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. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. Eph.1:17-19

Ephesians is one of those New Testament letters that holds such a wealth of insight and encouragement that never runs dry for the one who keeps asking God to show him or her more. The few verses quoted above are significant keys to gaining all that God has for us so I thought we might reflect on them this morning.

Paul had a special relationship with the church at Ephesus (see Acts 19-20) and was clearly proud of how they had grown in their faith and love. He told them that he always gave thanks for them in his prayers and then said that he kept asking God to give them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation that they might know him (God) better. From Genesis to Revelation the goal of God has been to accurately reveal himself to his people because to know him is to love him. And yet the failure of many has been to form opinions about God, who he is, and how he works with no real personal revelation of him.

Paul is clear that we can’t know God without wisdom and revelation that comes from the Holy Spirit. Man’s attempt to know God and explain him without this revelation has been catastrophic. It has led to all kinds of false worship that includes the worship of demons. It has led to a worldwide religion that claims that the heart of God is set on slaughtering all those who do not submit immediately. It has led to all kinds of beliefs that God is cruel, uncaring, and detached from the real struggles of mankind. We could go on but each of these distorted views of God comes from those who don’t know him well on a personal level and who don’t understand his purposes.

Paul says that to know him better requires revelation from the Spirit. The flesh always sees God as restrictive and demanding in the same way that children often view their parents that way even though the restrictions and the rules are in the best interest of the child. Children always long for a permissive parent who always lets the child do as he or she pleases without restriction or discipline. Many adults want a permissive God.   Only through the Spirit do we begin to understand the goodness of God’s commands and even his discipline. By revelation we begin to see the activities of God and by wisdom we begin to see their goodness. By revelation we begin to see the heart of God and by wisdom we begin to understand his heart. Left to our own intellect we will miss the mark of knowing an understanding him.

Paul prayed for the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that the Ephesians might know God better. There are two general words in the Greek for “know.” One is gnosis and the other is epignosis. Paul uses the second one here because it denotes experiential knowledge rather than academic knowledge. Without wisdom and revelation our knowledge of God is merely theoretical. With wisdom and revelation we begin to experience God personally and know him in truth not just in theory.

Paul mentioned that he kept on praying for those things on behalf of the church. The implication is that we need to keep on asking for wisdom and revelation from the Spirit if we want to know God in a deeper and more accurate way. Most revelation and wisdom are progressive. God gives us a bit at a time as we can assimilate it so one download doesn’t do it. Sometimes believers get a basic understanding of God but their understanding levels out there and never grows. That is like a child’s view of his or her parents never changing as he or she grows older. The greatest treasure God offers is himself and to truly know him is the greatest prize. We need to keep asking for God to show us more of himself and he is clearly pleased to do so.

The second thing Paul prayed for was that the eyes of their hearts might be enlightened so that they could fully comprehend several things. Again, this enlightenment is the work of the Holy Spirit who reveals the things of God to the deepest part of our thinking and feeling – the heart. Paul prayed that the believers at Ephesus would come to know the hope to which they were called, the riches of their inheritance and the power of God available to those who believe.

Hope keeps us going in dark places because hope expects the light to shine at any moment. Hope prompts us to grab hold of the promises of God with expectancy for our future. The riches that we have in Christ are everything that Jesus has purchased for us with his blood. The more we understand what is available to us the more we can access those “riches” for life on planet earth and for the expansion of the kingdom of God. Those riches may include some material wealth but that would be toward the bottom of the list. More importantly those riches include love, joy, peace, purpose, belonging, wisdom, spiritual gifts, eternal life and so forth. There are many ultra-rich people who would give it all up to possess those things because those things are what they thought wealth and power would get them. In their disappointment they simply keep chasing more wealth and power hoping that more will eventually get them what we all have freely in Christ.

Thirdly, Paul wanted the church and us to grasp how much power rests in the hands of the Lord who is more than willing to exercise it on our behalf. There is no need to feel afraid, powerless, helpless, and insecure for our Father has unlimited power and resources to release on our behalf. We are not victims nor orphans but sons and daughters of the Most High God. Knowing that truth in your heart lets you sleep at night no matter what.

Getting hold of those truths and planting them deep in your heart is the key that unlocks the peace and provision of heaven but it comes through the Spirit of wisdom and revelation…so ask for it and keep asking because there is no end to what God has for us in himself.