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 is 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 his head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him, who fills all in all.
– Ephesians 1:15–23
That is an amazing prayer. Lord willing, I’m preaching on this prayer to a large group of Asian church leaders in Jakarta, Indonesia this week. There’s a lot I could talk about from this prayer. But I just want to pray it over you right now as someone who listens to this podcast. Maybe you’re just tuning into this one, but many of you who listen regularly, I want to pray for you.
Ephesians 1:15–23 Teaches that God wants us to know him more and more.
Oh God, I thank you for the brothers and sisters, men and women, kids, who listen to this podcast. Thank you that they meditate on your Word and pray according to it together. I’ve heard and met many different people who do this. I thank you for them. I pray that you, the Father of Glory, would give them the Spirit of wisdom, revelation, and knowledge of you. God enlighten the eyes of their hearts to know the hope they have amidst whatever’s going on in their lives.
Help them know the hope they have, the inheritance they have in you… That they would know the immeasurable greatness of your power toward them as they believe in you. Your might for them… The same might that worked in Christ and raised him from the dead, seated him as your right hand… Oh God, that you would work that might in their lives. Amidst all their weakness, that they would know your power and your strength even right now, today in a fresh way. And they would see Jesus, Lord and Savior of their lives as exalted in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion above every name that is named, not only now, but in the age to come.
And they would know that you have put all things under his feet and given him to them, to us as your church. Oh God, that we would realize that in Christ, we have everything we need. And that we would press into Christ today in deeper and deeper ways that we might experience your fullness, the fullness of your Spirit in our lives, leading us in every facet of our lives.
Prayer for the Kawa People
Oh God, I pray all of this over the people who are listening right now. And oh God, we pray it together over the Kawa people of East Asia, right in the border with Myanmar. For the few Kawa Christians, we pray for all these things over them.
And God, we pray that among the Kawa people, 100,000 of them, most of whom have never seen your glory in the face of Jesus, God we pray, enlighten their eyes, open their hearts to see how you have sent your Son to die on the cross and you have raised him from the dead that they might have life. God, we pray that you would bring them to eternal life in you. We pray that over the Kawa people, even as we enjoy this prayer and all the realities it represents in our lives. In Jesus’ name we pray, according to your Word in Ephesians 1:15–23. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
