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*Thomas S. Myers*
* *
*THE PRAYING WITH HEAVEN ON YOUR SIDE*
*Ephesians 1:15-23*
* *
*FIRST –** SPIRITUAL GROWTH IS NOT AUTOMATIC*
*Ephesians 1:17** \\ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.
*
*Ephesians 1:17 (NIV)*
*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.
** *
Notice what Paul prays for:
*Ephesians 1:17** \\ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him**.
** *
Paul prays, "God, give the Christians wisdom and revelation that they may know you better."
How do you gain *“…a spirit of wisdom and revelation in knowing God.”*?
* *
* Ask people to pray for you.*
Ask them to pray that you would understand God Word and grow in faith.
Let me tell you how you will not gain *“…a spirit of wisdom and revelation in knowing God.”*
You will not gain a “*spirit of wisdom and revelation*” by having an angel appear to you telling you secret doctrines.
You will not grow spiritually by having special secret dreams.
Spiritual growth does not happen that easy.
Just read the life of King Saul in the Old Testament or Judas in the New Testament.
They had special encounters with God and their life was a mess.
Do you want to grow in your faith?
Then get into the Word of God and ask others to pray for you.
Ask God to open His Scripture, and the Word of God to come alive to you.
Paul does not take it for granted that spiritual growth will happen automatically.*
*
Even the Psalmist, a writer of Scripture prayed in Psalm 119 verse 18,
*Psalm 119:18** \\ Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law.
*
Let me give you a principle for studying God’s Word, the Bible.
*The first thing to realize is that there is a big difference between /reading /the Scripture and /feeding /on the Scripture.*
The Bible is not merely a book to read.
It isn't merely a book from which to get ethical guidelines.
Primarily and supremely, the Bible is designed to lead you into the presence of God.
That you may know Him, love Him and to grow in your relationship to Him.
That is what the Bible is for.
And there is no other book like that.
I want to tell you something.
Jesus Christ can step out of the pages and be a living presence in your life and heart.
Pray and ask God to give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation.
Ask God to open your eyes and your heart to His Word.
This will not be a one time prayer.
Do you want to see how often the apostle Paul prayer for understanding the word of God? Look at verse 16.
*Ephesians 1:16** \\ I do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; *
*Ephesians 1:17 (NIV)*
*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 says he prayed over and over again never their eyes might be enlightened.
Now I want to give you a warning, particularly you new Christians.
Beware of someone who says to you, “You want all of Jesus don’t you?” Now that sounds good, doesn’t it?
You want all of Jesus don’t you? Usually the person who will ask you that question is really trying to pull into false teaching.
That person most often will tell you they have some extra books of the Bible that you need.
Or they will have some extra teachings that usually come from a cult.
FIRST – SPIRITUAL GROWTH IS NOT AUTOMATIC
There is something else that Paul prays for.
*SECOND - It isn’t enough to know BIBLE doctrine.
You need to get YOUR HEART INVOLVED.
*
*EPHESIANS 1:18*
| /I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know.../ |
* *
* *
*Ephesians 1:18** \\ I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, SO THAT YOU WILL KNOW...*
* *
Notice in Ephesians 1:18 the phrase, *"The eyes of your heart...,” Isn’t* that a strange expression?
Did you know that your heart has eyes?
Eyes can be very expressive, can't they?
They can be full of tears showing sorrow.
Our eyes can be full of joy.
Our eyes can be sad showing discouragement.
I have been to the hospital where I have seen eyes expressing hope.
Our eyes are very expressive.
So what does the Bible mean by *“eyes of our heart…?”
*Let’s see if I can illustrate it.*
*
It is much like experiencing the live music of an orchestra, or.* *The* “…eyes of our heart…” *is much like taking in beautiful sunset, or a like eating very delicious dinner.
You must experience them to fully enjoy them.
You can represent these things logically and analytically if you so choose.
A marvelous symphony can be represented by the notes on a page.
But that is not experiencing music.
Looking at notes on a page doesn't thrill you like being surrounded by the music soaring to its heights.
Likewise, you can describe color of a sunset mathematically.
But you must see a sunset to really know how magnificent it is.
You can describe taste of a German chocolate cake by reading a recipe.
But isn’t better to taste a German chocolate cake?
You can describe the chemical reactions which occur when we bite into a cake.
But you will never experience the incredible taste until you bite into it.
What I am saying is this, We can describe God theologically.
We can list all His attributes, and describe His work in choosing us before creation.
We can describe forgiveness by what happened to Jesus as he hung on the cross.
But it is much better to have the eyes of our heart are opened so we can taste and see and experience God.
It is so much better to take the pages of Scripture off the written page and have them enter our heart.
It is so much better to experience what it means to be chosen by God.
The Bible says
*Psalm 34:8** \\ ”O taste and see that the Lord is good…” *
This is what we need.
This is what Paul is praying for.
It is so much better have truth in our heats than just to have truth in our head.
You will know something with certainty when the heart has been touched.
What I’m saying is this: It isn't enough simply to learn biblical truth.
It isn’t enough to learn Bible doctrine.
It isn’t enough to have a Bible class in which you are learning Scripture.
The apostle Paul knew that.
You need to get the heart is involved.
Now notice what Paul prays in verse 18.
* *
| /I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know.../ |
| 1:18b | 1:18c | 1:19 |
| “What is the hope of His calling...” | | |
* *
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What is Paul praying for?
He is praying, that the eyes of their heart would taste and see and experience what it means to have hope in God.
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