Ephesians 1:1-23

To the Praise of His Glory!

In Ephesians Paul soars to heights that, properly considered, boggle not only the mind but the senses as well. The first fourteen verses here are crammed full of words like: blessing, riches, abundance, pleasure, and glory! We would do well to spend a lot of time meditating on such things from God’s point of view. But today I want to go to the last third of the passage and focus on the prayer Paul offers up for his friends in Ephesus. It can serve as a great model for us in praying for others.

First, he gives thanks for these beloved saints. (Ephesus was where Paul spent more time than any other place on his missionary journeys.) Start by giving thanks to God for the people He has put in your life.

And these are the things Paul requests for those for whom he is praying.

• The Spirit of wisdom. Wisdom is the ability to make the right decisions in life and then to actually follow through and make those decisions.
• The Spirit of revelation. This is different from wisdom thought it can certainly assist in wisdom. Revelation is being shown things by God that cannot be known any other way.
• The primary reason he asks for both of these is so these saints may know God better.
• That the eyes of their heart will be enlightened to see God at work in the world and not simply be blinded by the spirits of the age as most are. When this happens they will see:
• The hope to which we are called; which is nothing less than eternal life and being conformed to His glorious image.
• The riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints. That is a curious turn of a phrase. Could he mean that we would actually see how wonderful the saints He has put in our lives are?
• His incomparably great power for us who believe. Armies will fall. Nations will vanish. The rich and powerful of this world will come to nothing. His power toward us will never diminish. (It’s the power He used to raise Christ from the dead.

Oh yes, everything has been placed under Christ’s feet and He is the head over everything for the church. Not bad. Not bad at all.