Do you remember prayers? Are there certain prayers that stick out in your memory, maybe from your childhood or more recently? When I was a kid my dad put us to bed every-night by praying something like, “Heavenly Father, would you put a hedge of thorns and a wall of protection around Jonathan, and would he wake up refreshed and ready to go. Amen.”
What prayers do you remember? Maybe your parents or a sibling or your pastor or an elder praying? I remember that when the elders prayed in the church I grew up in they always seemed to pray forever. Praying for several minutes can feel like an eternity when you’re a kid.
When I lived near DC and helped lead a small group at George Mason University I remember how one of the students prayed. His name was Jim and it just felt like he was talking to God, like God was sitting in the room and the two of them were having a conversation. It made my heart feel something. Prayer is supposed to be real. Prayer is talking to God. Prayer is pouring out your heart to God.
Today we get to “eavesdrop” on a prayer. We get to “listen in” as the Apostle Paul tells the church at Ephesus what he prays for them. This prayer isn’t what you might normally expect from a prayer. Although they live in a culture hostile to Christianity, Paul doesn’t pray for God to protect them. Although some of them may be sick or poor Paul doesn’t pray for healing or for financial stability. Although some of them may be wrestling with sadness or hurts Paul doesn’t pray for happiness for them.
What Paul prays for is so much deeper than my normal prayers, and maybe yours too. I hope today’s prayer will serve as a model for the way you pray this upcoming week. It’s already challenged my prayers. So what Paul prays for the Ephesians I also want to pray for us today.
This is my prayer for you: (v15-16)
Ephesians 1:15-16 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. (NIV®)
Paul hears how well the church is doing at Ephesus—that they’re loving Jesus and loving each other—and it so moves him that he can’t stop thanking God and praying for them. Why is that? It’s because Paul knows this church. Paul preached in Ephesus and pastored them for several years starting in Acts 19 (Acts 19:10). At Ephesus, “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul” (Acts 19:11). If Paul touched a “handkerchief” or “apron” and those things were taken to the sick, they were cured of their diseases and evil spirits left them.
But despite all this the new believers at Ephesus had a hard time giving up some of the witchcraft they’d come to trust. The temple of Artemis was built in this city and it dominated the religious life. This is a model of the temple. It was so big and so grand that it was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. So this tiny group of Christians is trying to follow Jesus in a city ruled by a foreign religion and so you can see how they might struggle to completely believe.
That changed when some men called the “seven sons of Sceva” tried to cast out a demon in the name of Jesus and Paul, but didn’t actually believe. They demon said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” and then he attacked them. Acts says “they ran out of the house naked and bleeding” and this scared everyone. A bunch of believers brought their witchcraft scrolls and burned them, amounting to 50,000 drachmas, or 50,000 days labor .
After this the silversmiths in Ephesus started a riot because they were afraid Paul was going to ruin their business selling idols of Artemis, which is true. He was. This riot led to Paul leaving Ephesus (Acts 20:1).
So do you think it’s good news when Paul hears that the people of Ephesus are still loving Jesus and still loving each other? Yes! It’s huge because there was a huge temptation to either start practicing witchcraft and worshipping Artemis or to give in under the social and economic pressures of the city.
Today we too are going to face temptation after temptation to turn away from Jesus and to stop loving each other. Everyday we’re told to give up on Jesus. The church is an dying institution full of people who hurt me. There are no more powerful tools that Satan has then to turn your heart from loving Christ or to turn your heart against a fellow believer. This is why we need prayer. Paul has been praying consistently and regularly for the believers of Ephesus (1 Thess 5:17).
But what does Paul pray for? Paul prays that they would know God through Christ Jesus, and so that’s what I’m praying for us. This is my prayer for you…
1) That you may know God (v17)
Ephesians 1:17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. (NIV®)
Paul prays for the Father through the Son and the Spirit to give believers the Spirit of wisdom and revelation “so that” they would come to know God. Acts 6 uses “Spirit” and “wisdom” to mean the Holy Spirit (Acts 6:3,10). Paul is praying for the believers to know Christ by being filled with the Holy Spirit (“Spirit of wisdom”) and by understanding God’s word (“revelation”).
I made a diagram to explain knowing God. God speaks to us through the Bible, his word, and through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit illuminates our hearts or helps us hear God speaking to us through his word. Notice that we need both the Holy Spirit and the Bible. If just have the Bible without the Holy Spirit we won’t understand it and if we think we have the Spirit but don’t read our Bibles our conception of God will be warped and we may not really have the Holy Spirit at all.
Although my diagram doesn’t show it, this isn’t just a solitary “me and Jesus pursuit.” Paul isn’t praying this for individuals but for “you all—may God give you all the Spirit of wisdom and revelation.” That means I can hear from God through the church, through preaching, through community groups and discipleship classes and youth Bible studies. When a brother in Christ says, “Jonathan, here’s a sin you need to repent of or Jonathan, be encouraged” that can also be God speaking through them. As God speaks and we listen and respond we get to know God personally.
One of the things I remember from one the church conference I attended this summer was something one of the plenary speakers, Mike Perkinson, said. He said something like, “I wouldn’t like it very much if my daughter came up to me and said, ‘I just want you to use me daddy. Just use me.’” Now I’m looking forward to the day Elijah can do the dishes and mow the lawn, but I’m much more excited about getting to know Elijah as a person. I love seeing his personality begin to show. How often do we do this to our Heavenly Father? “Use me, Father! Use me” but is more interested in knowing us, loving us, and growing in relationship with us. This is my prayer for you… that you may know God… and…
2) That you may have hope (v18)
Ephesians 1:18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, (NIV®)
In the Bible the heart is the true man or true woman. It’s who you really are at your most real identity. Maybe today we would call the heart your soul or your core or maybe just your heart. Although heart in our culture is more about feelings. The heart in the Bible might include feelings but also your mind and will—your core identity.
Here Paul is praying that their hearts, who they truly are, would be enlightened so that they may know the hope God has called them to. The word for enlighten means to illuminate or shine. You ever been in a dark room, maybe asleep in bed when your husband or wife or dad or mom turns on the light and you’re blinded. Paul is praying that the light would go on in our hearts and that instead of being blinded we would truly see the hope we have. Paul tells us the state of our hearts without Christ in our next chapter.
Ephesians 2:1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, (NIV®)
This means our hearts were originally blinded by sin. But if you know Christ, you have a new heart. But does your new heart truly see the hope it has? Earlier in Ephesians when Paul talks about an inheritance he’s talking about our inheritance, the one we receive from God (Eph 1:14). But now Paul talks about God’s inheritance (v18). Maybe some of you have an inheritance coming to you so you know that that is like, but chances are most of us don’t. Imagine your the son or daughter of Bill Gates or Warren Buffett and you will one day inherit a vast fortune. You’d look forward to that day, right?
Likewise, God has an inheritance he is looking forward to receiving. But God’s not looking forward to receiving a bunch of money. He’s not looking forward to receiving land or the family business. God already owns everything. What God is looking forward to inheriting is… you! Verse 18 says “his glorious inheritance in his holy people.” God’s inheritance is found in us. That means one of the things God is most looking forward to receiving is you and me. He wants to spend eternity with us!
I don’t know about you but I kind of feel like I am an addition to God’s plan, like God is really looking forward to spending eternity with his Son Jesus and the other Christians who were really good and did everything right. Do you view yourself like the kid who was barely let into the party. But that’s not what the Bible says. The Bible says we are God’s treasure. It says we are incredibly valuable and precious in God’s eyes. We’re his “glorious inheritance!”
This is my prayer for you… that you may know God… and that you may have hope… and…
3) That you may know the Father’s power (v19-23)
Ephesians 1:19-23 [I pray that you may know the Father’s] … incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. (NIV®)
My prayer for you is that you would know just how powerful our heavenly Father is. His power is surpassingly great! It’s incomparable. It’s beyond measure and words! And yet we catch a glimpse of just how much powerful our Heavenly Father is in what he has done for Jesus. The Father raised Jesus from the dead. Look at the resurrection! Look how the Father not only raised Jesus from the dead but raised him up into the heavenly places and seated him on a throne. That’s called the ascension. Did you know that you have access to resurrection power and ascension power?
What is resurrection power?
- Resurrection power is believing God can save my family members, coworkers, and friends no matter how far from God they seem.
- Resurrection power is believing God can give me the hope I need to keep going in depression.
- Resurrection power is believing God can heal communities broken by gang violence or police brutality.
- Resurrection power is believing God can save my loveless marriage after an affair.
- Resurrection power is believing God can rescue me from my addiction to drugs, alcohol, and sex.
- Resurrection power is believing God will one day raise me from the grave.
If our heavenly Father can raise Jesus from the grave, is there anything he can’t do?
What is ascension power?
- Ascension power is believing Jesus is ruling supreme over all of reality on the throne.
- Ascension power is believing Jesus is bigger than your scariest demons or nightmares.
- Ascension power is recognizing I don’t have to be afraid of our government or a controlling family member or boss because Jesus is on the very top.
- Ascension power is believing God can save a nation and world torn apart by partisanship.
- Ascension power is trusting the church and its ministry to Christ because it’s his body.
- Ascension power is knowing my future is secure because Jesus has it in the palm of his hands.
You have access to Jesus’ power if you have confessed your sins, put your faith in him, and received his resurrection as your own. If you believe in Jesus death, resurrection, and ascension, and you want to know him, then you have access. But so often we forget about God’s power. We don’t use it.
This is my prayer for you: that you may know God; that you may have hope; and that you may know the Father’s power.
I want to end today’s message by praying for us, by praying this prayer for our church. I want to encourage you this week to include Paul’s prayers in your prayers. Pray that you and your family and friends would know God, have hope, and know the Father’s power.
Heavenly Father, help us know you. Help us know you through your Holy Spirit and your Word. Would you light up your Word in our hearts so that we love it and so that when we read it we hear you speaking to us? Would you light up our hearts so that we encounter you. We want to obey you, but first we want to be in relationship with you.
Would you give us hope? Would you give our church body hope? Father, it’s really tough when attendance isn’t good or when we don’t seem to be growing or when things like ministry or taking care of people or our building feels overwhelming. In these moments would you remind us of the hope we have in you. Remind us of how we are your inheritance. You can’t wait to spend eternity with us. We’re that valuable and precious in your eyes.
Heavenly Father, would we know your power? Would we experience resurrection power in our own lives as you forgive us of our sins and raise us from spiritual death. Would we see resurrection power all around us as you bring people to a saving relationship with Jesus, especially those people who we’ve given up on? Would we see resurrection power in our world and neighborhoods as they’re transformed by you? Would we see ascension power as we remember Jesus reigns supreme and has all things under control.
Heavenly Father, may we know you, may we have hope, and may we know your power. Amen.
Pastor Jonathan Romig preached this message at Cornerstone Congregational Church. You can download a PDF copy of this sermon above, which includes further endnotes and references. Click to listen to sermons or to read our story.
Temple of Artemis photo by Zee Prime at cs.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6347027
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