In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul wrote, “I pray that the eyes of your heart might be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe” (Eph. 1:18-19, NIV ). 

The Passion Translation renders the text as, “I pray that the light of God will illuminate the eyes of your imagination, flooding you with light, until you experience the full revelation of the hope of his calling – that is, the wealth of God’s glorious inheritance that he finds in us, his holy ones” (Eph. 118-19, Passion Translation).

The “eyes of your heart” or the” eyes of your imagination” is an interesting phrase because it implies that we can see something with our hearts or imagination that we cannot see with our physical eyes.  Of course, we could understand it to simply mean that we can perceive or understand something with our hearts or imagination that cannot be understood by intellect or natural reason.  I believe that is true.  But I also believe that God intends for us to see heavenly realities in a way that goes beyond understanding or reason.  

I subscribe to the idea that we all have spiritual senses just as we have physical senses.  Those believers with the gift of discernment or a “seer” gift can see into the spiritual realm.  They can see angels and demons just as Elisha saw chariots of fire around him (2 Kings 6).  Elisha asked God to open the eyes of his servant that he might also see the angelic guard around them. He didn’t ask for God to give his servant eyes, but to open his eyes that he might see into the spirit realm.  I believe those were spiritual eyes…the eyes of his heart or imagination.

With our spiritual eyes, we can see the spirit realm.  Some seers believe that they ae not seeing that realm directly but are seeing it on the screen of their Spirit-directed imagination. They can see Jesus when he is in the midst of his people.  The prophets can hear the voice of God and we all can feel his presence or the presence of evil at times.  Others smell the presence of demons or the presence of angels.  I believe we are born with these senses and what we need is for the Holy Spirit to activate those senses for us….so Paul prayed that God would open the eyes of their heart of imagination.

The object of Paul’s prayer was for God’s people to know the hope to which they are called, the riches of his inheritance in the saints, and the power that is available to God’s children.  God always wants us to know something beyond the level of simple information or facts.  He wants us to experience the truth or to have intimate knowledge of the realities he reveals to us. Seeing spiritual realities and getting glimpses of heaven through dreams and visions deepens our faith and understanding of his promises and revelation. 

I believe God wants the spiritual senses of every believers to be activated so that we can be anchored more deeply in his truth and so that we might better understand his ways for us and the immense depth of his love for us.  Just as we should pray diligently for the Spirit of wisdom and revelation that we discussed in my last blog, I believe we should pray just as diligently for God to open the eyes of our heart and to activate our other spiritual senses as well.  In the same way that the loss of a physical sense hinders us in the natural, the inactivity of any spiritual sense must also limit us in the spiritual realm.  I encourage you to ask God for the activation of those senses and to show you if anything is standing in the way of that activation.  

Blessings in Him