Indescribable: All Powerful

• True Power Keeps Its Promises: Unlike counterfeit power that puts on a show, God’s power is real, active, and never fails to deliver on what He promises.
• Humility Opens the Door to God’s Power: Prayer and humility work together — the more we pray, the less we rely on our own strength, and the more we experience His.
• Sin Gives Us an “Awe Problem”: Sin doesn’t just break God’s law; it redirects our awe away from Him and back onto ourselves.
• God’s Strength Comes From Unlimited Resources: We don’t have to pretend to be strong enough — Christ dwells within us and empowers us from a well that never runs dry.
• God’s Love and Power Exceed Anything We Can Imagine: Rooted and grounded in a love that is wide, long, deep, and high, we are filled with the fullness of God and equipped to bring Him glory.

Icebreaker

Think of a time you put up a confident front while feeling weak, tired, or overwhelmed on the inside. What made you want to hide it?

Introduction

Scripture References: Psalm 62:11, Ephesians 3:14-21

Brief Summary Pastor Michael opened with the picture of the Wizard of Oz — a powerful-looking figure who turned out to be a con man using smoke, fire, and a booming voice to manufacture an image he couldn’t back up. Paul, by contrast, falls to his knees before a God whose power is real, who is actively working in His people, and who always keeps His promises. The invitation is simple: let go of the illusion that you’re in control, and let God show you His real power in your life.

Discussion Questions

• Pastor Michael used the Wizard of Oz to illustrate power that looks impressive but is manufactured. Where do you see similar “smoke and mirrors” power in the world today — or in your own life?
• Read Psalm 62:11. What does it mean that “power belongs to God”? How does that truth change the way you handle a hard season?
• What is the difference between power that merely appears strong and the power Paul describes in Ephesians 3?

Application Questions

• What is one area of your life where you’ve been relying on “smoke and mirrors” instead of God’s real power?
• This week, what would it look like to “let go and let God” in a specific situation you’re facing?

1. God’s Power Brings Us to Our Knees

Scripture References: Ephesians 3:14-15, James 4:10, 1 Peter 5:6-7, 2 Corinthians 5:15

Brief Summary Humility and prayer feed one another — the more we pray, the less we rely on a fake exterior, and the more we recognize our need for God. Sin doesn’t just make us lawbreakers; as Paul Tripp puts it, it makes us “awe breakers,” redirecting our attention away from God’s glory and back onto ourselves. Chuck Colson’s story shows the pattern: earthly power and influence couldn’t give him peace, but surrendering to Christ brought him to his knees — and eventually to a life poured out in service to others.

Discussion Questions

• Pastor Michael shared how humility and prayer feed each other — the more we pray, the more we recognize our need for God. Where is that connection true (or missing) in your life right now?
• Sin doesn’t just make us lawbreakers, it makes us “awe breakers” — redirecting our attention away from God’s glory. What does it look like practically when our awe gets misplaced?
• Chuck Colson’s power and influence couldn’t give him peace during the Watergate scandal. Have you ever seen (or experienced) worldly success fail to deliver the peace it promised?

Application Questions

• What’s one specific thing pulling your awe toward yourself or your circumstances right now, instead of toward God?
• Where do you need to trade a posture of control for a posture of humility this week?

2. God’s Power Strengthens Us From the Inside

Scripture References: Ephesians 3:16, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Galatians 2:20

Brief Summary We often want the appearance of spiritual strength without the discipline that produces it — lots of access to God’s Word, but little actual reliance on Him. Paul prays for the Ephesians’ “inner man” to be strengthened, not just for their circumstances to change. His strength comes from unlimited resources, and like a toddler reaching up to be lifted, we’re invited to simply admit, “I can’t do this, but God can,” and let Christ make His home within us.

Discussion Questions

• Pastor Michael compared our physical fitness culture to our spiritual lives — lots of resources, but not always the discipline to use them. Where do you see that gap in your own walk with God?
• Paul prayed for the Ephesians’ “inner man” to be strengthened, not just for their circumstances to change. How is praying for inner strength different from praying for circumstances to change?
• The illustration of a toddler reaching up to be lifted pictures childlike dependence. What keeps adults from asking for help as freely as a child does?

Application Questions

• What’s a current struggle where you’ve been praying “change my circumstances” more than “change me”?
• What would it look like this week to draw from God’s unlimited resources instead of your own limited ones?

3. God’s Power Grounds Us and Fills Us

Scripture References: Ephesians 3:17-19, Colossians 3:14

Brief Summary Paul mixes his metaphors here — “rooted” is agricultural, picturing deep roots, and “grounded” is architectural, picturing a solid foundation. Both are built on love. Christ’s love is wide enough to embrace every sinner, long enough to reach from eternity past to eternity future, deep enough to rescue us from our lowest point, and high enough to bring us into God’s presence. When we’re filled with the fullness of God, what spills out under life’s pressure starts to look like Him.

Discussion Questions

• Paul uses agricultural (“rooted”) and architectural (“grounded”) pictures for a life built on love. Which image resonates more with where you are right now — needing deeper roots or a firmer foundation?
• Ephesians 3:18 describes Christ’s love as wide, long, deep, and high. Which of those dimensions do you find hardest to believe applies to you?
• Pastor Michael pictured an overflowing glass — what spills out under pressure reveals what’s really inside. When life shakes you, what tends to spill out?

Application Questions

• What’s one practical way you can root yourself more deeply in God’s love this week — through Scripture, prayer, or community?
• If pressure hit you today, what would you want to spill out instead of what usually does?

4. God’s Power Exceeds Our Imagination and Brings Him Glory

Scripture References: Ephesians 3:20-21

Brief Summary Oscar Diggs, the man behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz, used illusion to capture people’s imagination and glory for himself. We’re often tempted the same way, wanting people impressed by our strength and success. God’s power is the opposite — genuine, unlimited, and all for His glory. Paul closes his prayer piling word on word — all, above all, abundantly above all, exceedingly abundantly above all — to convey the sheer vastness of God’s power in Christ, offered to believer and unbeliever alike.

Discussion Questions

• Oscar Diggs used illusion to capture people’s imagination and glory for himself. In what ways are we tempted to do the same with our own strengths and successes?
• Warren Wiersbe’s outline of Ephesians 3:20 builds word by word — all, above all, abundantly above all, exceedingly abundantly above all. What does that progression teach you about the scale of God’s power?
• This message closed with an invitation to believers still holding onto their own power and to unbelievers who haven’t yet received God’s power. Which describes you most right now?

Application Questions

• What’s one area where you’ve been settling for your own limited power instead of trusting God’s abundant power?
• Who is one person you could share this truth with this week — that real power belongs to God, and He wants to share it with us?

Day 1: Letting Go of the Illusion

• Scripture Reference: Psalm 62:11
• Key Focus: Power belongs to God alone.
• Reflection: We often act as though we’re the ones holding everything together — our schedules, our families, our future. But Scripture reminds us that power has only ever belonged to God. Letting go of the illusion of control isn’t giving up; it’s finally putting your weight on something that can actually hold you.
• Application Question: What are you still trying to control today that you need to surrender to God?
• Prayer Prompt: Ask God to show you one place where you’ve been relying on your own strength instead of His.

Day 2: Brought to Our Knees

• Scripture Reference: Ephesians 3:14-15
• Key Focus: Humility opens the door to God’s power.
• Reflection: Paul begins his prayer by bowing his knees. Sin has a way of turning our awe inward, making everything about us — our comfort, our reputation, our control. But prayer bends our hearts back toward the One from whom every family in heaven and earth is named. Humility isn’t weakness; it’s the posture that lets God’s power in.
• Application Question: Where has pride kept you standing instead of kneeling before God?
• Prayer Prompt: Ask God for the humility to see your need for Him clearly today.

Day 3: Strength From an Unlimited Source

• Scripture Reference: Ephesians 3:16
• Key Focus: God’s power strengthens us from the inside out.
• Reflection: We can spend a lot of energy trying to look spiritually strong while quietly running on empty. Paul prays for something deeper — not a change in our circumstances, but strength in our inner man, drawn from resources that never run dry. Like a child reaching up to be lifted, we’re invited to simply admit our need.
• Application Question: What’s one situation where you need to stop pretending you’re strong enough and simply reach up like a child?
• Prayer Prompt: Thank God that His strength is made perfect in your weakness.

Day 4: Rooted, Grounded, and Filled

• Scripture Reference: Ephesians 3:17-19
• Key Focus: A life built on God’s immeasurable love.
• Reflection: Paul pictures a tree with deep roots and a building with a firm foundation — both held together by love. Christ’s love is wide, long, deep, and high, more than we could ever fully measure. When we’re rooted there, what spills out of us under pressure starts to look less like fear and more like Him.
• Application Question: What would it look like to let today’s pressures reveal Christlike love instead of frustration?
• Prayer Prompt: Ask God to root you deeper in His love today.

Day 5: Beyond All We Ask or Imagine

• Scripture Reference: Ephesians 3:20-21
• Key Focus: God’s power exceeds our imagination and belongs to Him alone.
• Reflection: Paul stacks phrase upon phrase — all, above all, abundantly above all, exceedingly abundantly above all — straining language itself to describe God’s power. That power isn’t for show, and it isn’t for our glory. It’s real, it’s active in us, and every bit of the credit belongs to Him, forever.
• Application Question: What’s one prayer you’ve been afraid to pray because it seems too big?
• Prayer Prompt: Praise God for being able to do exceedingly abundantly above all you ask or think, and ask Him for the faith to trust Him with it.