Ephesians 1:15-19 Prayer for Insight
It is appropriate that Paul, who regularly spoke about prayer as well as the need to pray for others, to place a prayer near the beginning of several of his epistles, including this one. Examples of his prayers can be found in Romans 1:9; 1 Corinthians 1:4; Philippians 1:3-4; Colossians 1:3; 1 Thessalonians 1:2; 2 Thessalonians 1:3 and Philemon 4. Paul usually begins with words of thanksgiving for the people involved in those churches, followed by words of encouragement. We are not to read these words thinking they are words of boasting, but instead we should be affected by Paul’s enthusiasm and be willing to emulate.
An important element of our prayer time should be intercessory (praying on behalf of others), however, do we also take the opportunity to give thanks for them as well? As Christians we are all full time ministers and we certainly would like someone to be praying and giving thanks for us, right? So we should be in the habit of lifting others and giving thanks for them too!
15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 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, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might
Paul heard about the Ephesian believers, note how our lives offer witness to others. The two things Paul heard about these people were their faith in Jesus and their love for all of the saints, both external and tangible evidences of their faith. The fact that Paul heard from others about their love and compassion, along with knowing they were followers of Jesus, was sufficient evidence for Paul to know they were sincere (see Romans 10:9-10 and 1 Corinthians 12:3) You might be thinking they could have faked those things, right? True, some people can say all the right words and do things that get them noticed but have an empty heart. There are many so-called “Christians” in the world (by title only) that do not have the love of God in their hearts. Some examples would include attending church but not be a disciple of Jesus, give to a charity, volunteer to feed the homeless, etc. Unfortunately most of these people are only motivated by their desire to obtain recognition. Faith in Jesus is essential to being a Christian, it literally is the definition of a Christian and as a result of that faith we love God and He wants us to love others. Love is both vital and essential for a Christian. In 1 Corinthians 13:1 Paul says, that if he was without love he would be just a “noisy gong or a clanging cymbal,” both of these illustrate loud and unwelcome noise. Without love in our hearts we can go through the motions, but all we are doing is getting attention for ourselves. We can’t fake love as God can see into our hearts.
Paul stated that he never ceased praying for the many workers in the kingdom. He addressed his prayers to God the Father so that the church could obtain the Spirit of Wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him (see also verse 17 and Colossians 1:9). The Spirit of wisdom (also known as discernment) is critical for any Christian. We need to be wise in our decision-making and we need to know what is good and true information and what is a lie. The revelation or the proper revealing of God’s Word is vital for us to know what is right and what is wrong. We can only know this from diligently reading and growing in His Word, so that we can know Him and His will (see Romans 12:1-2 and 1 Corinthians 2:10-11). Non-Christians can know of God and His Word but only a Christian can truly know Jesus. Often times a church will teach that Jesus was and will be again but what about for the present? (read Matthew 7:21-23) He is with us now!
We can know that we are Christians by (here’s a short list): Our Love (read 1 Corinthians 8:3); by the way we embrace the Word of God and not turn away from it (read Galatians 4:9); by seeing that we are not having fellowship with darkness (also known as evil, read 1 John 1:6-10); by our respecting and keeping of His Word (read 1 John 2:4-6); that we don’t hate (read 1 John 2:9); that we do not love the things of this world (read 1 John 2:15); that we do not embrace sin (read 1 John 3:4-7); that we confess Jesus as Lord and Savior (read 1 John 4:2-4) and we obey His Word and commandments (read 1 John 5:2-3).
Interestingly Paul uses a term that is regularly bantered around these days, ‘enlightened’. It seems that everyone is seeking enlightenment! Buddhists are looking for an awakening, scientists are looking to remove religious dogma from science, while the spiritists seek full comprehension and the Hindus look for personal transformation. But what about Christians? Paul says that when he prays he is asking God for the eyes of of these saint’s hearts to be enlightened. But what does he mean by the eye of their hearts? The Holman Christian Standard Bible translates this verse, “I pray that the perception of your mind may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints.” (Ephesians 1:18, HCSB, emphasis added) Should a Christian’s perception of the world be different than others? Absolutely! Paul will now walk us through the differences.
We understanding that hope is essentially the opposite of despair, so what hope is Paul referring to in verse 18? (see also Romans 5:2; 8:17; Colossians 3:4 and 1 John 3:2) Paul emphasizes that hope is much more than how we use the word in English. We often say “I hope this…” or “We hope that…” each used with the possibility or understanding that whatever is being hoped for has the potential of not occurring. The hope that we have is much more than a ‘maybe’ or a potential probability, it is knowing absolutely without a doubt that God will keep all of His promises. Truly the opposite of despair!
Paul now refers to the immeasurable greatness of God’s power toward us who believe. There are two ways at looking at the word ‘immeasurable’, they may sound similar but they are not. The first way is to say that the power being measured is greater than the capacity of what is being used to measure; it just means it surpasses or goes beyond the ability to measure. Another way is to understand that the power is immeasurable because there is no limit and that is what Paul is referring to, nothing is too great for God!
Once again Paul uses the Greek word kata (used seven times in this chapter alone) here in verse 19 he uses the word to amplify his statement about God’s power. Applying what we learned, Paul is saying that God’s immeasurable power is available to all believers according to his never-diminishing strength. Unfortunately we constrain God’s power through our limited thinking and may not pray with the expectation that God is indeed without restraint.