Lincoln on the prayer of Ephesians 3

The prayer for inner strength, roots, foundations, Christ dwelling in the heart, faith, knowledge, love and complete experience of God, and the quite unusual stress on the church in the doxology, suggest as a variety of needs among the readers. There may well be tendencies to rootlessness and instability, to inferiority, or at least confusion, in the face of the claims of others to knowledge and fullness, to an insufficient sense of their identity as part of the church, and to an inadequate appreciation of the power and love available to enable them to live as God’s new people, the Church.

Lincoln, Andrew T. Word Biblical Commentary: Ephesians. Edited by David A. Hubbard, Glenn W. Barker and Ralph P. Martin. Vol. 42. Dallas, TX: Word Books, 1990. P 201.