Ephesians 1:15-23

In Eph 1:15-16 we learn about the prayer

Ephesians 1:15–16 NKJV

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:

so the prayer is a result of Paul hearing about their faith, and love for each other.

and as he gives thanks to God for them he speaks this prayer:

what i love about this prayer is that he goes from describing what he prays for

to all of a sudden in v.20 to talking about God

lets read it

Ephesians 1:17–23 NKJV

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, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which 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 principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. 22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

From this prayer we can learn 7 things about how to pray for others:

1. Non-ceasing thanks (v.16)

when was the last time you thanked God for your friends?

2. Mentioning you in my prayers (v.16)

prayer can sometimes be mostly all about ourselves and what we face....

we should also include others into our prayers too.

3. That God will give you Spirit of Wisdom, and revealed knowledge of Him (v.17)

spirit of wisdom is meaning that you have wisdom

&

revealed knowledge of Him is awesome

because its not just knowledge you learned about, or experienced…

it is a knowledge of Jesus that has been revealed to you

a person that can pray this for some is the person that is already wise and has had knowledge of Jesus revealed to them.

4. that they would have enlightened understanding (v.18)

So in the Bible our understanding is often translated to our heart.

so this verse is also been translated that the eyes of your heart be enlightened.

our understanding is referring to our motivation, desires, and dreams.

bringing light to understanding is a metaphor often used in scripture: Acts 26:18; 2 Cor. 4:6

Acts 26:18 NKJV

18 to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’

2 Corinthians 4:6 NKJV

6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

so this is about our desires, dreams, motives no longer being darkened by selfishness, and sin

but enlightened to reflect the light of Jesus

Do your desires, dreams, and motives reflect the light of Jesus?

if no, why?

If yes, then pray that for someone else

5. to know hope of His calling (v.18)

at first i though that this was speaking about the call on a personas life

and was like that is really cool how each person has a hope in the call God has for but

while i still think that this is true

Greek word for call is much better “klaises” means to summon, or to call for someone, or speak the name of a person.

Showing us that one day God will speak your name.

for all the times we speak Jesus, there will be a time that He calls out to you.

How will you answer His call?

Yes Lord? Yes Friend, Yes Jesus? Yes God? Yes Father?

6. to know the glorious riches of Jesus’ inheritance in the Saints (v.18)

How much do you know that God is giving to you?

because I bet you don’t know all of it,

and what you do know you may not fully understand.

here we see a forgotten practice within believers and that is to think about all the good God is going to do.

have you ever pondered what living forever without evil will be like?

have you pondered what the marriage supper of the lamb will be like… what kind of food we will be eating, who is preparing it?

have you ever pondered what never ending peace, and joy will be like?

Phil 4:8 says

Philippians 4:8 NKJV

8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

I hope that someone will take it upon themselves to post some good things about what God will do that we can think on.

7. to know what is the exceeding greatness of His power (v.19)

which is seen:

(v.20-) in Christ being raised from dead, and

(v.20-21) with God seating Him at His right hand, above every principality, power, might, dominion, name.

(v.22) all things are under His feet

(v.22) He is head over all things

fills all in all (v.23)

What would happen if we truly realized the power that is in Christ?