EPHESIANS 1v15-19

Paul's prayers for the saints enlightenment.

Paul continues his wonderment at the things of God by prayer to God for the saints.   This is the first of two prayers in the epistle;

• Prayer for their spiritual enlightenment         Chapter 1v15-23
• Prayer for their spiritual enablement             Chapter 3v14-21

Just like verses 3-14, verses 15-23 is all one sentence in the Greek.   It reveals much about the prayer life of the apostle Paul; firstly the character of his prayers, then the content of his prayers, thirdly there is the centre of his prayers, the glorious exalted Lord Jesus Christ.   Still in raptures at the wonder of God's salvation, he continues through without a break.   It is a feature of all godly servants that they are people of prayer, thus following the example of their Lord.   We do well to emulate them. 
           The character of his prayers.

• "Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints....."   He associates himself with all the saints, no matter from what background; v11 "in whom we also.."; v13 "in whom ye also.."; and, now v15" "wherefore I also.."   Whether Jew or Gentile, they are all saints through faith in Christ.   He is fully aware of their present state.   He heard of their faith, also of the evidence of their faith, namely love to all the saints.   Wherever there is faith, there should also be evidence of it.   Biblical evidence of faith is manifold, but, of vital importance is love to fellow believers.   One of the crucial tests of faith, given by the apostle John, is just that "..he who loveth God loveth his brother also." 1 John4v21; again "every one that loveth Him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of Him."  1 John 5v1.  Indeed, in the following verses, he speaks of the impossibility of faith without love to the saints.....1 John 2v9; 3v15; 3v17; 4v8; 5v20.   Paul had heard of the evident faith of these saints, he cared about their state.
• "Cease not to give thanks for you making mention of you in my prayers......."      They were always on his mind, he was constantly thinking of them, bringing them always before the throne.   Notice the two things he does... he gives thanks for them and he mentions them always in his daily prayers.   We could do with developing a ceaseless approach to the care of the saints as Paul did.   In 2 Corinthians 11v28 he spoke of his "daily care of the churches."   The Greek preposition he uses for in my prayers is epi and suggests on my prayers, that is mingled with all my prayers.   Literally, you are in every prayer I make.

                 

• "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory......"       He was always conscious of the One he was addressing in his prayers.   We are speaking to Divine beings, and we should ever hold them in awe.   Biblical prayers always begin with a hallowed reverence for God.   A reference to 2 Chronicles 6v14, 1 Samuel 2v1, Matthew 6v9-10, Acts 4v24, etc. should suffice to impress this upon us.   We do not "roll" in and out of the presence of God, there is a protocol, and the apostles always observed it.   He is the God of our Lord Jesus Christ......Paul's favourite title for Him(uses it over 100 times) .....Christ, the anointed of God to fulfil His purposes......Jesus, those purposes involved the incarnation.....Lord, He accomplished all and now reigns supreme, as man, over the new creation.   The One we address in prayer is no less than the God of that glorious One and He is the Father of glory.   The understanding of the terms of scripture is important;  "the Father"  is the Originator, in this case of glory, but overall He is the Originator of all things.   The term  "glory"  comes from a root Hebrew word meaning "weight" and represents anything that is of value, that is of value in the eyes of God.   In chapter 1 God is the originator of glory; in chapter 3v21 He is the object of glory.   This epistle is full of references to the idea of glory and the apostle speaks of  "the riches of glory."   The nearest idea, that we can properly apply to this, is the word "majesty."   The Father of all believers is majestic in everything He is, and,  He has unlimited resources.   Paul is careful to remind himself of this every time he prays.  

          The content of his prayers.

Mostly when we pray we ask God for material blessings, whether health or wealth, and we tend to  omit the more important matter of spiritual progress.   This is true of all Paul's prayers in the New Testament  (Philippians 1v3-11; Colossians 1v3-11 are other examples).   He prays for their spiritual enlightenment and prays the Father will give them "the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of God."   We note, yet again, the involvement of the tri-one God in the life of believers, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.   We have already seen in chapter 1v13  "the Spirit of promise" referring to His role in our future; now we have "the Spirit of wisdom" and this is His role presently.   This work of the Holy Spirit within us is to reveal God to us on a regular basis until we come to full knowledge.  He speaks of   "the eyes of your understanding being enlightened."    The Christian life is not simply a meal ticket for eternity, it is a life long experience of the knowledge of God.   There are three things that we must learn to know about God:

• "That ye may know what is the hope of His calling........"       What follows is a clear declaration of the things we must get to know by spiritual revelation; His calling, His inheritance, His power.   What is the force of these things which are indispensable to the Christian life, and which can only be known supernaturally, and for which Paul prays incessantly?   We must learn to see things from God's perspective.   Far too often we see it from our lowly standpoint, we are to see it from His lofty standpoint, for that is the only true perspective; and so in chapter 4v4 he speaks of "the hope of your calling", but here he says "the hope of His calling."   It is that which gives absolute assurance, it is God who called; the word is summoned, and when He calls in that judicial fashion, there is nothing will alter it.   It is the effectual call of the highest authority in the universe, it cannot be rescinded.   Ultimately it does not depend on us, it depends on Him.   He called us, He summoned us, He will see it through.   He called us in the grace of Christ (Galatians 1v6); He called us out of darkness into marvellous light (1st Peter 2v9); He called us to be right with Himself and in Christ we are so (Romans 8v30);  He called us to the fellowship of His Son (1st Corinthians 1v9); He called us to be saints (1st Corinthians 1v2); He called us to be glorified, which we will be (Romans 8v30); He called us to reign with Christ (Revelation 17v14.   We are to learn all these things more and more.
•  "and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints."        Mostly we are concerned about what we get out of it, but what does it bring to God... what is His portion in this great salvation?   This was answered long time ago ".. the Lord's portion is his people, Jacob is the lot of His inheritance"(Deuteronomy 32v9).   38times in the old testament, God speaks of His people as His inheritance!  This is carried forward to the church age.   The late professor F.F. Bruce wrote in connection with these verses "that God should set such high value on a community of sinners, rescued from perdition, and still bearing too many traits of their former state, might well seem incredible, were it not made clear that He sees them in Christ, as from the beginning He chose them in Christ.".   Again the professor wrote "We must not overlook the fact that His people constitute an inheritance for God, His own possession in whom He will display to the universe the untold riches of His glory.   We can scarcely realize what it must mean to God to see His purpose complete, to see the creatures of His hand, sinners redeemed by His grace reflecting His glory."   We often sing "That will be glory for me..." and for sure it will, but incredibly, yet gloriously, it will we glory for Him!   His grace will issue in His glory for all concerned.   Oh the tragedy that any human being should miss out on this.  
• "and what is the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe; according to the working of His mighty power..."       If, in the calling, we have the Divine summons in the past which saved us, and in the inheritance we have the certainty of future glory, now we have, in the present, all the power of God at our disposal for all we need in the time between.   Notice the superlative language he uses.... "the riches of His glory"...."the exceeding greatness of His power".  Indeed, he exhausts the Greek vocabulary of the words for power in this verse.   There can be no greater expression of the power of God in our lives than what is here. Power to live for God, power to suppress self, power to stand against the wiles and fiery darts of the enemy, power to boldly proclaim the grace of God.  We have dunamis which is miraculous, supernatural force; this is according to "the energy(energeia-strong effective force) of the strength(kratos-vigour, extensive force) of His might(ischus-ability to overcome in conflict).   Such is the comprehensive strength we have from God.   We have abundant, overwhelming supernatural power within, there is no excuse for our defeat in any way.

Paul's prayer is that these things will become practical in our experience.   We need the revelation of the Spirit to know them, and to grow in that knowledge.   We need the wisdom of the Spirit to be able to apply them to our lives