A Prayer of Praise
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction:
There are some prayers that are as close to Scripture as you can get without being Scripture. One book of prayers that I have come to love that is a compilation of many puritan prayers that is so saturated with Scripture that it models for us the practice of praying back the Scriptures is The Valley of Vision.
I’m going to share one of them with you at the end of the message tonight, but first I want to encourage us to look at one of the many prayers recorded in the Scriptures.
15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints,
16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,
18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might
20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,
23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
1. We Have a Example of Prayer (v.15-16)
1. We Have a Example of Prayer (v.15-16)
15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints,
16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,
2. We Have a Helper from the Father (vv.17)
2. We Have a Helper from the Father (vv.17)
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,
The Spirit of wisdom
The Spirit of Revelation
The revelation is of the Father, from the Father, by the Father, and given through the Spirit
Think of the contrast of what God wants to speak to us and what we often pray
Our prayers are often “me” focused
God wants us to focus on Himself
3. We Have Enlightenment in the Spirit (v.18-19)
3. We Have Enlightenment in the Spirit (v.18-19)
18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might
We need our eyes enlightened by the Holy Spirit
It is to the extent that we:
The hope to which we have been called - heaven and being with the Lord in Heaven
4. We Have a God Who Will Deliver us (vv. 19-23)
4. We Have a God Who Will Deliver us (vv. 19-23)
19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might
20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
His great power towards us
Same power that raised Christ from the dead
Same power that exalted Christ
Look at the resurrected Christ
20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
Seated at the right hand of the Father
13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.
14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
FAR above all rule and authority and power and dominion
Caesar has nothing on Christ
Demons and angels have nothing on Christ
Satan has nothing on Christ
Greater than any name on earth or in heaven - worthy of worship
5. We Have a Head Over the Body (v.22-23)
5. We Have a Head Over the Body (v.22-23)
22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,
23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Christ runs the church
Christ fills the church
Christ loves the church
Conclusion:
The Gift of Gifts
O SOURCE OF ALL GOOD,
What shall I render to thee for the gift of gifts,
thine own dear Son, begotten, not created,
my Redeemer, proxy, surety, substitute,
his self-emptying incomprehensible,
his infinity of love beyond the heart’s grasp.
Herein is wonder of wonders:
he came below to raise me above,
was born like me that I might become like him.
Herein is love;
when I cannot rise to him he draws near on
wings of grace,
to raise me to himself.
Herein is power;
when Deity and humanity were infinitely apart
he united them in indissoluble unity,
the uncreated and the created.
Herein is wisdom;
when I was undone, with no will to return to him,
and no intellect to devise recovery,
he came, God-incarnate, to save me
to the uttermost,
as man to die my death,
to shed satisfying blood on my behalf,
to work out a perfect righteousness for me.
O God, take me in spirit to the watchful shepherds,
and enlarge my mind;
let me hear good tidings of great joy,
and hearing, believe, rejoice, praise, adore,
my conscience bathed in an ocean of repose,
my eyes uplifted to a reconciled Father;
place me with ox, ass, camel, goat,
to look with them upon my Redeemer’s face,
and in him account myself delivered from sin;
let me with Simeon clasp the new-born child
to my heart,
embrace him with undying faith,
exulting that he is mine and I am his.
In him thou hast given me so much
that heaven can give no more.
Banner of Truth. “The Gift of Gifts.” _Banner of Truth USA_. Last modified 2025. [https://banneroftruth.org/us/devotional/the-gift-of-gifts/].
