For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe…
– Ephesians 1:15-19
The economy is slowly beginning to recover, and businesses are starting to hire again. Some of you may be out interviewing. Before applying, what do you do? You check the job description to see if you’re a fit, right? After all, you can’t really do the job if you don’t know what it is that you’re expected to do!
Paul has already gushed over all that God has done for the Ephesians in verses 3-14 – but he knows that unless they know it for themselves, it will never be real for them. He wants the Ephesians to have a grounded faith based on more than wishful thinking. So he prays that God will reveal what is true for them, so that they could live out their lives accordingly.
What does Paul pray for these believers? Specifically, he prays that they’d be given “a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.” What does that mean?
Wisdom in this context is simply “insight into the true nature of things.” It’s seeing things as they really are. “Revelation” – just like the title of the last book of the New Testament – means to reveal something that had previously been hidden. So Paul is praying that God would supernaturally reveal facts about Himself and what He’d done for the Ephesians, that the Ephesians would grow in their knowledge of the true God, even in a city dominated by the idolatrous deception of the cult of Artemis.
We need this prayer, too, don’t we? For most of us, I think, it’s pretty easy to go about our lives as if there’s nothing more to reality than the things we see and experience. In doing this, though, our universe – our reality – has the same definition, the same rules, as the world that a non-believer lives in. This is tragic! We’re living as if God had not done all the things Paul has described in verses 3-14! If God is there and if He is who He says He is, then that changes everything.
Your view of how the universe works is obviously very important. I once heard that Disney had designed their park so that when you walked in, the castle would look far off in the distance so that the theme park appeared to be huge. But on the way out, the distance to the gates would appear very small, so that when you left, tired after a full day of fun, you would believe you were almost there. How we perceive reality determines to some degree how we behave. So if we are to grow in our faith, we have to see things as they really are. To do that, we need the Holy Spirit’s help to see things rightly. We need the Spirit to give us wisdom and revelation if we hope to ever truly know the incredible hope that comes with being “in Christ.” As John Stott writes,
“Growth in knowledge is indispensable to growth in holiness.”
Is your faith grounded? Do you see God as He really is? Are you taking the time to learn more about God every day? Paul’s words to the Ephesians describe a lot about who we are, who God is, and what He has done for us. But does it change how you see yourself in relation to God and to the world?
Read Ephesians 1:3-14 again – but first, stop and pray – ask God to reveal new things about Himself and His plan through His Spirit. Ask Him to show you where you fit in His plan. Just like it’s tough to do a good job at work if you don’t know your job description, it’s highly unlikely that any of us will live out the amazing hope He’s called us to if we don’t know what that hope is.
And from what Paul says, words can’t describe what God has in store for you!
Add Your Comment