Ephesians 1v15-23

Praying for someone who is blessed

What do you buy for someone who’s got everything? I dunno about you. But

there some people I struggle to buy presents for. At Christmas or when its their

birthday. Because they seem to have everything. Can you imagine how hard it

must be to buy a present for president Jacob Zuma or for the Queen of

England. Or for Bill Gates. People who already seem to have everything. What

can you buy for people like that?

Well this morning I wanna raise a similar question about prayer. What do you

pray for someone who’s got everything?

For those of you who joining us for the first time this morning, we busy with a

series in Ephesians and in chapter 1 verse 3 Paul praises God that the

Ephesians have already been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

They’ve got everything. And so what do you pray for people like that?

You see, if you anything like me, you tempted to only pray for people who’ve

got special needs. They struggling with some illness or they struggling

financially or they going through some time of great need. Then that’ll move

me to pray for them. But once their needs have been sorted out, then I’m

tempted to stop. I might spend some time thanking God for answering my

prayers. But then after that I’ll stop praying for them.

Well, that’s not how Paul prays for the Ephesians . He doesn’t stop. Look at

verse 15.

“For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your

love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering

you in my prayers.”

Paul doesn’t stop. And the reason why Paul doesn’t stop is because he knows

how to pray for people who’v got everything.

There’s a picture of a bracelet on the screen with the letters P. U. S. H. Push.

Maybe uv seen these bands that people wear. It says, “pray until something

happens.”

Well this doesn’t define Paul’s prayers. He doesn’t just pray until something

happens. He keeps on praying even for those who’ve got every spiritual

blessing and who aren’t going through a crisis in their lives.

And so this morning I want us to learn from Paul so we can keep on praying for

each other.

What do you pray for someone who’s got everything?

Well firstly, you should thank God. Look at verse 15 again.

“For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your

love for all the saints, I havent stopped giving thanks for you, remembering

you in my prayers.”

And again I don’t know if its just me. But I find it much easier to pray requests

for other people rather than to give thanks for them. And when I do give

thanks for them its because of some crisis that’s been resolved in their lives. I

thank God that Thabo’s found a job. Or I thank God that Peter’s recovered

from his illness.

And of course its good to thank God for those things. But notice why Paul

keeps thanking God. Its because of their faith.

“Ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the

saints, I have not stopped giving thanks.”

These Ephesians have come to faith in Jesus. And their faith isn’t just a private

thing. They haven’t just met Jesus personally. They also demonstrating their

faith in public. They full of love for all the saints.

And so Paul thanks God for their faith.

And the same should be true for us. When we hear that Alan has put his faith

in Jesus. When we see someone full of love and serving others in a sacrificial

ways. Whenever we see evidence of true faith in a person’s life. We shouldn’t

go and thank that person or give praise to them. The first thing we should do is

to thank God.

And so I wonder: is that our natural response?

Is it possible that we can hear of people being saved. We can hear of a church

that’s growing. People are being converted. People are loving each other.

Is it possible that we hear all that. And it leaves us stone cold. Maybe it even

makes us jealous! Because we not seeing the same things in our church.

Well that’s very wrong.

Even the angels in heaven rejoice over a sinner that repents. Surely we should

thank God when we hear of people’s faith.

And so I wanna go even deeper here. Why should we thank God when we hear

of people’s faith?

Is it just because they now living a better life. They benefitting society more.

They’ve got more purpose to their lives.

No its more than that.

Look at verse 15 again. Paul refers back to what he’s already said. Verse 15

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith and love, I have not

stopped giving thanks.

In other words, the reason why Paul thanks God is because of the first 14

verses where Paul’s been describing the spiritual blessing every Christian

enjoys. Weve got every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.

Verses 1-14 is just one long sentence overflowing with spiritual blessings

But what we saw last week is that not everyone can enjoy these blessings. Only

certain people are included. And the way to know that ur included is very

simple: have you heard the gospel message? And have you responded with

faith? That’s the way to receive these spiritual blessings.

And so that’s why Paul thanks God when he hears about their faith. Its

evidence that these blessings are theirs. They also have been included.

For this reason,

because of all these great blessings I’v been talking about.

That’s why. ever since I heard about your faith and love, I haven’t stopped

thanking God.

Every week I pray through the names on our St James address list. And in the

light of this passage, I’v been trying to focus on giving thanks for people. What

can I thank God for this person. And if I must be honest. for some of you I find

that especially hard. Of course I can thank God for all the material blessings we

all enjoy. Housing and clothing and the basics of life. But if I wanna thank God

for the things mentioned here. I can’t do it confidently for all of you. I find it

hard. Because I don’t see evidence of a real faith. And so I’m not confident that

these blessings are yours.

But then there also lots of you who do fill me with thankfulness. I do see

evidence of real faith. I do see acts of service. I do see love for the Bible. I do

see love for other Christians. And so I can thank God, not just for the way that

you living. And the fruitfulness of your lives. And how you benefitting the

church. But because thats evidence that every spiritual blessing is yours. You

are one of God’s predestined people. You are chosen in Christ. You are holy

and blameless in his sight. You are His dearly loved children. The list goes on

and on.

As soon as you see faith in someone’s life, its like a key that unlocks the door

of thankfulness.

There are so many reasons to praise and thank God for someone who is

trusting in Christ.

And so if someone’s a true believer, we shouldn’t just thank God when a crisis

gets avoided or when something positive happens in their lives. Instead we

should be like Paul. We shouldn’t stop giving thanks for them. Because every

spiritual blessing is theirs.

But then secondly, what do you ask for someone whos got everything?

We’ve seen that we should thank God for them. But what do we ask?

Someone who isn’t going through a crisis? Everything is going well. They’v got

every spiritual blessing. What does a person like that need? Well according to

Paul, we should ask for opened spiritual eyes.

That’s what Paul prays for in verses 17 and 18. He uses lots of different words.

But his main request is for opened spiritual eyes.

If uv got an NIV it makes it seem as though verse 17 and verse 18 are two

separate requests.

Verse 17 I keep asking for God to give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation.

Then Verse 18 And I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened

But in the original Greek those words, “I pray also” are not there. And so the

ESV translates it much better. “I keep asking for God to give you the Spirit of

wisdom and revelation in your knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your

heart enlightened”. That’s a better translation.

And so I think this is actually one request. Verse 18 is unpacking what verse 17

means.

To have the Spirit of wisdom and revelation is the same thing as having the

eyes of your heart enlightened.

After all, that’s the Spirit’s work: to illuminate and to reveal and to enlighten

our spiritual eyes.

Have you ever heard of the phrase four eyes? It’s a horrible phrase. It’s unkind.

It’s used tease people who’v got big glasses. Like the boy on the screen. Well

this morning I wanna give this phrase a new meaning. Forget about the guy on

the screen. Four eyes is a description of everyone. We don’t just have the two

physical eyes we see in our heads. As we see in this verse, we also have

spiritual eyes in our heart.

And our spiritual eyes enable us to see things that are spiritual. The kinda

things we’ve been talking about in Ephesians chapter 1. You cant see those

things with your physical eyes. You need your spiritual eyes to be opened. And

so this is what to pray for people who’v got everything.

And so this is what we need to pray. Lord God, give us the Spirit of wisdom and

revelation. Enlighten the eyes of our heart. That we might know the great

blessings we’ve received.

You see, if you anything like me, this is a prayer you normally pray for

unbelievers. thatGod will open their spiritual eyes. Remove their blindness.

That they’ll see Jesus. And be drawn to Him.

But this is also what we must pray for believers. We’ve already received Jesus.

We already have all the blessings. But we also need our eyes to be

enlightened. So that we’ll appreciate what we already have.

And please notice: Paul doesn’t refer here to the mind. He doesn’t pray for the

eyes of our mind to be enlightened. He’s prays about the eyes of our heart.

In other words, he isn’t just asking for a theoretical understanding of these

blessings. He’s asking for us to know them in our hearts.

This is what Jonathan Edwards says about this verse. I’ve translated it into

simpler English.

“there’s a distinction to be made between an academic understanding of

something where the mind considers things in an theoretical way

and the sense of the heart,

where the mind does not only consider something theoretically, but also feels

and takes delight in it

That sort of knowledge enables one to sense the difference between what is

pleasant and what is loathsome between what is sweet and what is bitter. It is

not just the same sort of knowledge by which one knows what a triangle is and

a square is. The one is mere theoretical knowledge. The other sensible

knowledge which involves more than just the intellect. It involves the heart.”

That’s a great quote.

In another place Edwards uses the illustration of honey. There a number of

ways you can work out whether something is honey. By looking at its golden

colour. By examining its texture. By noticing its got small pieces of honeycomb

in it. By pouring it, and seeing that it flows like honey. Those things can lead

you to conclude that something is honey.

But as Edwards points out, there’s a better way to reach that conclusion. Put a

drop of honey on your tongue. Then you’ll see that knowing honey involves

much more than just understanding a bunch of facts about it. To truly know

honey is to taste and see just how sweet, delicious and delightful honey really

is.

That’s to know something with your senses and not just with your mind.

And that’s the kind of knowing Paul is praying for here.

He’s not just praying that they will be able to list all the blessings mentioned in

Ephesians chapter 1. He’s not just praying that we’ll be able to pass a doctrine

exam on these verses. He’s praying that we’ll be able to sense them with the

spiritual eyes of our heart.

And let me tell you: when that happens then there’ll be real transformation in

our lives. Not just outward behaviour modification. But transformation of the

heart.

And so now for the rest of our time, I want us to look at three specific things

that Paul prays for us to know.

And I’m gona try and explain them to you. But I also pray that the Spirit will

enlighten the eyes of your heart, that this won’t just be head knowledge, but

knowledge of the heart.

Look at verse 18 again.

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may

know” and then he mentions three things:

firstly the hope to which He has called you

secondly, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints.

And thirdly, His incomparably great power for us who believe

So firstly, our eyes need to be opened to know the hope to which He has called

us.

If ur a Christian, then you’ve been called by God. Uv been called to follow Jesus

now. But uv also been called to a future hope: the glory of heaven. You can

know that at the end of your life you’ll go to heaven.

So just think of the happiest moments of your life. You might wanna close your

eyes. Think back. Think of those times when you felt completely content.

When you almost wished that time would stop so you could enjoy that

moment forever. Well those kind of moments are pretty rare in this life. And

even our happiest earthly moments are nothing compared to the perfect joy

and contentment of heaven.

Full intimacy with God. No more sin. No more pain. No more tears. No more

death. Only peace and perfect joy.

And yet, isn’t it true that even though we know this hope theoretically, we

often feel little excitement and longing for it now. We so consumed with the

present. What we can achieve now? What can we enjoy now? What will

people think of us now?

We might have strong longings for South Africa to win the cricket

Or for success in our studies

Or for the satisfaction of our romantic desires

But do we really long for heaven?

You see these earthly longings all seem more real to us. We can see them with

our physical eyes. They real.

But that’s why we need the Spirit’s help. Heaven is also real! But we need Him

to enlighten our spiritual eyes. So that we’ll see how real it is.

That we’ll be more gripped and driven and excited for our future hope than for

anything in the present.

Secondly, we need our eyes to be opened to know God’s inheritance in us.

If you look at verse 18 again, it doesn’t say what I’d expect it to say.

If I was writing verse 18, I would have said: “I pray 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 your glorious inheritance from God”.

That’s what I would have said. Because that’s how I normally think of my hope:

the time when I’ll receive an inheritance from God. But that’s not what this

verse says. Look carefully. Paul says: “may you know the hope to which He has

called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints.”

You see, its not talking about our inheritance from God. Its talking about God’s

inheritance in us.

And so that might be a different way for you to think about heaven. Not just as

the time when you’ll receive reward from God. But the time when God

receives His reward in us.

You see we God’s prize. His possession… His people bought with His blood.

And Paul wants us to know that. He wants us see who we are. In God’s sight.

Notice that Paul refers to us here as the saints. That’s how God sees us!And so

you mustn’t just think of saints as super spiritual Catholic people like mother

Theresa or the pope. The word saint, simply means holy one. And God sees all

Christians as holy, not because we live such holy lives. But in Christ weve been

washed. Weve been cleansed. Christ’s righteousness has been credited to us.

That’s what makes holy. We are God’s saints in Christ.

And so Paul wants us to know how precious we really are. How loved we are.

And not just to know that intellectually in our minds. But to sense it deep in

our heart. Do you know that you are God’s treasure. His precious reward. May

we know God’s inheritance in the saints.

And then thirdly, our eyes need to be opened to know God’s power for us.

Maybe ur a Christian here today and you feel like you lacking in power. You

feel weak. You feel physically weak. Your body gets tired and sick. You feel

spiritually weak. You struggle with sin and with doubts. You feel mentally

weak. You struggle to understand and remember things. You don’t feel as

though there’s much power in your life.

Well according to verse 19 if ur a believer, then there’s a power for you that’s

greater than any other power. Look at verse 19.

[May you know] “…His incomparably great power for us who believe.”

You see, you might feel very weak. But actually there’s this mighty power at

work for you. And Paul goes on to describe what this power is like. It’s nothing

less than the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.

Verse 19 again.

“That power is like the working of His mighty strength which He exerted in

Christ when He raised him from the dead.

And God didn’t just raise Jesus from the dead. He also exalted Him to His right

hand above all rule and authority, power and dominion.”

And according to verse 22 “God placed all things under His feet.”

In those days, wrestling was also a competitive sport like it is today. And

apparently in the Ancient world of wrestling, when you defeated your

opponent, after u’d thrown him down on the ground. Then just to

demonstrate ur victory, you’d place your foot on his neck. It was a vivid image

of complete power over that person. Ur foot on his neck. He’s completely

helpless. He’s under your feet.

Well that’s the power of God in Jesus. Not only has he raised Him from the

dead. He’s also placed every other power under His feet.

And so that’s the power Paul prays for us to know. It’s a power over death. And

it’s a power over all the spiritual forces of evil.

You see, those are the two great enemies we face in this world. Death and evil.

We have power of those enemies in Christ.

As John Stott says, “there two powers which man cannot control, but which

hold him in bondage, they are death and evil. Man is mortal; he cannot avoid

death. Man is fallen; he cannot overcome evil. But in Christ, God has

conquered both, and therefore He can rescue us from both.”

And again we won’t be able to see this with our physical eyes.

In this world we still struggle with sin. The forces of evil still attack us. We still

face death. Our physical bodies are dying. And so it might seem that we still

enslaved to these powers. But if our spiritual eyes are opened, then we know

our identity’s in Christ. We’ve been raised with Him. We seated with Him in the

heavenly realms. His power’s at work in us. And so We don’t have to obey the

devil. We don’t have to continue in sin. We don’t have to fear death. We not

slaves to these things. In Christ we have the victory. We can walk in the

newness of resurrection life.

That’s the power Paul prays for us to know. Not just intellectually. But with the

spiritual eyes of our heart.

There’s a picture on the screen of Florence Chadwick. She was an American

swimmer known for long distance swimming. She was the first woman to swim

across the English channel in both directions. In 1952 she attempted to swim

the 42 kilometres between Catalina Island and the California coastline. After

about 15 hours of swimming a thick fog set in making it impossible for her to

see her destination. She could just see her immediate surroundings: her

support crew in the boats and a couple of metres in front of her. And she

began to doubt her ability. She told her support crew that she didn’t think she

could make it. They encouraged her to keep going. She kept swimming for

another hour until she finally gave up. After being hauled into the boat, she

discovered that she had stopped less than 2 kilometres from her destination.

Later she said that if it wasn’t for the fog. If she’d been able to see clearly, then

she surely would’v kept going.

Well I think the same is true for us in our Christian lives. There’s a fog blinding

our spiritual eyes so we just see our immediate surroundings. We lose sight of

the bigger picture: of our heavenly reward. Of our spiritual blessings. And it

tempt us to give up in our Christian journey. We need God to enlighten our

spiritual eyes, that we might know the hope to which He’s called us, how

precious we are as His inheritance, and how great is His power for us who

believe.

I wanna end by highlighting a new thing we’ve started doing in our church

bulletins. If you can look there. It was suggested by Pat Edley. You’ll see on the

inside page, there’s a section there called “praying for each other”. And each

week there’ll be an updated list of names of people in our church. And I hope

that we wont just be praying for those who are in a crisis. Of course we must

pray for those people. I hope that we won’t stop praying for people when

things are going well. I hope that we’ll keep on praying for each other because

we know how to pray for those who’ve got everything. We’ve got every

spiritual blessing in Christ. But we need to give thanks to God. And we need to

pray that we’ll know that blessing deep in our hearts. Maybe this list will help

you.

Lets pray