Ephesians 1:15-23
Prayer for Spiritual Wisdom
15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Paul prayed wisdom and unveiled understanding for the believers in Ephesus after hearing ongoing good reports of their faith being exercised as they lived out the gospel with love. They demonstrated love for God and one another as the summation of the commandments (Mark 12:30-31) as they had been taught by the words of the Lord passed on to them (Matthew 28:20) and the apostle was ever thankful for their faithfulness. He therefore continually thanked God for them and demonstrated that by likewise always praying for them to the God of the Lord Jesus Christ and Father of glory in the power of His indwelling Spirit. He prayed for spiritual wisdom and unveiling of knowledge taught by God through the word and His Spirit (Hebrews 5:14) because they looked to the Lord to learn such knowledge of good and evil, having likely considered the results of seeking that apart from Him as Adam and Eve had done in grabbing the fruit of that tree to have their own knowledge and bringing sin into the world and to us all. God gives such knowledge and understanding in our renewed spirits to know Him more and what works have been prepared for us (Ephesians 2:10) in the glorious hope of our calling our of darkness into the wonderful light of His presence. We then begin to grasp the treasures of our calling that displays God’s glory in His work in us as we are His inheritance as written in the will or testament of Jesus Christ in whom we are the hidden mystery of Christ in us (Colossians 1:26-27) as the hope of glory hidden in the word of God since the beginning but now revealed by the Son of God in us! We also are given the infinite power of God working in us who trust His word as Abraham did as the pattern for our faith in God’s work in Christ’s resurrection and ascension to the sovereign seat of all authority (Matthew 28:18) which is the source of the gospel’s power in proclamation of God’s work. This Lord Jesus Christ is above all and in us all who have been called out to Himself both now and into forever. This is what Paul prayed for the believers as which we should also pray for and pursue ourselves. We understand the mystery of the coming of the Son of God and His work in and through us as His children and people of all nations in union with Christ. We have been given understanding of what is means to be part of His body, the universal church, and the knowledge that He is head and authority over us all for His glory and our good as Romans 8:28 tells us. We therefore follow the pattern of prayer set here for God to grant such spiritual wisdom of enlightened eyes to our brothers and sisters in Christ and to pursue the knowledge of the Lord by the instruction of His Spirit through the word and others He chooses to teach and preach the gospel to us.
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