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Disciples Pray for Others

Scripture: Ephesians 1:15-23

I. You pray for others to know God better.

A. Paul begins vs. 15 by saying, “For this reason.” What reason is that? It has to do with all that Paul has written about in vs. 3-14. Paul prays for the Ephesians because they have received every spiritual blessing in Christ. Paul makes his first prayer request for the Ephesian Christians in vs. 17: “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him.” What is Paul praying for the Ephesians in vs. 17? It’s very simple. He is praying that they would know God better. Think of what else Paul might have put on the top of his list for prayer. But what did Paul think was most important to pray? He prayed that the Ephesian church would know God better. Nothing was more important than that.

II. You pray for others to know our hope better.

A. Paul begins to pray in vs. 18 that they would have the eyes of their hearts enlightened about three things that they already have in Christ. They would be enlightened by the Holy Spirit who is mentioned in vs. 17. The first thing Paul wants the Ephesians enlightened about is the hope to which God has called them. Paul does NOT pray that God would change the circumstances of the Ephesians’ lives. Instead, Paul prays that God would change the way the Ephesians see their circumstances. He prays that they would have hope no matter what, trusting that God would do what He has promised. And what has God promised to Christians? Heaven. He has promised us eternal life and eternal joy in the presence of God the Father, who has adopted us into His family.

III. You pray for others to know our value to God.

A. Paul prays for our eyes to be enlightened as to what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. Notice whose inheritance is talked about as Paul prays in vs. 18. It’s his inheritance – God’s inheritance. So, what is God’s inheritance? Don’t miss this. God’s inheritance is us. It’s the saints. God can’t wait to welcome us into His home. He will consider Himself rich when we join Him in heaven. We are so united with Jesus that we are living in Him (vs. 11, 13). So, when God looks at you as a Christian, He sees Jesus. Since you are in Christ, you are therefore valuable to God. If you grasp that you are God’s inheritance, how are you going to live? To quote the words at the beginning of vs. 6, you are going to live to the praise of his glorious grace.

IV. You pray for others to know God’s available power better.

A. This is Paul’s final prayer request for the Ephesian church in vs. 19-20. The power of God available to you is the same as the power that God used when He raised Jesus from the dead (vs. 20). Who can raise the dead? Only God can. But now God says that kind of power is available to you. When you die, He will raise you. After His resurrection, Jesus was seated at the right hand of God’s throne, where He now powerfully rules over all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named. He rules over Satan and all his demons. In Christ you have that kind of power also. Finally, Jesus is changing the world for the good of the church by means of the church as we become more and more like Christ (vs. 22).

Application:
Pray Paul’s prayer from Ephesians 1 for your Christian family and friends this week.

Sources:
The letter to the Ephesians
Commentaries on Ephesians by Peter O’Brien, Bryan Chapell, and Richard Coekin
“A Call to Spiritual Reformation” by D.A. Carson