Ephesians 1:15-17 — Conversations with God

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, 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.

Has anyone heard of my faith in You, Lord Jesus, and my love for all believers?  Do I have a reputation for that?  I believe I do those things, but my faith in You and my love for Your people can certainly improve.  So hopefully there is someone praying that for me as Paul prayed it for the Ephesians and whoever else this letter was intended for.

He prayed that You would give them a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Jesus.  I’m not specifically sure what he meant.  Did he mean to ask You to send them prophets or teachers who would correctly teach them about Jesus?  Or did he ask You to work in their spirits individually and corporately to produce a fuller understanding of who Jesus is, perhaps based on what he was writing them in this letter?  In any case he wanted You to do something I’m sure You are most willing to do — enlighten us concerning Jesus and what it means to know and follow Him.

Why do we need someone to pray this for us?  Aren’t You quite actively seeking this for us already?   Perhaps we don’t “need” someone to do this for us, but they and we need to be asking You for this because of what occurs to us in the form of spiritual growth and growth in love when we do.  Perhaps we need to see that You are eager to answer these prayers and that in this way we can have a role in the spiritual growth of others.