Ephesians 1:15-23 (NIV)
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
The faith of the Ephesians was a great encouragement to Paul. At the time he wrote this letter he was under house arrest in Rome (Ephesians 6:19-20, Acts 28:30), and it did his heart good to hear that the seeds he had planted in Ephesus (Acts 19) had taken root and were growing strongly.
Paul’s overarching prayer for the Ephesians was that the Spirit of wisdom and revelation would work ever more powerfully in their hearts and minds. This prayer had three goals in mind:
- That they would know God more fully. That kind of knowledge of the divine is spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14), and it is facilitated by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, not only bringing the truth to the hearts of the believers, but keeping those hearts soft, pure and responsive so that the deeper knowledge of God can sink in and not just bounce off.
- That they would know and receive the hope to which God had called them, the glorious inheritance in the saints. This is the hope of resurrection and of eternity in heaven. But it is also so much more than that. It is the fulfilled promise of life lived in God’s presence here and now, a life of living and working in the kingdom of God, coworkers with Jesus and the Holy Spirit in bringing the souls of men, women and children out of darkness into the light so that they, too, can live forever in God’s presence.
- That they would personally know and experience the incomparably great power that is available to believers. This is power to live a life that glorifies God every day in every thought, word and deed, power that is freely given to every one of God’s people through the presence of the Holy Spirit. But it is also the power to be a witness of Jesus everywhere that we go (Acts 1:8). And this is no small trickle of power. As Paul himself experienced it and lived it out, it is the same kind of power that raised Jesus from the dead and took Him up to heaven to sit at God’s right hand. It is life transforming, world shaking power that includes the power to do the kind of amazing miracles that Jesus did, and even greater things (John 14:12-14).
All these things are possible to those who are fully surrendered to Jesus because of His presence with and in His body, the Church, mediated through the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of each believer.
Father, it is so encouraging to know that all these things are available to each of us today, too! Forgive us for trying to do all You have called us to do in our own puny strength when the resurrection power of Jesus is available to us for the asking. Help us to pray conscientiously and persistently for these things in our own lives and in the lives of our congregations until they become the reality that we live in, to Your glory. Amen.