Proclamation:
“I
keep asking 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. …” Ephesians 1:17-19
(NIV)
Explanation:
These
words were written by the apostle Paul, under the influence of The Holy Spirit
of God, to the believers in the church at Ephesus. After his opening greeting and introduction, Paul
praised God for the spiritual blessings that they had received through Christ
Jesus. (Ephesians 1:1-14) Then he offers
a prayer for the believers so that God would bless them with The Spirit of
wisdom, knowledge, and revelation, that they would know Him better. He also prayed that they would be enlightened
and know that to which God called them, know the riches of His glorious inheritance
that He has for His people, and know His incomparable great power. Paul ends by telling them about the authority
and dominion that Jesus, The Christ, has over everything in this world and in
the world to come. (Ephesians 1:19-23)
Application:
Paul
recognized that without the help of God, the people would not understand that
the church is the body of Christ and that God, The Father, planned it, God, The
Son, paid for it, and God, The Holy Spirit, protects it. Paul prayed for the believers in his day and
we should pray for believers today. We
all need God’s help with understanding His Word, none of us knows
everything. We all also need to feel the
almighty power of God working within us.
Additionally, we all need to develop a greater appreciation for the hope
of blessings that He has called us to receive by His Word and His Spirit.
