Ephesisans 1:15-19a
Learning to Pray from Paul

In church we're continuing to learn about prayer from Paul. How did he talk to his Father in heaven? What were his priorities? Here we see him telling the Christians in Ephesus that he was giving thanks for them and praying for them.

You can listen to tpart 7 of the prayer series by clicking here:
http://lymingtonbaptist.org/mp3s/Prayer%20pt%207.mp3


V15 Ever since I heard about your faith. What is he actually giving thanks for when he says their “faith”? What’s he really getting at?
And your love for all the saints. Why is this such a big deal? So what that they love one another? (Jn 13:35)



V17 May the Holy Spirit enable you to have insight, discernment, wisdom and revelation (this after all is part of the Spirit’s “job description”) so that you can know God better. Of all the things that Paul could pray for this 1st Century church (leadership development, “Alpha”, illness, government/cultural oppression, finance…) why is Paul praying that they know God better? Knowing God is fundamental to living well. We fail to live well in God’s world, we end up turning from him and his authority – we sin – because we don’t trust God and we don’t trust him because we don’t know him. If we knew him, really knew him, we would trust him and if we trusted him we would not turn from him. We would therefore live a life worthy of our calling, we would glorify him and enjoy him forever. Take some time to explore the link between knowing God/trusting him and not sinning. What do you learn?



V18 I also pray that at the centre of you’re being you know:
The hope: biblical hope is a promise of God not yet realized. Paul prays that the Ephesians would know their sure and certain future hope in Christ. He prays that they would realize that this life is not all that there is. This life is but a mist (Jas. 4:14), a vapor and we need to see things in the light of eternity. “We reflect too little on the future and almost never on eternity” (DA Carson). What is the nature of this hope? How do we experience it now and how will we experience it in the future?



The inheritance: God’s inheritance; the inheritance he possesses or bestows. “His”, along with v11, 14b indicates the former. Paul prays that they know that they are God’s chosen people, belonging tohim, cherished, dearly loved and precious. What difference would it make to our daily lives if we really knew that we were God’s precious inheritance? How would that change our reaction to events and our hopes and aspirations?



The power: power for the Christian is not power to be a winner, always on the front foot, always achieving with no set backs. Power for the Christian is about being able to endure, to keep looking to the Cross, to continue to trust knowing God’s goodness, joy, peace, sufficiency even when circumstances might be adverse. True gospel power is displayed most significantly in weakness. What does the display of God’s power look like in our lives? How would this power it manifest itself in those times when we face adversity and in those times when things are going especially well?

How would it be if we prayed for ourselves and others that we would know God better, the hope we have in him, the security we have because we are his inheritance and his great power that is available to us. Let us pray these things – for ourselves and for one another!