PAUL’S PRAYER FOR THE EPHESIANS.

SERIES: THROUGH THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS.

TEXT: EPHESIANS 1:1-23

The church of Ephesus was started 15-20 years after the death of Jesus Christ. Ephesians refers to “the people of Ephesus.” After planting the church in Ephesus, Paul ordained a couple, Aquila and his wife Priscilla to be in charge of the church and left. Later Paul returned to Ephesus and spent 3 years in that church, preaching and teaching in this church and in the surrounding region. This is the longest period apostle Paul, the champion of the gospel of grace, stayed in a single place. Today the place Ephesus is in Turkey but the church was destroyed and only its ruins stands. Ephesus was a port city at the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, it was the capital of Asia minor in the Roman Empire, a city of about 250,000 people that time.

Famous pastors of the church Ephesus:-

Timothy a protégé of Apostle Paul.
Apostle John ministered there.
Apollos, counited there and became a minister there.

Apostle John wrote the first letter of John to this church. The church of Ephesus was a thriving church. They had great love and zeal for Jesus our Lord and later the Lord spoke about their “first love” as the “deeds they did at first.” They did great things for the Lord.

After planting the church, Apostle Paul left and later heard great reports of the progress of the church. This moved Paul greatly to start praying for them in 2 dimensions:-

PRAYING THAT GOD GIVES THEM THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING.

The spirit of wisdom:-

Wisdom is the ability to judge correctly and apply the best course of action based on knowledge and understanding. Wisdom makes small people become great people.

King Solomon prospered through wisdom. Wisdom and understanding causes relate well with others.
There is a wisdom of this world, which the word of God calls foolishness- 1^st 3:19.
There is wisdom that comes from God and this is the wisdom that transforms people from smallness to greatness. This is the type of wisdom Paul is praying for them to have.
May this wisdom be your portion from today on!

The spirit of revelation.

Revelation is the download of the knowledge of God to the spirit of man. It is the divine guidance of God through this life, God’s divine counsel.
God is omniscient, He knows everything. Through revelation, He leads men through the wilderness of life into their destinies into their “Promised Lands.”
God’s divine revelation causes life’s difficult journey to become an easy journey.
God reveals His secrets to those who walk with Him- Psalms 25:14-15. With God’s revelation you see further than others can see. With God’s revelation you see opportunities in adversity. With God’s revelation you fly higher in their life than others.

PAUL PRAYS FOR THEIR EYES OF UNDERSTANDING TO BE OPENED

The natural has two biological eyes. Paul now prays for the church to have other new eyes to be opened. These eyes called:-
“The eyes of your hearts”- V.18 (ESV).
“The eyes of your understanding”- (KJV).
“The eyes of your heart” (NIV).
These are the eyes that makes a believer and an unbeliever, facing the same situation, see different things.
Moses sent Joshua, Caleb and 10 other spies to spy the land. They went to the same place but they saw different things- Num. 13:27-28.
When wisdom and revelation flow to your spirit and the eyes of your heart are opened, this is what happens:-
You will see more clearly the HOPE to which God has called us- V. 18.
You will know of God’s glorious inheritance in the saints- V. 18.
You will know the immeasurable greatness of God’s power (manifested through the Holy Ghost) towards believers, the power that resurrected our Lord from the grave.