Staff Devotion 12

Intro

Last week, as we continue learning “who you are in Christ,” we learned why we should worship. We worship because that is what we were made for! We praise, so praise the right One.

We, as Christians, are chosen by the Father, Redeemed by the Son, and assured by the Spirit. Because of this, we should have no problem worshipping God!

So, as we worship with God, we have to then begin to learn how to communicate with our Savior. So, why and how should we pray?

We only know who we are in Christ when we know who Christ is and we learn to speak with Him. With Ephesians 1:15-23 as our guide, let’s work through that in reverse order.

Paul sets the model of life spent with Christ, and that is one of praying with thankfulness. With that, we can find three ways in which Paul encourages us to pray.

Continually

Ephesians 1:15–16 “Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;”

Paul is clear here that his prayer for the saints, his prayer for the Christians who will read this letter, ceased not. It was continuous.

What does continuous prayer look like?

Well, common sense tells us that our prayer life cannot be 24/7. We have to have conversations with people in this world besides God, if not, we would have no relationships and we would be unable to evangelize.

However, continual prayer is still possible. How?

Paul lays it out pretty well here.

It is obvious that He is not praying while he is writing this. You can’t necessarily write and pray at the same time.

So, what Paul is modeling here is a posture of prayer.

What does this mean?

It means that you live your so closely to God and His Word that, eventually your natural reaction to everything is communication with God.

Your posture in life is one of prayer. It is where you go before you go anywhere else.

And, with that, you will find yourself praying often for those around you. “Constantly” you will be praying. As often as you can.

Paul also is clearly thanking God for the evidence that he can see in the saints at Ephesus.

He sees their faith and love and continually thanks God for these things. We should do the same as we live our lives striving after faith and love.

Additionally, the beginning of this verse tells us why we do this. Another way to translate the first phrase is “for this reason.”

For “this” reason, we pray.

What reason?

The reason is everything we talked about last week. The same reasons why we worship! Because we were made for it, God has been too good to us, and heaven is waiting right around the corner!

Paul calls these “spiritual blessings.”

Continually pray. Why? Because God is good to you. He provides you spiritual blessings, and like Paul, the saints around you need your prayers.

Become close to God through His Word, and form a posture of continual prayer.

Then, pray specifically.

Specifically and With Request

Ephesians 1:17–19 “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,”

When we read this, we have to see just how specifically that Paul prays. As he prays specifically, we hear the requests of his heart too.

Ask God for Illumination

The first specific request Paul asks for is that the recipients of this letter would have illumination. He asked God for illumination.

What does that really mean?

We must be careful to NOT confuse this with revelation.

Revelation is God speaking directly to His people in order to relay a message such as prophecy or the inspiration of Scripture.

God has finished that type of revelation.

So, now, God illuminates His previous revelations.

Meaning, we have the Word of God, and we need the “spirit of wisdom and revelation” in order to understand it.

You hear people often tell stories of reading through Scripture before knowing Christ to no avail, they learned nothing more than the facts of religion and history.

However, those same people, once they accept the Word of God as true, begin to see specifically how God is illuminating parts of His word for them and their situations.

As you read God’s Word, you will see that God is not done communicating with His people, even though revelation is completed. He still shows us in His word what we need for the time and circumstances that we are in. He illuminates the beauty and instruction of His Word for our life right now.

Ask God for Knowledge of Him

Paul then shifts his prayer to specifically ask God that these people would have a deeper knowledge of God - that they would know Him better.

This goes hand in hand with illumination for God reveals Himself most to us through His Word.

May we never be so prideful as to think we know all there is about God! We need to know Him better.

As we learn who we are in Christ, we have to know that we are truly inferior in our knowledge of Him. Ask God for it. Paul prays for the church of Ephesus and all who would read this letter for them to receive a greater knowledge of Him.

Pray. Ask for it. Pray specifically.

Knowledge from God is important, so we ask for knowledge of Him. But, we also must ask for knowledge of the blessings of the Gospel.

Ask God for knowledge of the Blessings of His Gospel

In other words, ask God to help you know His grace better.

Knowing the grace of God better helps us to live the life for Christ in a better way. The more you know about the blessings of God’s gospel, the more you’ll know about the grace that saved you.

Ephesians 1:17–19 “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,”

With that, there are three specific blessings of God that Paul mentions here.

His Hope

The first is His hope. We have to ask God for knowledge of the hope that is in Christ Jesus.

The hope that we have in Christ is something that comes along with the Holy Spirit who indwells believers.

This hope is something that is sure, complete, and without doubt or fail.

It is the reality that this world is not the end. This life is not all there is. It is the set of facts that show us that we must live life for Christ while we are here so that we can be with Christ in heaven forever.

Which leads to the next blessing

His Inheritance

John 14:3 “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

Jesus promises us through all of Scripture that, as a good father leaves an inheritance, that our Father in Heaven has an inheritance for us. Perfect heaven.

This is a blessing that we take for granted and misunderstand all too often.

Trust the beauty of your inheritance. Trust that it is only through the blood of Jesus that you can receive it.

And trust, as we look to the last blessing Paul mentions, that it is all through His power.

His Power

Remember, these are all requests of Paul to the Father for the saints who read this. He prays that they receive the hope, the inheritance, and now the power.

What does this mean?

Wild prosperity preaching would teach that the power of God presents itself in a few people for miraculous abilities.

This is now what Paul is referring to.

One author can be quoted explaining this.

Exalting Jesus in Ephesians To Know the Blessings of the Gospel Better (1:18–20a)

Paul says God’s almighty power is available to His saints! Only by God’s power will we be able to engage in the spiritual battle described in

So pray, pray continually, pray specifically and with request, for who you are in Christ is discovered this way.

Lastly this morning, the only way to know who you are in Christ is to know who Christ really is!

With Recognition and Exaltation

The last reason and way that Paul instructs us to pray is with recognition and exaltation of Christ.

Ephesians 1:20–23 “Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.”

First, what is exaltation? It is lifting someone to a higher rank; in Christ we must exalt Him above all!

Why exalt Christ? Let’s look at four reasons that Paul gives.

His Resurrection

The first reason Paul gives is the resurrection of Christ.

Christ did something the rest of us could not do. Not only did He die a death that paid our penalty. He conquered death itself and rose from the grace!

Exalting Jesus in Ephesians Christ’s Resurrection (1:20a)

Death is no little bug to squash; it is a bitter enemy we will all face. Yet because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we do not have to fear death. Jesus has crushed it! In his famous chapter on the resurrection in

1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”

Exalting Jesus in Ephesians Christ’s Resurrection (1:20a)

Because of the resurrection, life has meaning. Our labor is not in vain. The resurrection of Jesus testifies to the fact that Jesus is the Messiah. The resurrection gives believers enormous hope and sufficient power for living a life of service to God.

We exalt Christ for the resurrection.

His Enthronement

Our passage continues though and tells us to pray for recognition and exaltation of Christ because of His enthronement, or the fact that He is on the throne.

Alive forevermore. Reigning forevermore.

Christ is on the throne in heaven. Is He on the throne of your life?

Many people want a Savior without wanting a Lord. We want to be rescued without being ruled.

This is not how it works!

Because of the person and work of Jesus Christ, we can be rescued, but we must also allow Him to be the Lord, Manager, Leader of our life.

And we can do that because He is on the throne.

His Supremacy

Paul continues showing us just how supreme Christ is as well! We recognize his supremacy.

What does this mean?

This means that He is supreme over all. All our enemies and sins. But also all of our friends and allies. He is supreme, better, more important than them all.

Christ is supreme. Pray that God will help your realize that and exalt Him because of it!

His Headship

Who you are in Christ may be best summed up with this next phrase.

Pray that the Father will help you to recognize and exalt Christ beacuse He is the head of the Church. We exalt Him because of His headship.

I am not head of this church. The leadership team is not the head of this church. You are not the head of this church!

We consult Someone higher.

Christ is the Head of the body.

Those responsibilities you have, the gifts you possess, the talents you are or are not using, they are from Christ, the head. And you, as different member of the body, must exalt the Head for from the Head, the body flows.

Conclusion

There was a lot to unpack in this passage. Paul went through a lot of great concepts.

But, they all go back to this. We only know who we are in Christ when we know who Christ is and we learn to speak with Him. Paul sets the model of life spent with Christ, and that is one of praying with thankfulness.

Who are you in Christ? You are one who is loved so deeply by Him that He wants to communicate with you!

So, learn to pray. Speak to God. Do so continually. Be specific and have requests, and pray with and for a recognition of who Christ is, then exalt Him.

Ask Him to illuminate His Word. As Him to show you who He is. Ask Him to show you the blessings of His gospel. Be reminded of the hope, inheritance, and power that is from Christ.

Life Him up above any and everything in your life. Place Him where He belongs in your life — as the Head.

You need help treating Christ the best way you can. So, ask the Father for help. Ask Him for assistance.

Don’t use the excuse that you don’t know how — simply ask.