This Week’s Passage: 15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 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. 18 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, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
Paul prays for people different than I pray for people. But I’m trying to change that. I love the things that he specifically prays here for his Ephesian friends: that they might know the Lord better, that they might know the hope that they have, that they might know how rich they are in Christ, that they might know His great power in their lives.
But WHAT he prays is not what struck me this week. What struck me is the way that he identified WHO he was praying to. He could easily have said “I keep asking that God would give…” Instead he uses two descriptive phrases to identify God.
The God of our Lord Jesus Christ – He is writing to people in a city that is inundated with gods of all kinds. I think he wants to make it clear that the God that he serves and prays to is not like the gods that they are familiar with. I wonder if we are as clear in our praying, if we know who the God is that we call upon. There are just as many gods and faux-gods in our day as there was in Ephesus. It’s just that we don’t call them gods. Yet we worship them none the less. We do not pray to a god who is at our beck and call nor a god who’s job it is to give us whatever we want. We do not pray to a god who exists to serve us nor a god who overlooks sin. We do not pray to a god who just wants us to be happy nor to a god who wants us to be wealthy. We do not pray to a god who is capricious in his ways nor to a god who is limited in what he can and cannot do. We pray to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the One who triumphed over sin. The One who came to seek and to save that which was loss. The One who even the winds and the waves obey. The One who humbled himself on a cross but then triumphed over death. The One who is declared to be the Alpha and Omega, the Way the Truth the Life, the image of the invisible God. The One who is Savior, Messiah, Lamb of God. The Good Shepherd. The Bread of Life. The Light of the World. The One who is Redeemer, Prince of Peace, Lion of the tribe of Judah. The One who is the King of Kings and the Great I AM. We pray to the God of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, the God who is also…
The glorious Father – Glorious!! This is an idea that has captured Paul’s mind as he writes and thinks about all that God has done for him. In verse 6 he speaks of God’s glorious grace. In verse 12 he speaks of “the praise of God’s glory“. In verse 14 he repeats this again. Here in verse 17 he he refers to God as glorious and then in verse 18 he talks about God’s glorious inheritance. It’s as if Paul has seen God in a way that I have yet to see Him. Perhaps it was that encounter that he had on the road to Damascus (Acts 9). Perhaps it was the vision he had of God that he talks about in 2 Corinthians 12. I don’t know how he came to recognize the awesomeness of God’s glorious nature. All I know is that he does. And I don’t. But I want to. And I would prefer that I “get it” before I see Him in all His glory upon my homegoing. Because I see what a difference it made in Paul’s life and ministry to be captivated by the One that he refers to as “the glorious Father.” It made a difference in the that he prayed. It made a difference in the way that he preached and taught. It made a difference in the way that he endured trials and persecution. It made a difference in the way that he dealt with difficult people. It made a difference in the way that he died.
Check out these lyrics from Third Day’s song Show Me Your Glory. Click here if you want to see their You Tube performance.
I caught a glimpse of Your splendor
In the corner of my eye
The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen
And it was like a flash of lightning
Reflected off the sky
And I know I’ll never be the same
Show me Your glory
Send down Your presence
I want to see Your face
Show me Your glory
Majesty shines about You
I can’t go on without You, Lord
When I climb down the mountain
And get back to my life
I won’t settle for ordinary things
I’m gonna follow You forever
And for all of my days
I won’t rest ’til I see You again
Show me Your glory
Show me Your glory
I can’t live without You
As the song suggests, the reality seems to be this: Just a glimpse of God’s glory can change us forever – “never be the same… can’t go on without You…won’t settle for ordinary things… won’t rest til I see You again”. This was def true for Paul. May it be so for me … and you!
I’m just sayin’!
Next Week’s Passage: Ephesians 1:19b-23
Your post led me into praise the Lord this morning. Sometimes my pondering produce simililar thoughts as yours-but not this week. It is so neat how God can use the same passage to teach different people different things. Thanks for sharing what he is teaching you. God is awesome.
Beautiful Shay.
“Show me your glory” reminds me of Revelation 21:23 “The city does not need the sun or moon to shine on it,for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is it’s lamp” My God and HIS GLORY are mind blowing!