This is a script of a devotion that was shared at a remote prayer meeting for Grace Church, Guildford.
I’ll be praying for you. Often, when we tell someone this, it is obvious what we will pray for. We usually say it after hearing of a difficult situation, a health problem or an upcoming exam. It is right that we react to such things in prayer. But what should we pray about when there are no pressing problems? What kinds of petitions should fill our prayers during the ordinary course of life? How should we pray for our families, our friends, our fellow church members when life seems to be going smoothly for them? Growing up, I remember that no matter what was for dinner at my grandparents, bread and butter would be placed on the table. Friends, in our prayer lives, no matter what else is happening, what are the bread and butter things we should be asking for?
I think Paul answers this in Ephesians 1. As Jamie recently preached from Ephesians, it needs no introduction. However, I do want you to remind you there doesn’t seem to be a particular problem in Ephesus. Unlike in many of his other letters, Paul isn’t confronting a crisis in this church. He is simply writing to encourage their faith and expand their knowledge. Ephesians is a bread and butter letter. As a result, Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1 shows us how we can pray for each other in the normal course of life. As I read his prayer to you now, see if you can spot the two things Paul prioritizes. The two requests he makes on behalf of the Ephesian believers.
Ephesians 1:15-19a reads, "For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 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. I pray also 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 the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe."
Did you recognise Paul’s two requests? After he remembers what God has already given in 1:15-16, giving thanks for the faith and love of the Ephesians, he requests two things. In 1:17 Paul prays that they would know God: "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." Paul’s first priority in prayer is that they would know God. Then, in 1:18-19, Paul prays that they would know the Gospel: "I pray also 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 the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe." It is here we perceive Paul’s two priorities in prayer: (1) Knowing God (2) Knowing the Gospel. Let’s consider them briefly together.
1. KNOWING GOD
In his book, The Knowledge of the Holy, AW Tozer writes: "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us." Paul would seem to agree, for in Philippians 3:8 he said: "I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord...". The one thing Paul valued above all else was knowing God, having a relationship with God through the revelation of Jesus.
Friends, is knowing God your most important priority? If it is, then surely it should show up in your prayer life? If somebody was to overhear your times of prayer, would they be able to pick out how important knowing God is to you? If someone joined our prayer meeting this evening, could they tell from what we pray, that we "consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus"? Could they tell that behind all our prayers this evening, whether related to the pandemic, health problems, church activities, or missions, that there is a greater goal, an even higher priority. That there is one priority that permeates and pervades everything else we pray about? In Ephesians 1, and in the rest of his letters, we get the chance to listen in Paul’s prayers, and find one priority appears over and over again. Here, in 1:17, he tells the Ephesians that he "keeps asking", constantly, consistently, again and again requests the same thing: knowing God.
What does this mean practically? Well, as I’m confident you already know, it means the most important petition we can pray for unbelieving family and friends is that they may come to know God. Pray that God, by his grace, would make them alive with Christ and bring them to repentance. However, it is not limited to this, does not stop with this. Remember Paul here is praying for believers, for those who have already been brought near to God, as he will say in Ephesians 2. Yes, we pray unbelievers will come to know God, but we also pray that believers will come to know him better. None of us know him as well as we should, all of us can benefit from a greater knowledge of God.
Do you remember that little child in the school playground who boasted about their Dad all the time? He was the strongest, had the most money, could fix any problem, would never let them down, knew exactly what to do in every situation. The knowledge that child supposedly had about their Father made a difference for them: they weren’t scared of bullies. They defiantly told them about their Dad. If they needed money, they knew they could ask him. If they had a problem, they knew he could fix it. Friends, can you see how knowing God better could make a real difference in our lives? If we better knew the strength of our Father, the wealth of our Father, the faithfulness of our Father, the wisdom of our Father. Surely this would make a difference in how we view trials, face suffering, fight sin, see the future! Spurgeon put it well when he said, "there is, in contemplating Christ, a balm for every wound; in musing on the Father, there is a [treatment] for every grief; and in the influence of the Holy Spirit, there is [soothing] for every sore. Would you lose your sorrow? Would you drown your cares? Then go, plunge yourself in the Godhead’s deepest sea; be lost in his immensity; and you shall come forth...refreshed and reinvigorated. I know nothing which can so comfort the soul; so calm the swelling [waves] of sorrow and grief; so speak peace to the winds of trial, as a devout musing upon the subject of God." In 1 Kings 3, when Solomon was allowed to ask God for anything, he decided to ask for wisdom. And with that wisdom he wrote Proverbs 9:10, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."
2. KNOWING THE GOSPEL
Secondly, Paul prays the Ephesians would not only know who God is, but also what God has done. They would not just know God, but they might also know the gospel. We often think of the gospel as the ABC’s of the Christian life, but as someone has put it, the gospel is the A-Zs of the Christian life. The Christian life is really one long journey further up and further into the truths of the gospel. We never get past these truths, we only ever get further into them. Over the years we dig down deeper and deeper into the foundations of our faith. The truths of the gospel have been likened to a great river, shallow enough at its edges for a child to go paddling, but deep enough at its centre for an elephant to swim. Paul draws our attention to three such truths, doctrines that descend down so far, it is not possible to plumb their depths. 1:18-19 he prays: "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 the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe."
The first gospel truth that Paul highlights is the hope to which God has called us. Later, in 2:12, he will remind us that at one time we had no hope and were without God in the world. However, here he highlights the hope that we now have as Christians, the great future that God has promised to us and we can be certain of.
His second request is that we might know the riches of God’s inheritance in us. Notice that it is not our inheritance in or from God, but rather God’s inheritance in us. Here we are reminded that we are God’s people, his possession. This is what Moses sang about in his final song in Deuteronomy 32:9-10. There he cries, "the Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage. He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye." God’s people are his possession, his portion, the apple of his eye. The same truth is echoed throughout the Bible, not only will God be our God, but we will be his people. How did this happen? The gospel tells us that through Christ’s atoning death on the cross, where he paid the penalty for our sin, Jesus purchased for himself a people for his own possession. All who turn from sin and trust in him are his rich inheritance. All who believe belong to him.
The third, and final, truth Paul prays that we might know is the greatness of God’s power for us who believe. What is the point in knowing the destination, this great hope that we have, if we don’t have the strength to get there? What use is an inheritance which you do not have the power to possess? Perhaps this is why Paul finishes by focusing on the great power which God works for us who believe. So great is this power, Paul describes it as incomparable. Indeed, if you read on, you will see the only comparison he can make is with the power that God used to raise Christ from the dead and seat him at his right hand. Paul tells us that the power that brought Jesus Christ into his hope is the same power that is working in us and will surely bring us into our future hope.
In the end, knowing God, without knowing the gospel, is terrifying. The character of God is only good news for sinners like us, because he have been reconciled through the cross of Christ. That is what allows us to have a relationship with him. It is only because we know that God is for us, that we can confidently cry who can be against us. The character of God only comforts us when we have a connection to him through Christ.
If you think of the first gospel truth. It is one thing to know that God is faithful. It is another to know that this faithful God has promised us a future hope. That is what allows us to persevere through whatever problems we face in the present. Or the second gospel truth. It is one thing to know that God has an inheritance. It is another to know that we are his inheritance, his people and possession, part of a bride whose bridegroom is enthroned in Heaven. That is the truth that drives away all fear. Or think of the third gospel truth. It is one thing to know that God is powerful enough to raise Christ from the dead. It is another to realise that he has already raised us spiritually and will one day raise us physically. It is this truth that transforms death from the sad end of our story into another much longer, more glorious saga.
Friends, the next time you bow your head in prayer, what bread and butter will you serve up? What core concerns will form the heart of your requests for others? Alongside praying in response to current threats and challenges, will your requests reflect these two priorities of Paul? Knowing God and knowing the gospel. Do you see know that the best prayer we can ever pray for each other is that we would know God and know the gospel better. If God started answering those prayers, what kind of Christians would we be? What kind of church would you be?
ALEXANDER ARRELL