Believe it or not, we have come to the end of our current journey through the Ephesians 1 prayer! here, i will attempt to summarize our discoveries.

^“15 For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints,…”

Two things give Paul boldness and inspiration to pray for his people: faith and love. Our faith is a gift of God, and our faith is IN the Lord Jesus. He is our Lord, the leader of our lives, and He leads us into love. Having love for all the saints positions us for the power of agreement in prayer.

“16 do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers”

Faith and love in our lives and in the lives of others are reason to give unceasing thanks. Faith is a gift from God, and everyone likes being thanked when they give gifts! Love also, would not be possible unless God has first loved us. Faith and love bear such abundant fruit in our lives that we can live in a constant day of Thanksgiving. God’s gifts already given are encouragement for us to pray and ask for more!

^“17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you…”

Our Lord has a God. Jesus’ God is His Father. Jesus’ Father is our God. Our God is our Father. He is the Father of glory, which makes us, His children… well, it makes us His glory! And because we are His glorious little ones, and He is our loving Father, He loves to GIVE us every good and perfect gift. Such as…

“…a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him”

There is a spirit of wisdom. Wisdom is spiritual. It’s not always what makes sense in this life. But real wisdom always leads us into the knowledge of Jesus, as does the spirit of revelation. The Spirit reveals Jesus to us. All TRUE wisdom and all REAL revelation will ultimately result in us knowing Jesus better.

^“18i pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know…”

Our hearts have eyes. Those heart-eyes are meant to see, and yet are blind in our fallen, sinful state. Left on our own, our hearts breed darkness. Given the foul stimuli of this dark world, darkness multiplies within us. God brings light to the eyes of our hearts so that we may see. So that we may know…

“…what is the hope of His calling…”

Jesus has a calling, and there is yet more He is hoping for; more that He is looking forward to, more for Him to accomplish.

“…what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints”

Jesus has an inheritance and it is IN the saints. It has exceedingly great value, and surpassing glory. He has an exceptionally high opinion of His inheritance, and His inheritance is YOU!

“19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.”

There is a surpassingly great power that is right now working toward us as we believe. The greatest power in the universe is on our side. God is using all His might to make us break free, overcome and step into His fullness. This is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, seated Him on the Throne, set Him above every other power, put every enemy under His feet, and gave Him to us as our loving leader: this same power is working for us right now.

when we let the eyes of our hearts feast on these truths, our lives are filled with the light of Christ.

This is an awesome prayer to pray over ourselves and over others we love. It’s a prayer that Paul thought important for his spiritual children, and a prayer that Holy Spirit thinks important for us. Praying prayers from the bible, like this one, leads us to pray things we wouldn’t normally pray, and so receive gifts that the Father is longing to give us.

May you enjoy these gifts from our Father, and feel free to continue the conversation on this beautiful prayer of scripture.