Paul’s Prayer

We start our study by considering Paul’s prayer in chapter 1:15-19 and make it our prayer.

P aul writes: “... making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.” (NASB) Wow! What a prayer! Is this your desire as we begin this book? Do you want to know Him more?

Such knowledge only comes by revelation – no amount of learning, studying, etc., can bring us to this knowledge. It is possible to know everything about Him but not know Him personally. This is a prayer for intimacy with the Creator and Hi s Son. (Consider Peter’s recognition that Jesus is the Christ, and the Master’s response in Matt 16:16,17 – Blessed are you, Simon, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in Heaven ) How can I set myself in a posture that God is pleased to answer this prayer?

Consider Moses. He had met God at the burning bush, seen His miracles in Egypt, culminating in the crossing of the Red Sea; followed the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night; heard God’s voice several times – yet t here was a hunger to know God more. He cried, “ O God, please show me Your Glory!” In response, God declared, “I know your name so I will show you My name” - Ex 33:18,19. In Bible times, one’s name was very important. Jacob (Deceiver) was changed to Israel (Prince with God) when he met God; Saul (after mighty King Saul) was changed to Paul (little one); Peter (little stone) was changed to Cephas (rock). John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress plays much on the meaning of one’s name. It reveals one’s inner character .

God’s revelation of Himself is determined by our name (our inner man/character). So, what is your name? Is it Doubtful or Timorous, Hypocrite or Prideful, Faithful or Overcomer? The apostle John wrote that spiritual maturity (‘fatherhood’) is defined by those who have “ come to know Him who has been from the beginning ” and the only way to come there is by first being a ‘young man’ who is strong because the Word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one . (1 John 2:12-15). God is always willing to reveal more of Himself to the one who is an overcomer when faced with the tests of life. Note that in every letter, the glorified Jesus dictates to John in Revelation 2&3 where there is the phrase, “to him who overcomes I will…” Further, note that in John’s letter, these are not natural ages or genders. I know many young men and women who are spiritual ‘fathers/mothers’, having come to know God in a deeply personal way. Sadly, I also know many older people who are still little children (childish) when it comes to spiritual maturity.

Paul now prays for three things : 1. To him, there are three great jewels – faith, hope, and love – which he links together at least 7 times in his letters. (See how many you can find!) He has heard of the Ephesians’ fa ith and love, so he now prays that they might also know the hope of His calling .

Faith and hope have been greatly misunderstood by many in the church. As I study faith , without which it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6), I see it expressed in three different ways. There is ‘saving faith’ (Eph 2:8) – the starting point beyond which too many believers never advance; there is the ‘fruit of faith’ (Gal 5:22) which gradually is produced by the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer who ‘abides’ in Christ (see Ps 1:3); there is the ‘gift of faith’ (1 Cor 12:9) granted by the Holy Spirit in certain needful circumstances. Note that all have their source in God – you cannot produce one iota of faith by your effort!

I define faith as “the word of God ‘spoken’ into the heart of a believer leading him/her into God’s will”. It is an attribute of the heart (not the mind) and is evidenced in obedience . Like love, it is guarded by the breastplate (1 Thess 5:8), whereas hope is an attribute of the mind, represented by the helmet.

My favourite verse is Galatians 2:20, which states “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. ” ( KJV) It was his hope (not his faith) that caused Paul to stand boldly before Felix and Agrippa – see Acts 24:15, 21, and 26:6. Hope is “an inner certainty of God’s promises being true” or “an eager expectation of that which is certain .” It is an attribute of the mind and is evidenced in confidence.

See Heb 10:35.

Such ‘confidence’ is lacking in so many believers today , and our prayers should be, like Paul’s, that we might know the hope of our calling.

2. He secondly prays that they might know the riches of glory of His inheritance in the saints.

Glory is the manifest presence of God – all that He is willing to reveal of Himself among His people. God wants to make His presence known in the life of a believer, in the church, and the community around the church. When did you last experience the glory of His presence? That should be the lot of every believer! “ Christ in us – the hope of glory”. Col 1:27. I have been blessed several times by the Lord, making His presence known so that I, with others, have had to declare “ Surely, the Lord is in this place !” This was not just our belief, but an experience as real as a physical presence. That is what the apostle is praying for us.

3. Thirdly, that they might know the surpassing greatness of His power to us who believe . That is what happened on the day of Pentecost and is the power ( dunamis ) promised to all believers to make them effective as His witnesses. (Acts 1:8; 2:39) This is not the power granted to enable us to ‘become children of God’ ( exousia ) (John 1:12), but a greater power to enable us to be His witnesses. How feeble is our effort when we neglect this deep work of the Holy Spirit! The disciples had received the Spirit as life when Jesus breathed upon them in the upper room, the day after His resurrection (John 20:23), but they had to wait in Jerusalem seven more weeks until they received the power from on high to enable them to do the work they were sent to do.

Similarly, Jesus had the Holy Spirit in Him from conception, but needed the anointing of the Spirit upon Him at baptism before He could do the work He was sent to do. After the dove had descended upon Him, He stood in the synagogue in Nazareth, read from the prophet Isaiah about the anointing of God, and then declared, “This day , thi s scripture has been fulfilled.” (Luke 4:21) If He needed such an anointing, how much more do we?

Tozer said that “ dispensationalism (which includes the belief that miracles and the baptism with the Holy Ghost are not for today) has done more damage to the church than liberalism, for the latter has robbed the church of its message, but the former has robbed the church of its power.

The prayer of Paul is continued in chapter 3:14-19. He had been sidetracked by the thrill of all that Jesus had meant to him in answer to his prayers for Himself, as we shall see in the next chapter.

Now, he adds to his prayers for us: “… t hat He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.”

Again, ‘comprehend’ like ‘know’ is an experiential word, not simply a belief.

Does this not make you hunger and thirst after His righteousness?

“O Lord, we hunger for You to make Your presence known in our lives. May our names be such that you are pleased to reveal more of your Name to us. You promised to disclose Yourself to those who love You (John 14:21), and we believe your promises are true. We love you, Lord!”