Father, Give Them…

Ephesians 1:15-17

Verse 17  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.

    Yesterday we started talking about praying for our friends like Paul did.  His prayer requests for his friends in Ephesus were not the type of things we tend to pray for our friends, but they probably should be.  So what types of things does Paul pray for his friends?  Let’s look at a few.

    When was the last time we prayed for our friends to be given spiritual wisdom and insight so that they could grow in their knowledge of God?  What does that even entail?  Wisdom is the ability to discern using solid judgment.  Paul is asking God to give his friends in Ephesus the ability to discern.  Have we ever asked that for a friend?  Have we ever asked that for ourselves?  What would it mean in our lives if we were able to discern in a way that we were reflecting God because He had given us spiritual wisdom?  Imagine what our worship would look like if we were able to discern between what was pleasing in God’s eyes from what is pleasing only to ourselves.  The wisdom and insight was so that they could grow in the knowledge of God.  Paul’s greatest desire for his friends wasn’t that they could grow in wealth or health but in their spiritual wealth and health.  This should be our greatest desire for ourselves and our friends.

    Next Paul prays that their hearts will be flooded with light so they could understand the confident hope of life in Christ.  Notice that it isn’t just minimal light but that hearts would be flooded with this light.  Once again Paul isn’t praying for the bare minimum for these friends but for the abundance of understanding and knowledge of God and His plan for His followers.  Have we ever thought about what our lives would look like if we had more than a bare minimum knowledge of God and His desires for our lives?

    We are called to be His holy people and having His wisdom, insight and a growing knowledge of God is what will set us apart from the world.  By praying these things for our friends we show that we love them deeper than a superficial worldly friendship, we love them enough to ask God continually that He would be manifesting these things in their lives.  We should also be praying for these things for ourselves knowing we can’t worship Him in fullness without knowing Him in the fullness of who He is.

Making It Personal

    Have you ever prayed these things for yourself or your friends?  Are these things you would like to see grown in your life?  Do you love your friends enough to pray these things for them?  How about praying them for yourself?

Making It Personal Kids

    Do you want your friends to know Jesus more?  Will you pray for them to know Jesus more?  Do you want to know Jesus more?  Don’t forget to pray for yourself to know Jesus more.

Closing Prayer

    Father, how wonderful that You want us to know You more deeply.  Please give us a hunger to know You increasingly more.  Give us wisdom, insight and fill us with the light of Your understanding.  In Jesus’ name, amen.