Title: Prayer for Enlightenment (Ephesians 1:15-23)
Contents
Prayer for Enlightenment (Ephesians 1:15-23)
The first half of Ephesians 1 (verses 1-14) is a message to praise the spiritual blessings God gives, the blessings of being chosen before the ages, the blessings of redemption, and the blessings of unity. Today's text, which is the second half, is Paul's spiritual prayer to realize God's spiritual blessings. The first half is praise and the second half is prayer, and the spiritual prayer begins like this.
“For this reason, I have also heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, and I do not cease to give thanks for you, speaking of you in my prayers” (1:15-16). praying towards. He is also praying with a sad heart. Because the Ephesians had received God's wonderful blessings, but they were living their lives unaware of the blessings. So, in the text, Paul is praying before God to open their spiritual eyes so that they can realize how great spiritual blessings they have already received. That's right. God loves us and has already given us great blessings. In fact, that we believe in Jesus, that we become children of the living God, and that we worship him are all wonderful blessings. Through the word of the living God today, our spiritual eyes must be opened to clearly realize how great blessings God has given us.
1. Paul's First Prayer
“The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, has given you a spirit of wisdom and revelation that you may know God” (verse 17). Knowing God is the greatest spiritual blessing. There is no higher knowledge in the world than the knowledge of God. We need to know God. Who is God? Only with wisdom can we know God. Wisdom is spiritual insight. God can only be known through spirituality. There is no other way to know God other than spirituality.
Paul's first prayer is, "God, give them a spirit of wisdom and revelation, that is, spiritual power, so that they may know who you are." Paul earnestly asks for a spirit of wisdom and revelation. We must earnestly long for this spirit of wisdom and revelation, that is, spirituality. We must have a desire to know God more and more deeply. So now we must offer our prayers like this.
"God, give us an abundance of wisdom and a spirit of revelation, so that we may know you. How great you are, how wonderful you are, how much you love me --- come"
2. Paul's Second Prayer
We pray that “the eyes of our hearts may be opened so that they may know the hope of his calling and the riches of the glory of his inheritance” (verse 18). Following the prayer to get to know God, I pray to know that God has called me. The fact that Jehovah God Almighty has called us is truly a wonderful spiritual blessing for us. But those who do not know God do not even know what the hope of God's calling is. So Paul fervently prays. They are praying to “open the eyes of their hearts” so that they may know what the hope of the calling is, that is, why God has called them.
You really need to know why God has called you. What is the purpose of my life on this earth and I need to know what God's plan is through me. In fact, we are feeble, lazy, and ignorant people who cannot even live a life worthy of our calling. We are like earthenware. But there is a treasure in it. That treasure is [God's calling].
God didn't call me because I was good. Rather, because God called me, I found true value in my worthless life, found reward in my empty life, hope from despair, and life and eternal life from death. God has called me by His grace.
Dear saints!
I hope that you will open your heart's eyes and respond to God's call. When we do this, we have abundant corporate glory. In other words, the word 'corporate' is 'inheritance'. When we come to know God in the spirit of wisdom and revelation and open our hearts to see the hope of our calling, what is promised to us is “the riches of the glory of his inheritance,” that is, “the inheritance of God.” Paul is praying that you now know clearly that you are heirs of God. We are all heirs of God. You have promised us a company, and also a rich company. We are no longer poor. The sorrows, despair, and frustrations on this earth are no longer ours.
3. Paul's Third Prayer
“I pray that you may make known what is the exceeding greatness of the power that is bestowed upon us who believe, as he works in the might of his might” (verse 19). The power of God is immeasurably great. That power is the power that overcame death. It is the power of God that gave Jesus Christ principality, authority, and power to put all things under his feet. And Jesus Christ is the head of the church. The Lord of this power has become our captain.
The church is a community of power. There is nothing impossible at church. Because Christ, the power, is our head. Christ, the Head, has also given us amazing powers. However, the Ephesians were living a very helpless life, unaware that He had given them amazing powers. That made Paul frustrated. So I pray to God.
“God, help us to know how great and great your power is in us.” We must know that God's great power is within us. There are infinite possibilities within us. A person without possibility is a very pitiful person. But he who has a possibility and does not know it is even more pitiful.
Dear saints,
When we live in this world, we get frustrated and disappointed for various reasons. Sometimes you really don't know what to do. But then we must remember that our Lord is Almighty God. He is the Almighty God who created the universe with the word, gave us life, and raised Jesus Christ from the dead. We must have faith that this God holds us with his right hand, watches over us with his flaming eyes, and protects, guides, and guides us. We must be convinced that the great power of God is with us within us.
The early church members were just like us. However, after they received the Holy Spirit and full power, they changed the history of the whole world. We have that ability now. Therefore, we must move forward with a dream. We must achieve a church community in the power of the Holy Spirit with grand dreams and visions. So now, when we pray, we should not pray, “God, give me strength,” but rather, “May I know and use the power you have already given me.” When that happens, God's work will surely appear.
Now Paul's prayer comes to us as a new challenge, a great challenge.
① To know God in the spirit of wisdom and revelation
② Open the eyes of the heart to know the hope of the calling, to believe in the promise of corporate abundance
③ Knowing that nothing is impossible with the power of God's power
In the name of the Lord, I pray that you will live a victorious life by answering Paul's prayer and Paul's challenge with Amen.