Prayers for Spiritual Wisdom

Good morning

I want to welcome you all here this morning.

If I told you to come sit in this chair, would you worry about weather or not it would hold you?

No, its a chair!

You know that chairs are designed to hold you and that's enough to convince us that it will.

Very few of you, if any, have actually sat in this chair before

Yet none of you would worry about it holding you

But the only way you know for certain is to sit in the chair.

Then and only then will you know if the chair will support you

It takes faith to sit in the chair and believe it will hold you

Especially if you have never sat in that chair before

Yet all of us blindly sit in chairs every day and have faith that they will hold us.

Why is it that we can have faith in an inanimate object like a chair, yet when it comes down to it, most of us struggle with having faith in God.

We have the word of God.

We know who God is

We know what he has done

We have promises that we can count on

So how do we grow our faith?

Romans 10:17

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Today, we are going to be hearing the word of God.

Lets believe today that as we hear and study this Word, our faith will grow.

Can I get an amen if you believe that today?

If you havent already turned, please turn to Ephesians 1:15-23 Page number 1664

READ VERSES

PRAY

This section of verses is so Jam packed with Meat we could spend hours unpacking all the verses

Plug the wednesday night Bible study.

630 - 730

This paragraph, depending on your Bible version, will be titled “Thanksgiving and Prayer.”

I would like for that to be our theme for the lesson today.

Can we approach this with a heart of thanksgiving and do this through prayer?

I love that section of verses we read.

During my sermon prep, I read this over and over and immersed myself in the context of the scripture.

Can I just recommend doing this with every section of scripture you read and study?

Read it over and over and pray that God gives you supernatural wisdom and understanding so that you can apply that scripture to your life.

Verse 15 opens with Paul praising the church of Ephesus.

Now this is quite different from some of Paul's other letters to the churches, where he spends quite a bit of time telling them what they are doing wrong.

Here, Paul praises the Church and tells them that he has heard about their faith in the Lord Jesus and their love for all God’s people.

I want to point out that Paul is praising the church for their love of one another.

I would like everyone to take a look around you right now.

Look at the other people in this church right now.

To your left and your right and in front and in back of you.

These are God’s people.

The people here today are who Paul is referring to in his letter, just a few hundred generations later.

We are called to love God’s people.

This isnt just about being polite and kind to the ones around you, it is more like love in action.

When was the last time you reached out to someone in the church and checked in on them.

Maybe asked them if there was something you could pray for them about.

We all get caught up in living life

We get in the grove and sometimes we forget about the ones that we are called to Love.

I encourage all of you this week, no I challenge all of you this week, to reach out to someone in this church or in the church body and check in with them.

Ask that person if there is a need that you can help meet

LEFT OFF SLIDES HERE

Verse 16

Paul says here that he is giving thanks for the people of Ephesus.

Remember that this is a prayer Paul prayed for the church

My prayer for us as a church is that we would be a praying church.

Lets be sure to pay attention to what Paul is praying for because these are all things we can be praying for our church.

So let’s unpack more of Paul’s prayer and be mindful to learn what you can from His prayers.

Paul is praying here in verse 17, that they would be given a spirit of Wisdom and Revelation.

Wisdom is effectively Applying divine truths to the twists, turns and dangers of everyday life.

But Paul connects the ability to be wise with the knowledge of God.

Knowing God and being wise are tied together.

In my life, I would say that they are completely inseparable.

I dont ever want to go a second without God’s wisdom.

I wouldnt have God’s wisdom if I didnt know who God was.

Wisdom is like a guiding force we have available to us in life

Wisdom guides us much like control towers guide planes at the airport

We all need higher-level guidance from someone who can see more than us

Did you know that on average there are roughly 45,000 flights each day in the United States

With around 2.9 million passengers taking to the air

Now there are approximately 23,000 air traffic controllers working hard every single day to keep these planes from crashing.

Now imagine if those planes were flying without the help of those air traffic controllers

It would be a disaster.

Well, trying to be wise without knowing God, is like flying a plane without having a control tower or air traffic controllers to help you navigate.

We all need the help of someone who can see the things that we can't.

Every morning, before my feet hit the ground, I pray that God will give me wisdom for the day and that my steps will be ordered by the Lord.

This wisdom plays such a crucial part in my life that I couldn't imagine a day without it.

James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom”

Matthew 7:24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words and puts them into practice, is like a man who builds his house on the rock”

Proverbs 2:6 “For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding”

I pray that each one of you seeks God's wisdom everyday.

1 Corinthians 2:12-14

What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit

When we are looking to ask God for wisdom, scripture tells us that wisdom is taught by the Holy Spirit.

We can ask the Spirit for guidance and knowledge of God's will in order to gain more wisdom.

This Bible verse about wisdom tells us that the person without the Spirit is foolish, the complete opposite of wisdom.

So when your praying, ask God for wisdom

Ask the Holy Spirit to give you insight and knowledge into your life

God has given us this helper, Holy Spirit.

To help guide us through this difficult world.

The Holy Spirit is our Radar, our air traffic controller

That helps us navigate life.

God's wisdom will keep you from crashing

Having this wisdom and insight will also bring us closer to God.

Look at the ending of verse 17.

Paul is saying that he keeps praying that God will give the people of Ephesus wisdom and revelation, for what reason? He says, “To know God better”

You see the more we learn about God,

And the deeper we study God’s word,

The more wisdom and revelation knowledge we will recieve.

As a result of this, life will become easier to navigate

And we will have a deeper more fulfilling relationship with God the Father.

Being part of this family, we receive some amazing benefits.

There is so much that God does for us that goes under the radar and that we almost take for granted.

Paul calls it the WEALTH OF GODS GLORIOUS INHERITANCE

We have benefits of being HIS

Shopping at Kohls

I shop there for my kids and for myself often.

When I first started shopping there, I didn't realize it, but they had been giving me coupons in my digital wallet for 20, 30, and even 40% off.

I, unfortunately, was unaware of these coupons because I wasn't checking the app for them.

I was wasting money and not enjoying the benefits of the app because I was unaware of them.

It is the same with God’s Word.

There are countless blessings promised to us, but unfortunately, most of us don't know about them because we don't know God's word.

Just like I was unaware of the coupons that could have saved me money at Kohl’s.

So many of us are unaware of what God’s word says and that isnt just going to save you money, Its going to save your lfe.

Did you know that the Word of God tells you how to handle every kind of situation you will ever go through in your life?

I read God’s Word every day because I do not want to miss out on any of the benefits that come from it.

Moving on to verse 18

“I pray 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 his holy people,”

His glorious inheritance

The Lord thinks of us as His inheritance.

How incredible!

Paul is getting this idea from Deuteronomy, 32:9

Which says,

“For the Lord’s portion is his people, “

To think that Jesus looks at us as his reward.

The fact that we are so special and so beautiful in his eyes

That he sees us as his reward, his inheritance, his portion.

I am almost just without words I cannot even describe how that makes me feel.

To know that the Creator of the heavens and the earth, loves me so much he sees me as his inheritance.

Well, that is humbling!

This powerful, all knowing God.

Knows us, yet still wants us…..

He accepts us!!

We need to know the power of God.

Verse 19 goes on to talk about the power of God

“and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead..”

That same power is working in us to raise us from addiction

To raise us from depression

To raise us from anxiety, from worry, from sin,

To raise us from trauma, abuse, and hopelessness.

Just as this was Paul’s prayer for the people of Ephesus

My prayer for the church of Mason City is that you will know the true power of God

I pray that you will begin to understand the importance of obedience to God’s Word.

I pray that your faith will grow, you will have a confidence in knowing you have been given the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.

That wonder-working power is living in all of us.

But if you're not being obedient to God and reading God’s Word,

And knowing God.

You will be unaware of the power that lives in you.

God loves us!

We already have the greatest demonstration of God‘s love for us.

It tells us that in Romans where God‘s love is evident to us by his sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

The cross is the greatest representation of God‘s love for us.

If we have the cross as the greatest display of Gods love,

Then the Resurrection is the greatest display of God‘s power.

His power to conquer death, to take back the ground that was lost to the enemy, and to restore us to a relationship with him.

Not only was Jesus raised from the dead, but paul goes on to say in his letter that Jesus is now seated at the right hand of God.

What’s Jesus doing up there at the right hand of God?

Well, he is petitioning for us.

He’s defending us to God the father.

He is still fighting for us.

Remember, we are his inheritance.

You are wanted….

Jesus loves every single one of us.

I want to close by reading verses 20 - 22

“seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church,”

Paul tells us in these verses that Jesus is above all other powers, everything has been placed under his feet.

This is not a literal description but a metaphor.

That all things in this world and the Spiritual realm, are under the Power of Jesus.

Friends, we have a real enemy in this world and he is working overtime to try and keep you from learning about the promises of God’s Word.

Maybe it’s a distraction you’re facing when you are in church

Maybe your phone keeps going off

Or something keeps coming into your mind to distract you

Or maybe it begins before you leave

The weather is nice, lets go outdoors and enjoy the day instead of church

Maybe you get scheduled for work on a sunday

Or the BIG GAME is on

Maybe you get in a argument with your spouse or children before church.

The enemy is working overtime to try and prevent you from hearing the word of God

Remember the verse I quoted in the beginning,

Romans 10:17

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

I want you to hear today and know this ….

Just like you have faith in this chair to support you when you sit on it

As you go through your day, have faith in these things,

That Jesus is above anything that we can face in life,

That the enemy that we face is real, but he has no power over us.

That Jesus has already conquered him, and now that same power has been given to us.

That the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is now given to us to overcome whatever we face in this life.

That we are battling from a place of victory.

We are not battling from a place of defeat.

We’re standing on solid ground in Jesus Christ.

We have access to wisdom and knowledge to know God better through His Holy Spirit

And that no matter the situation in life we can come to know the Hope to which He has called us.

AMEN

PRAY