Pray to Know God
Pray to Know God
God allows us insight in the lives of people and grants us the spirit of intercession. God does not show us things about others for gossip and for belittling them. He grants us a passion for praying God’s will into existence in the lives of people we interact with. This is exactly what God used Paul to do for the Ephesian Church and for all of us.
Paul prayed as follows for the Ephesians in 1:15-18:
15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding[c] being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.
What a prayer! God gave Paul a special revelation about the Ephesians and the Church of God in general. Jesus told Paul what His Church needs most – to know Him. Let’s focus on the first part of the prayer – to know God thru an enlightened understanding and insight of who He is and what He has called us to and the inheritance we have in Christ.
“The secrets things belong unto our God our Lord” Deut. 29:29. God is Spirit and the only way for a human to know Him is by revelation. His Spirit also became Word and flesh as in Jesus while here on earth. So God reveals Himself to us by His Spirit through His Word. It is not just reading and memorizing but He grants spiritual understanding that we might know Him. The Father longs to show us himself. Daniel confirmed this as he wrote:
He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. 22 He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him. 23 “I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; Daniel 2:21-23
Why do we need to know God? First we need to know God very well so we can hear His voice and obey him. I hear you saying but we are not under the law why “obedience”. Well it is not a “cheap” calling by His grace and we will never earn it by obedience. Our calling cost God everything – the life of His Son. As we hear the Holy Spirit’s voice then we can be empowered to “walk worthy of our calling” in Christ. Jesus only did what he heard from His Father. We are no different and that is why we are His followers. Let’s stop doing what God has not asked us to do and stop the havoc in our lives and bring God glory. Paul cries out, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death” Philippians 3:10
I believe also that we can delight in Him and enjoy Him as a Father when we really know Him. All fear of Satan is gone as we embrace our Father’s great love for us. Can we allow the Holy Spirit to cry out “Abba Father” through us? Our unhappiness and limited joy I believe result from limited knowledge of our Father. As such we run to temporal things for comfort – gadgets, entertainment, career, even spouses, children, friends, etc. Let God wrap His loving hands around you even right now. He is our all-sufficient God. He has “blessed us with every spiritual blessing” heaven can offer – God himself in Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit is called the “Comforter”. Let Him be so in your life and mine.
What are you praying for others and for yourself? I hope to know God in an exceptional and more intimate way. A lot of times we focus on just praying for things when we pray for others. That was not the focus for Paul. See also Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:14-19. Can you change your prayers for others? Start with me. Pray that I may know God more intimately through His Word and prayer; and by the revelation and wisdom of His Holy Spirit. Thank you and I will pray the same for you.
Lord, grant my brother or sister reading this, your wisdom and revelation in knowing you. Open his/her eyes to your secrets of complete life in you. Grant him him/her to know the hope of your calling which is you. “27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which[d] is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Let’s hope for nothing else except Christ Himself. Amen.
God allows us insight in the lives of people and grants us the spirit of intercession. God does not show us things about others for gossip and for belittling them. He grants us a passion for praying God’s will into existence in the lives of people we interact with. This is exactly what God used Paul to do for the Ephesian Church and for all of us.
Paul prayed as follows for the Ephesians in 1:15-18:
15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding[c] being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.
What a prayer! God gave Paul a special revelation about the Ephesians and the Church of God in general. Jesus told Paul what His Church needs most – to know Him. Let’s focus on the first part of the prayer – to know God thru an enlightened understanding and insight of who He is and what He has called us to and the inheritance we have in Christ.
“The secrets things belong unto our God our Lord” Deut. 29:29. God is Spirit and the only way for a human to know Him is by revelation. His Spirit also became Word and flesh as in Jesus while here on earth. So God reveals Himself to us by His Spirit through His Word. It is not just reading and memorizing but He grants spiritual understanding that we might know Him. The Father longs to show us himself. Daniel confirmed this as he wrote:
He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. 22 He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him. 23 “I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; Daniel 2:21-23
Why do we need to know God? First we need to know God very well so we can hear His voice and obey him. I hear you saying but we are not under the law why “obedience”. Well it is not a “cheap” calling by His grace and we will never earn it by obedience. Our calling cost God everything – the life of His Son. As we hear the Holy Spirit’s voice then we can be empowered to “walk worthy of our calling” in Christ. Jesus only did what he heard from His Father. We are no different and that is why we are His followers. Let’s stop doing what God has not asked us to do and stop the havoc in our lives and bring God glory. Paul cries out, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death” Philippians 3:10
I believe also that we can delight in Him and enjoy Him as a Father when we really know Him. All fear of Satan is gone as we embrace our Father’s great love for us. Can we allow the Holy Spirit to cry out “Abba Father” through us? Our unhappiness and limited joy I believe result from limited knowledge of our Father. As such we run to temporal things for comfort – gadgets, entertainment, career, even spouses, children, friends, etc. Let God wrap His loving hands around you even right now. He is our all-sufficient God. He has “blessed us with every spiritual blessing” heaven can offer – God himself in Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit is called the “Comforter”. Let Him be so in your life and mine.
What are you praying for others and for yourself? I hope to know God in an exceptional and more intimate way. A lot of times we focus on just praying for things when we pray for others. That was not the focus for Paul. See also Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:14-19. Can you change your prayers for others? Start with me. Pray that I may know God more intimately through His Word and prayer; and by the revelation and wisdom of His Holy Spirit. Thank you and I will pray the same for you.
Lord, grant my brother or sister reading this, your wisdom and revelation in knowing you. Open his/her eyes to your secrets of complete life in you. Grant him him/her to know the hope of your calling which is you. “27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which[d] is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Let’s hope for nothing else except Christ Himself. Amen.
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