Walking Through Ephesians
“Walking Through Ephesians - Day 3”
Categories: Walking Through EphesiansEPHESIANS 1:15-22
Think for a moment about your prayers this past week. What did you pray for? What in your prayers occupied the most time and focus? I don’t know about you, but the things that often occupy my prayers seem different from Paul’s. Many times the prayers we offer, collectively and individually, while focusing on good things, often miss the greater spiritual things.
Did you notice how Paul ended the first chapter? Paul shares his prayer for the saints at Ephesus. Here’s what we find:
§ Thankfulness to God for the faith of the Ephesians and their love for each other (v. 15-16)
§ Requesting God to give the brethren the Spirit of wisdom and revelation (v. 17)
§ Through this wisdom, to know the hope of His calling, and riches of His inheritance (v. 18)
§ Through this wisdom to know the immeasurable greatness of His power (v. 19-20)
§ To know that this power raised Jesus from the dead and placed Him high above all else (v. 20-21)
§ To know that all things are placed under Jesus feet – that He is the head of His church (v. 22)
Paul’s list places the emphasis, both in prayer and request, on spiritual things. It’s not to say that Paul never prayed about physical things (like the thorn in the flesh – 2 COR 12). It’s just a vivid reminder that there are good things to pray for, and there are greater things to pray for. The Apostle opens our eyes in this section of how to pray better prayers, focusing it’s attention on better things. Think for a moment about what difference Paul’s focus would make in our minds today? Here’s what came to my mind:
§ It reshapes our priority list – what if we let Paul’s list be our highest priority of the day? What if our main concern today was our faith in Christ? What if on the top of our focus this day was keeping our minds focused on the blessings that belong to those who are in Christ? What if first thing on our to-do list was seeking the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to provide the fuel for spiritual thinking? What if, as a church, we start every meeting acknowledging Christ Jesus as our true Head?
§ It reshapes our measurables of success – this is certainly true as a church. Often we measure success by things never mentioned in Scripture – how large is the congregation? How nice is the building? How many Bible classes do they have? How many gospel meetings do you have? It can be easy to measure the success of a church over those kind of tangible standards, but Paul’s prayer helps us to seek the greater measurables – the Spiritual. What if we sought for and praised the same things Paul did, with each other? What if we focused and spoke more about the faith we see demonstrated in each other? What if we praised the love that is poured forth in kind service to one another? What if we came together often, seeking the wisdom that comes from the Holy Spirit, and in our times together discussed the greater spiritual truths, building confidence and comfort from the Lord in what He has done and promised will do?
It's good and Biblical to pray for physical things like our daily bread, or for the health of those who are sick. But Paul reminds us to not let that be the only, nor most important emphasis in our prayers to God. As John wrote, “Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. (3 JOHN 2). May your physical health reflect your spiritual health. May we as the Lord’s church continue to place our emphasis on the greater, spiritual things.
“Holy and righteous Father I thank You for Your abundant blessings in Christ. The love You have poured on us, the salvation You have so richly planned and offered to us, the blessing of wisdom provided through Your revealed words, the gift of Your church, the glorious hope of what is to come – I stand in awe of how thoughtful You are to someone so undeserving. I give You thanks for the incredible faith demonstrated in Your saints, so many of which have helped strengthen, instruct and encourage me. I give You thanks for the love of Your people who seek to help and serve in countless ways. I pray You open my eyes to see, and in recognizing to place the greater weight of my importance and priority on the things You praise, As Christ is the head over all, help me to place Him over all things in my life, the true King of glory.”
