life is the way you are going to live your life. 

Joseph's Two Sons: Manasseh and Ephraim The verse read from Genesis is not itself the message, but the Holy Spirit pressed it in. It is the story of Joseph, and you know that story. God gave him a big dream. But everything that came into his life was the opposite of that dream. 

He falls into a pit. His brothers betray him. He lives as a stranger in another country. There a false case comes against him and he goes to prison. Circumstance after circumstance, all of it negative. And then, finally, God raises him up. He stands in the palace of Pharaoh as prime minister. He marries, and two children are born to him — and he gives them names. 

Those names are not casual. The naming is the reflection of his life, his philosophy, a picture of his faith. Look at what he called them. 

Genesis 41:51  Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: “For God has made me forget all my toil and all my father’s house.”

Genesis 41:52 

And the name of the second he called Ephraim: “For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my af liction.” 

Manasseh — God made me forget all my hardship and all my father's house. Ephraim — God made me fruitful in the land of my affliction. So when Joseph looks back, he is describing the sequence of his life as he understood it. First there was hardship, and God made him forget it — God delivered him from the hardship. Then, after the deliverance had happened, the second thing followed: God made him fruitful. 

First deliverance, then fruitfulness. That was Joseph's order. That was the philosophy he had built his life on. 

Jacob Crosses His Hands 

Then Joseph brings these two children before his elderly father. Jacob's eyes could not see. Joseph positions them carefully: Manasseh on the right side, Ephraim on the left — because the blessing of the right hand belongs to Manasseh, the firstborn, and the other hand is for Ephraim. Everything is arranged correctly by human reckoning. 

But the father who could not see was brought and stood there, and he moved his hand. The Spirit of God moved it. And the word he spoke over them is the verse that was read. 

Genesis 48:20  So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will bless, saying, ‘May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!’” And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

He set Ephraim before Manasseh. That is, the philosophy Joseph had believed until that moment — God broke it. God is saying: your deliverance is not first. Your fruitfulness is. He is blessing you and making you fruitful in the midst of your hardship. 

Your deliverance is not first. God is making you fruitful in the land of your af liction. 

Fruitful in the Land of Affliction 

This is lodged in the minds of many believers: only when I am delivered will God bless me. And those who walk about desiring only deliverance often never see the deliverance they are chasing. 

That is why they went to one church, and then to another church. Then they were prayed over by one pastor, then by the pastor on the other side. Then a Christian conference, then another meeting, then another place — sat there twenty-one days, went somewhere else and sat forty. At one place they were told to vomit and go, and it has been five years now since the vomiting started. And still, deliverance has not happened. 

That is not how God delivers. In the middle of your hardship — in the middle of this church facing this adversity — God is making us effective, God is making us fruitful. Today God is declaring a blessing of fruitfulness on all who will receive it. 

Many believers hold this: only if I receive deliverance will I get the blessing; only if I live straight will I get the blessing. You must live straight. You must receive deliverance. All of that is good, and God is a delivering God. But the Bible says you are fruitful in your affliction. Do not forget this day that even in the time of your affliction, even in the middle of your crisis, the God who makes you fruitful when people have written you off is your God. Even if you do not see the deliverance today, let the fruitfulness God has kept for you be manifested from you. Entrust it to Him. 

And it is not by forgetting the pain. Your philosophy — how you see life — Joseph saw it one way until then, and Jacob could tell him to change it by bringing Ephraim and Manasseh to the front and standing them there. It is true that you were rejected. It is true that you were written off. It is true that you were put in a pit. It is true that there were false cases against you. It is true that you were sold. It is true that even your father's house caused you pain. But in the midst of all that, the God who raised you and lifted you up was making you fruitful, and He was bringing you to the very place you were supposed to reach. 

The Manasseh Mindset and the Ephraim Mindset 

There are those with a Manasseh mindset and those with an Ephraim mindset, and you can tell them apart by how they handle the waiting. 

Do you know what those with a Manasseh mindset are like? When wealth comes, they say, I will give what I owe to the Lord after I get delivered first. And this person neither gives nor gets delivered. But the Macedonian church gave even out of their lack, and therefore God increased them. 

Or take a workplace. What is his mindset there? A Manasseh mindset: if I have a good salary, then I will work well. If I get the stipend, the promotion, the recognition, the certificate — if I have all of these, then I will work well. He does not work well, and so he does not get the certificate either. 

Do you know what those with such a mindset say? If I don't get my deliverance, my life is over. Pastor, my life is over — I am praying and praying and I am not getting deliverance. 

But do you know what an Ephraim mindset is? Even if I don't get deliverance, the God who called me is faithful — even in the midst of this. Even in a situation that is not favourable, He will make me fruitful, He will lift me up, He will build me up, my God will bring me to where I need to reach. He will stand me up for God's glory. 

One group has decided to praise the Lord only after their problems end. The others praise in the midst of the problem — not because the problem ended, but in the middle of it: in the midst of the problem I will give glory to my God. I am going to give my best unto Jesus. 

There are those with this mindset: I will be happy only after my marriage is fixed, Pastor — then I will be happy. It is not about the marriage being fixed. You be happy first. God is faithful; your marriage will be fixed. 

A young man once came to Pastor and said, Pastor, I am way past my age; I need a woman in my life to feel like a man. Pastor told him: unless you begin to thank the Lord and worship Him, you will never feel like a man, nor will you get a woman. That is a Manasseh mindset. You have to feel like a man without having a woman, or feel like a woman without having a man. 

You have to be happy the way God has created you, without looking for something else from outside. If you understand that and entrust yourself, do not forget that the God who increases you is your God. 

Have you seen some people? Every week they will keep saying the same problem again and again. Some do it hoping it will produce deliverance. Pastor, do you know what that person did to me? Pastor knows — he has been told thirty times. 

“I want to tell you prophetically: the church will be fruitful amidst the challenges. Your life will be fruitful amidst the challenges. No matter what adversities there are, the church will advance. The kingdom of God will move forward, the church of God will move forward, the children of God will move forward. No plan of the enemy will hold the church back. In the name of Jesus, the church, by God's grace, will move forward.” 

Paul Prays on His Knees 

Now come to today's passage, Ephesians three, fourteen to twenty-one. Paul is praying here. The book of Ephesians is called the queen of the epistles, and inside it this prayer of Paul is recorded. He has not seen this church for four years, and he is praying for them. 

Ephesians 3:14-15  For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

Notice how he prays. Paul is praying on his knees — that is the fourteenth verse. Any blessing in your life begins on your knees. 

A few days ago the Lord asked Pastor a question: have you prayed on your knees for the church? He had been on his knees at Bible college; he studied the Bible on his knees. But have you knelt down and prayed for the church? I pray, he said, I walk and I pray — and the Lord said, you must kneel and pray. 

Paul started praying on his knees, and he prayed for four things. This is a prayer revival that God is sending upon the church. 

First: Strengthened in the Inner Man 

Ephesians 3:16  that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,

Do you know what Paul's first prayer point is? That their inner man must be strengthened — the inner man strengthened daily. Whatever is happening on the outside is not the issue. When Paul prays for the church, he is praying that their inner man be strong. 

If your inner man is strong — no matter what negative report the doctor gives, no matter what court notice of debt arrives, no matter who opposes you, no matter who stands against you — if your inner man has been strengthened in the Holy Spirit, you will overcome it all, and you will move forward carrying the victory flag of Jesus. Open your mouth this day and say it: my inner man must be strengthened. 

The Word is the protein for the inner man. Worship in the Holy Spirit is the energy drink. When you worship in the Holy Spirit, that is the moment you entrust yourself so that the inner man is strengthened, and God pours out grace. Your inner man has to be robust and strong. It has to carry more authority than your outer man. 

The Word is the protein of the inner man; worship in 

the Holy Spirit is the energy drink. 

When the children of God gather together and worship the Lord, everything you are praying for is for this — that your inner man be strengthened in the Holy Spirit. If the inner man is strengthened, you can overcome any temptation. You are not walking in submission to your flesh. If your inner man is strong, you will not walk in submission to the situation. God has called some people here today for exactly this: the Holy Spirit has brought you here to strengthen your inner man. 

Second: Christ Dwelling Comfortably 

Ephesians 3:17  that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. One translation renders it this way: that Christ may dwell comfortably in your heart. That is, not as a guest — but as the owner. 

And remember, Paul is writing to the church, not to unbelievers. Writing to the Ephesian church, he is praying that Christ would comfortably dwell, comfortably reside, inside them. So the question is for you: is Christ comfortable inside of you? 

When guests come, we ask them — sit, sit, are you comfortable in that chair? Not as a guest like that. As the owner. Give the right over your life to the Lord and say: Lord, You dwell here. Come and reside in me, abide in me, I want to abide in You. Be comfortable in me. In every room of my heart, in every room of my life, You have complete prominence, You have lordship, Jesus. 

Not as a guest — as the Owner. 

Pastor has been bringing a particular prayer to the Lord lately: Lord, are You happy inside of me? Have you ever asked that prayer? This is being asked of the church, not of unbelievers — that Christ may comfortably dwell. Nothing that makes the Lord uncomfortable should come into your life. Listen to the meaning of it: not even one thing that causes pain or discomfort to the Lord should come into your life — not by word, not by thought, not by speech, not by action. Can you lift your hands and say, Lord, may not even one thing that causes You pain be seen in my life; nothing that makes You uncomfortable, nothing at all. It is a daily thing. On a daily basis, Christ dwelling comfortably inside of you should be your focus. 

Third: Rooted and Grounded in Love 

Ephesians 3:18  may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—

Rooted. Grounded. And then four measurements — the width, the length, the height, the depth. Think about it: when Paul writes to the church he says, I am praying for you, that you would be rooted and grounded in the love of Christ. 

Back in the day there were only X-rays at the hospital — a kind of scan where you saw the skeleton and came out. But now you get 3D images, images that can be seen with far more clarity. Here Paul is talking about a four-dimensional thing: the love of Christ measured on four sides. 

The Width of His Love 

The breadth of the Lord's love means it touches the entire world. North America and South America and Africa and Asia and Australia — is it not all of it? It is the global reach of the Lord's love. 

Those lying deep inside the Amazon forest have experienced the Lord's love, and there are those there living for the Lord. On top of the mountain there are those who have experienced the Lord's love and stand for the Lord. Among the tribes, in many parts of the world, there are those who have experienced Christ's love and stand for Him. Just as it was said to the church in Ephesus, God is saying it to this church today: the breadth of the Lord's love — if you had only known it. 

People who eat different food and speak different languages. Jew and Gentile. Malayali and Tamilian and Bihari and Bengali. American and South Korean and Japanese and Chinese. Africans and everyone. In the Lord's love, He has redeemed us by His blood out of every tribe and tongue and every group of people, and today we are redeemed by Christ's blood to be a part of God's own. Look at somebody and say it: He loves you. 

The Length of His Love 

What is the length? From eternity to eternity — eternity past to eternity future. The prophet Jeremiah said it. 

Jeremiah 31:3  Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.

It is everlasting, that love of Christ. It is not something that ends in months. It does not end in years. It does not end with death. Even before you were born, God saw you and loved you. While you were in your mother's womb He made you a prophet, made you a minister, made you His own, and set you apart. He wants to spend eternity with you. That is what Jesus said — I came to give them life, eternal life, infinite life. 

The Height of His Love 

In Ephesians chapter two itself it says that He lifts us up into heavenly places. 

Ephesians 2:6  and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

It is the Lord's love that lifted us out of the depths and seated us with Christ. Look at God's love. Paul writes and says, if you could only comprehend it. This is what Pastor has been praying in these days too: Lord, just to comprehend Your love — a glimpse of it, an edge of it, if one could just hold onto a corner of it. Lord, I want to taste Your love. 

The Depth of His Love 

At the lowest point of life, this love comes and touches. Maybe you are feeling very low right now — but there is good news for you: Jesus loves you. 

The Psalmist called out and said that He remembered him in his lowliness. 

Psalm 136:23  Who remembered us in our lowly state, For His mercy endures forever;

The God who remembers you in your lowliness, the God who does not forsake you, the God who lifts you up — thank Him for that love today. And this love lasts forever. That is why Paul asked the question in the New Testament. 

Romans 8:35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Demons? The devil? Distress, misery, persecution, tribulation, danger, sword — can anything at all separate you and me from the love of Christ? 

It was Bishop Polycarp who said it, and it is deeply inspiring. He was taken out to be martyred for the Lord, an old man of eighty-something years. As they were about to set him on fire they asked him: will you deny the Lord? And he answered, you can put me in the fire, but I cannot reject this love. I cannot reject this Christ who loved me. 

It is because of this love that Mary Magdalene got up at dawn and ran to that tomb. If you have this love, you will run to worship. You will run to worship the Lord. 

The most important things become less important when you taste His love. Until then, you think the greatest love is that of a boyfriend or a girlfriend; when you experience the Lord's love you will say, it is nothing — I only need the Lord's love. Until then, you think the house you built or the business you built up is the greatest thing; when you experience the Lord's love you will say, it doesn't matter 

if I don't have these, what I need is the Lord. More than father, more than mother, more than siblings, more than wealth — can you say that you love the Lord above everything? That happens when you start tasting His love. 

When you taste His love, the most important things become less important. 

Comprehended With All the Saints 

Do you know what Paul said in that verse? This love is not something you can experience all by yourself. It is with the church. To comprehend it with all the saints. 

Only when you are with all the saints. If you sit at home alone, you can experience only a little bit of this love. But if you want to experience this love even a little as God desires it, that happens when the saints, the children of God, gather together and the church comes together. Say it: we are not alone, we are together. Not alone — together. 

This week Pastor was sitting at the back while everyone here was praying. He thought to himself, how dedicated the church members are. There was no one on the stage, no worship ministry, the pastor was not to be seen — and yet the children of God sat and prayed in tongues for three hours. And many people messaged him afterwards asking, Pastor, is there anything you want us to do? 

Fourth: Filled With All the Fullness of God 

Ephesians 3:19  to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

The fourth thing Paul prayed for: that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Is it possible? Is it possible for human beings? 

The fullness of God was in Christ Jesus, and the Lord says you must be filled just like that — the fullness of God, His holiness, His wisdom, His grace, His love, filled to fullness. Can you ask the person next to you whether they are full of Christ? Most people probably came in full of something else, but that is not the question. Are you full of Christ? 

We usually hear this verse and move straight on. But when Pastor sits and meditates on it, he says, Lord, is it really possible? To understand it, take an illustration. Take a glass of orange juice, and assume the other glass has water. Both are full. The orange juice is the nature of Christ, the attribute, the fullness of God. The other glass — that is us. And the juice is being poured into it. At first, when you pour, there is only a little orange juice and the rest is water. But as you keep pouring the orange juice, all the water inside slowly goes out, and it becomes three-fourths orange juice and the rest water. And after a while the water is gone, and only orange juice fills the inside. 

So when you come into the Lord's presence and say, Lord, I need Your fullness — understand what you are asking. Most people are full of themselves. They are believers, but they are full of themselves. And that means they are not surrendering to the Lord. 

We wake up on Monday, say a prayer, run into the busyness of work, come back in the evening, turn on the TV or keep staring at the phone, and at night read Psalm 91 or something and then go to sleep. Not even a fraction filled. Ask the person next to you what they are filled with — is it twenty percent? To be filled to the fullness of God means one hundred percent with the presence of Christ Jesus, with love, with holiness. God is faithful to fill you if you are ready to surrender yourself. Every day when you wake up you should say: Lord, I want to be filled with the fullness of God. 

We only come for fullness sometimes — for a fasting prayer, a fullness. Pastor remembered a joke from school days. In chemistry class the teacher asked about pouring in some chemical, and the boy did not know enough English to say pour it slowly, so he made do with the English he had. And we are rather like that with fullness: at a fasting prayer we sometimes say pour it, Lord — and at other times we say, go slowly, that is enough. Lift your hands instead and say: pour it, Lord. Fill me with the fullness. 

Exceedingly Abundantly Above All We Ask 

Ephesians 3:20-21  Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

This is a favourite verse, is it not? Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly more than we can imagine, think, or ask — through His great power that works within us. 

This is a verse we love. When we are driving an auto-rickshaw and want a car, we say, Lord, beyond what I think. When we get a four-bedroom house instead of a two-bedroom house, we quote this verse. Pastor is a person who believes that God gives all of this. Not for a thousand people, not for two thousand, not for ten thousand — but for everyone who comes experiencing the Lord's love: a fullness, and an expansion according to that, and a growth according to that, and a blessing according to that. He believes God will do it for the church. He believes God will work beyond what we think, and that He will not cause any lack. 

But when you read the context of this verse, do you know that it is those four things? First, strength in the inner man. Second, that Christ should dwell in you comfortably. Third, that you should know the depths and the height of His love. And fourth, that you should be filled with the fullness of God. 

How is this possible? Is it possible at all? I am a human being, a weak human being — is this possible? And when you ask that question, in the very next verse Paul says there is a God who does this beyond what you think and desire. He is able to do exceedingly abundantly more than you can ever imagine, think, or ask, through His great power that works within us. Not by our ability or our cleverness. When you say, Lord, it would be wonderful to experience this, do you know what God says? It is something I do in you by My power, beyond everything you think and desire. 

Not by our ability or our cleverness — by His power that works in us. 

“God will do exceedingly great things for us — beyond what you think, beyond the prayer I am praying. A fullness you have never experienced before. A fellowship with Christ you have never experienced before. The depths of God's love you have never experienced before. As the church prays together in these days, God is going to work upon you through His great power, by the power of the Holy Spirit.” 

Lift your hands and praise the name of the Lord. Look at somebody and say: God will do exceedingly great things for us. 

Key Takeaways  • The way you see your life determines the way you live your life. A future with hope produces a present lived in honour before God.  • Jacob set Ephraim before Manasseh. Fruitfulness is not held back until deliverance arrives — God makes you fruitful in the land of your affliction.  • A Manasseh mindset postpones obedience, gratitude and joy until circumstances change. An Ephraim mindset gives God glory in the middle of the problem.  • Paul’s first prayer is for the inner man to be strengthened — the Word is its protein, worship in the Holy Spirit its energy. When the inner man is stronger than the outer man, no report can master you.  • Christ is to dwell in your heart not as a guest but as the owner. Let nothing that grieves Him have a place in your words, thoughts or actions.  • The love of Christ has width, length, height and depth — and it is comprehended “with all the saints,” in the gathered church, never alone.  • God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think, by His power working in us — not by our ability.