A Prayer for the Church in Ephesus and for Us

 Read Ephesians 1

The second half of this chapter is a prayer of thanksgiving and petition.

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 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. 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, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 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. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Paul is talking to fellow believers.  He gives thanks to God for these faithful people.  He petitions God that these believers receive these blessings:

The Spirit of wisdom and revelation

That God will open the eyes of their hearts

That they know the hope to which they have been called

That they may know the richness of their inheritance

That they may know the awesome power of God—power that raised Christ Jesus from the dead

That they may know the awesome power of God—that sets Christ Jesus above all authority, power, and dominion

That they may know that the church is the body of Christ

That they may know that the church manifests the fullness of Christ Jesus in their mission

Paul wanted these believers to realize how much they have been blessed, how much they have been trusted with the work of the Lord, and how great their inheritance is.  Paul prayed for what we might call abundant life in Christ.

Is this also not a prayer for us, that we know the Spirit of wisdom and that we have eyes to see God’s revelations to us.  Are we not called to hope as well?  Is hope not an indicator of our Christian maturity?

Don’t we also need to know with certainty that God has an inheritance for us.  Is our blessed assurance not enhanced when we are certain of the awesome power of God?

We are not the Galatians who abandon faith and sought the governance and slavery of the law, but we might resemble the Ephesians in that we need to have eyes to see the richness of our relationship to the Lord and the significance of being a believer.

Is there not liberty in knowing that we are a slave to God and Christ Jesus is our head.  Are we not enriched by fulfilling our part in the body of Christ?  Do we not need to know that as the church we manifest the fullness of Christ Jesus in this world?

This prayer for the Ephesians is a prayer for us. We should live so abundantly.

Amen.