Wisdom, Power, Revelation

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Opening Prayer

Lord God, You alone are worthy to receive glory, honor, and power. I bow before You in worship now.

Read Ephesians 1:15-23

^[15] For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, ^[16] I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. ^[17] I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. ^[18] I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, ^[19] and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength ^[20] he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ^[21] far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ^[22] And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, ^[23] which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

Meditate

“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth” (Psa. 8:1,9).

Think Further

Paul expresses his gratitude for the faith and love of these Christians, and shares his hopes for them. He wants them to know God better. This can only happen through revelation and understanding. It is God the Trinity (17) who gives us wisdom through the Spirit, and opens our eyes so we can see. Yet the vision we need doesn’t come by opening the eyes in our head, but the “eyes of your heart” (18).

Here Paul uses a biblical metaphor which runs through Scripture. The “heart” is where we gain understanding and where we make our response to God. That is why the psalmist asks God to search his heart (Psa. 139:23). We are asked to guard our heart (Prov. 4:23), to apply our heart to understanding (Prov. 2:2), to keep God’s precepts in our heart (Psa. 119:69), and to love God with all our heart (Matt. 22:37). In the Bible, wisdom and understanding do not begin in the mind but in the heart. It is in his heart that the fool says, “There is no God” (Psa. 14:1; 53:1). So unless our hearts are fully open to God, we will not be able to experience the riches of faith.

Paul longs for Christ’s followers to know these riches and have greater power. Indeed, the power at work in and through believers is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead (19,20). As we read Paul’s glorious vision of Christ’s supremacy and authority over everything (21,22), we must ask how real Christ’s power is for us today. Its reality is clear in parts of the world where people turn to God and miracles happen. It seems less real in spiritual drought, but Christ’s power is at work there, too, refreshing us, and encouraging us to carry on believing.

Apply

Do you want to know God better? Ask him to open the eyes of your heart to make that possible.

Closing prayer

Heavenly Father, I pray for the eyes of my heart to be opened so I can see all You have for me in Christ.

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