Riches of Grace (Ephesians 1:15–23)

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 the 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, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
– Ephesians 1:15–23

These verses are a prayer, one of two prayers specifically, that Paul prays in the book of Ephesians over the people to whom he is writing this letter.

And I just want to pray this Spirit-inspired prayer over you today. Whenever we come to a place like this, particularly in Paul’s letters, where we see the Holy Spirit prompting Paul, inspiring Paul to pray specific things over other followers of Jesus, we just need to pray exactly what’s there. We don’t need to explain it. We don’t need to talk about it, we just need to pray it.

And so I want to pray this over you today, and hopefully you just receive this and soak in. I’m going to pray it pretty slowly so that you can really soak in what God desires for you. Obviously, if the Spirit is guiding Paul to pray these things specifically, over other followers of Jesus, we can know these are things, without question, that God wants for you today. And so, as I read this prayer slowly, I want to encourage you just to receive and soak in what God desires for you today, clearly, according to his Word. This is like the epitome of Pray the Word.

And one more thing. As I pray this over you, I would encourage you to also maybe go back and pray this over people in your life, other followers of Jesus, who you know. Pray exactly what the Spirit inspired Paul to pray for these Ephesian Christians over brothers and sisters in your life. So receive this and then pray this over others.

Ephesians 1:15–23 is Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians to know God truly.

All right, Ephesians 1:15.

“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 the 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, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”

Oh God, we pray all of that over our lives and over the lives of others around us. We pray for wisdom, revelation, and the knowledge of you. We pray for enlightened eyes in our hearts that we may know this hope we have, this glorious inheritance you have given us today, and your power that is working on our behalf today, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead and seated him in the heavenly places, far above all rule, authority, and power, and dominion of every name. And you have given him to us today to fill us and lead us and guide us, and direct us. So we say to Ephesians 1:15–23. Amen. May it be so over each one of our lives over other people we’re praying this for.

A Prayer for the Alawite People

And God, we intercede in light of this for the Alawite people of Syria. God, for millions of them who have gone through such suffering amidst such a massive refugee crisis and war.

And God, we pray that you would bring them into the family. That they would know your great power working for their salvation. We pray for the spread of the gospel among the Alawite people of Syria. Oh God, we pray all this straight from your word, which we love in Ephesians 1:15–23. In Jesus’ name, amen.