Prayer from Eph. 1:15-17

— 15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,

As Paul does elsewhere, Paul links the content of his prayer (1:15-23) with the praise he offers to God (1:3-14).

The word “Therefore” (v15) forges this link back what’s been said previously.

There God is praised because he “has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (1:3).

The crowning evidence for this blessing is stunning: “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” (1:4).

This was not an act of sovereign whimsy, but of sovereign love: “In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will” (1:4b–5).

None of these blessings was bestowed on us because of our intrinsic goodness or worth.

They are all “to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves” (1:6).

This reference to Jesus spurs Paul to enlarge a little on what Jesus has accomplished at his Father’s command and direction (1:7–10).

Then the apostle returns to his central theme:Ephesians 1:11 — In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,

so that we, too, “might be for the praise of his glory” (1:12).

Paul wants his readers to rest assured that the “we” of whom he has been speaking includes them: “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation” (1:13).

The blessings of God, including the wonderful gift of “the promised Holy Spirit” (1:13), belong to “those who are God’s possession”—and all of this is “to the praise of his glory” (1:14).

So in view of all these special blessings bestowed upon God’s people Paul set’s himself to prayer.

Notice the anchor that draws Paul to prayer is God’s sovereignty, especialy in redemption.

This is the anchor for His grace and as the source of the blessings enjoyed by His people.

And as Paul thinks of and on God’s sovereignty of salvation Paul finds specific things to pray for.

What God has already sovereignly accomplished constitutes a specific reason for him to pray as he does- in line with God’s purposes.

In short, Paul’s prayer in this chapter is a model of how to pray under the sovereignty of God.

In particular, Paul’s prayer report emphasizes three aspects of God’s sovereignty.

1. Because God is sovereign, Paul offers thanksgiving for God’s intervening, sovereign grace in the lives of his readers (1:15–16). Paul, having heard about his readers’ “faith in the Lord Jesus” and their “love for all the saints” (1:15), sees in their conversion and transformation a wonderful example of God’s sovereign and gracious intervention in the lives of men and women.

Their “faith” (which here includes both trust and fidelity) rests securely in the Lord Jesus;

their characters have been transformed—not merely sentimental and privatized fashion,

but in the public arena where they richly display “love for all the saints.”

Paul has heard of their faith and love, and he gives thanks for them and prays for them.

Nevertheless, by the words “Therefore” or for this reason, Paul ties his prayer more dramatically to what God has sovereignly done in them,

doubtless as exemplified in their faith and love,

than to the reports of faith and love themselves.

Because it is God who has worked in them, Paul has not stopped thanking God;

because it is God alone who sovereignly and graciously continues to effect such transformation,

He is the one who must be petitioned to continue His good work.

So Paul commits himself (he tells his readers) to “remembering you in my prayers.”

— 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:

In short, because God is sovereign, Paul offers thanksgiving for God’s intervening, sovereign grace in the lives of the church.

The assumption, of course, is that apart from God’s powerful, transforming work,

I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew

He moved my heart to seek him, seeking me;

It was not I that found, O Savior true;

No, I was found by Thee.

Thou didst reach forth Thy hand and mine enfold;

these people would never have been converted.

I walked and sank not on the storm-vexed sea;

‘Twas not so much that I on Thee took hold

As Thou, dear Lord, on me.

I find, I walk, I love, but O the whole

Without God, they would never have begun to display the trust, faithfulness, and love

Of love is but my answer, Lord, to Thee!

For Thou wert long beforehand with my soul;

now richly displayed in their lives.

Always Thou lovedst me.

Therefore whatever Christian virtues characterize them become the occasion for heartfelt praise and prayer to God.

In the same way that we give thanks to God when we recognize His quiet and effective work in our lives,

so also we thank God

when we hear of His work in others.

If we hear of substantial numbers of people in another city who have been genuinely transformed by the gospel,

we would not think of going to them to thank them

for becoming Christians.

Instead, we thank God for so working in them that they have become Christians.

That is what Paul is doing.

we will be attentive to reports of the progress of the gospel,

not only in circles immediately around us, but also from places we have never visited.

We may subscribe to a missionary organization’s newsletter;

we may receive the prayer letters of some

who are working abroad; we may glance at the news reports found in some Christian magazines. When we find reliable reports of people who have by God’s grace become Christians, we will learn to respond as Paul does: we immediately turn to the God whose grace has sovereignly intervened in their lives, with such happy result, and offer him praise and thanksgiving.

If even the angels of heaven rejoice over a single sinner who repents,

it's not out of line to ask the people of God

to offer thanksgiving at the same news.

When was the last time you offered such thanksgiving to God?

Is it conceivable that we could hear news of people coming to Christ

without expressing our gratitude to God?

So follow the flow a person hears the gospel and trusts Christ 1: 13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, and is then sealed with the Holy Spirit, their lives are transformed

14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. 15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,

They are faithful to Christ and begin to be noticed publically for their love for one another.

Remember too Paul is offering up this letter and prayer in prison in Rome. Let’s see how Paul viewed his incarceration:

— 1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,

Note that well. He’s not a prisoner of Caesar but of the Lord.

Paul knew full well that no one could ever lay hands on Paul except as being permitted by the One who regulates every creature and every event.

— 36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

Read — 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

So when we look at how this ambassador in bonds occupied himself, not lamenting towards God and His sovereignty, “What have a done to deserve this? I’m just doing Your will!!!”

But rather Paul is praising and petitioning God.

This teaches us a lot of praying with a joyful heart and peace of mind. You cannot pray that way unless you realize that your lot in life, circumstances, your condition, is fully ordered by a sovereign and gracious God who is all wise.

In 1:15 Paul uses the word “also”. Meaning, in addition to the thanks of the Ephesians believers themselves and those who had communicated to Paul the news of these Ephesian believers.

God had “also” brought them out of darkness and into the marvelous light!

So Paul assures them, that he rejoices with them as well!

— I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

By Paul making known his thanksgiving to God on their behalf the apostle (by his example) would stir up their hearts to the renewed praising of God for His sovereign and amazing goodness to them.

Turn to . Which may be called a Prophetic Exhortation. It’s a rare Psalm because it features God speaking directly to humans.

Its subject matter is properly understanding sacrifice:

sacrifices are not favors that people bestow upon God or

rituals that he needs in order to survive,

which is what some people seem to have thought.

Rather, sacrifices should be responses of gratitude to God for who he is and what he has done for his people.

— 23 Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; And to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God.”

Whoever offers praise brings glory to God! Who wants to glorify God tonight?

— 1 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful.

We’ve heard many great and awesome things that the Lord has done in salvation that should lead us to stir us up to this God-honoring and delightful exercise of prayer.

When Paul considers how God has ordered this not only for his salvation but

for “the praise of his glory,”

his heart cannot but be moved to pour out itself in adoration and gratitude.

Nor is such thanksgiving to be confined to his own case but

is rendered for all who give evidence that they are new creatures in Christ.