The recorded prayers of the apostle Paul, Doctrine of Prayer part 11

/8. The recorded prayers of the apostle Paul.\

 

Now we turn to Paul’s other recorded prayer in Ephesians.

 

EPH 1:15 For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you, and your love for all the saints,

 

EPH 1:16 do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you [“of you” is not in the original] in my prayers;

 

/Legitimate prayer is giving thanks for other positive believers, whether you know them personally or not.\

 

You’re not going to be thankful for the reversionistic believers, for them you pray that their eyes open to their need for doctrine and that the happiness that they are seeking is found in no other place.

 

But you should be thankful for those who have agape love for the RFOG and you should thank God for them in your prayers.

 

/Making mention is a word that also means remembrance. This shows us that we don’t have to go into a lot of detail with God concerning others, but we pray for them as we remember them.\

 

EPH 1:17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory [essence of God], may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.

 

/ “spirit of wisdom” - a human spirit that is always ready to circulate metabolized doctrine to the launching pad of the heart, ready to be applied. Applied doctrine is wisdom.\

 

Revelation comes by means of the filling of the Spirit and it is always personal to you. That is the aha moment of a doctrine that in conjunction with other doctrines becomes understandable.

 

It is then that a particular doctrine becomes a part of your root system, your stability, and your foundation. All the roots of a tree are connected to the others, like the branches of a vine. All doctrine become one beautiful picture of God and His plan for you.

 

The roots are invisible, but the effect of the roots are visible, and if others miss or refuse to see your stability and prosperity of thinking, take courage, because if you see it and God sees it, that’s all that matters.

 

/JER 17:7 "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord

And whose trust is the Lord. \

 

/JER 17:8 "For he will be like a tree planted by the water,

That extends its roots by a stream

And will not fear when the heat comes;

But its leaves will be green,

And it will not be anxious in a year of drought

Nor cease to yield fruit. \

 

In verse 17, revelation of the knowledge is not just knowledge, but we have the Greek word epignosis.

 

/ “knowledge” - epignosis [epignosis] = metabolized doctrine] \

 

The metabolization of doctrine from the mind to the heart by means of the human spirit will only occur when you mix the word of God with faith under the filling of God the Holy Spirit.

 

/1 Cor 2:10

For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. \

 

The pastor-teacher does not reveal them; rather God the Holy Spirit is the Revealer. You can do nothing without the Spirit of God. He indwells you and therefore sets up headquarters in your body by which He may supply you with power. He is our second Advocate. You are useless without Him.

 

EPH 1:18 I pray that the eyes of your heart [the eyes of your right lobe is your spiritual insight and understanding. It is your own comprehension of the four pillars] may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,

 

/The eyes of your heart are the perception of your purpose and destiny that God decreed for you in eternity past.\

 

There is no way you can come to an understanding or an enlightened heart concerning what God has expressed in desire for you trillions of years ago by looking in the world. No one was with God when He expressed His desire for your highest and best and therefore revelation of that desire must come only from Him.

 

By trivializing and marginalizing the scripture, mankind has come to see the Bible as out of date and worst of all as only some person’s opinion, or propaganda scheme. The word of God is God’s revelation to His people and the Gospel is God’s salvation to the world, but who is listening or hearing?

 

I think that perhaps this is Paul’s most important prayer - that the eyes of your heart see God’s desire for your highest and best. That your heart go from darkness of human viewpoint to the light that is the mind of Christ.

 

/ “may be enlightened” - let there be light [GEN 1:3] = Jesus Christ dawning in your heart. The dawn will only grow brighter with your continued understanding of Him.\

 

/[slide: earth and atmosphere]\

 

The dawn is beautiful with color, but that is because the light is absorbed by various gases as it moves through the longest section of the atmosphere. However, as the sun climbs in the sky there is less obstruction and the purity of the light, almost white, becomes clearer, brighter, stronger, and warmer. These natural occurrences all around us every day are no accident. God reveals Himself in everything, and once your heat’s eyes are enlightened you see Him everywhere.

 

/2 Sam 23:4

[The Rock of Israel] Is as the light of the morning when the sun rises, A morning without clouds, When the tender grass springs out of the earth, Through sunshine after rain.' \

 

This verse applies to every Church-age believer as the tender grass. The seed has gone into the ground dead and has risen in order to produce much fruit. Water almost always refers to the word of God.

 

Anyone who gets to know Christ must essentially be overtaken by Him. He is too marvelous not to overwhelm your heart as the Morning Star.

 

/2 Cor 5:14

For the love of Christ controls us [sunecho = to hold together, to constrain, to urge], having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; \

 

EPH 1:18 I pray that the eyes of your heart [the eyes of your right lobe is your spiritual insight and understanding. It is your own comprehension of the four pillars]may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,

 

Paul’s prayer is that believer will know something:

 

/ “know” - perfect active infinitive of oida[oida] = to have seen or perceived to as to know absolutely.\

 

/ that you may know - “hope of His calling” - confident expectation of the results of your election to privilege, honor, and blessing.\

 

/ that you may know - “riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” - knowing what are the escrow, super-grace blessings of those whom God has set apart for Himself.\

 

Again, this means to know absolutely that God’s desire for your life is to receive the inheritance of Christ as a fellow heir both in time and in eternity. This is your election in Christ.

 

Therefore, God has so worked so that He is now free to bring any believer in Christ into the light of His glory, which is to share in the inheritance that is His essence as it loves and envelopes TLJC, so it is God’s desire for you.

 

HEB 2:10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation [fulfillment of the cross] through sufferings [Christ’s sufferings and not ours].

 

HEB 2:11 For both He who sanctifies [sets apart as holy] and those who are sanctified [RFOG] are all from one Father; for which reason He [JC] is not ashamed to call them brethren,

 

/As brethren we are fellow heirs with Christ, however capacity must be established so that the inheritance will not destroy us or make us unstable.\

 

In order to create the capacity, which again is the ability to receive God’s surpassing grace blessings and not become unstable, God has provided us with the mind of Christ. If you think about it, and how simply it makes sense…?

 

/The inheritance is for Christ. Because of what He knows He has capacity for them. The same inheritance is shared with us; therefore we must know what He knows to gain that capacity.\

 

That is exactly what the writer of Hebrews says next as he quotes a Psalm.

 

HEB 2:12 saying,

"I will proclaim Thy name [Thy person or essence] to My brethren, In the midst of the congregation I will sing Thy praise."

 

Does this quotation look familiar to you? If you were here Wednesday night than it might.

 

/Ps 22:22

I will tell of Thy name [essence of God] to my brethren;

In the midst of the assembly I will praise Thee. \

 

Verses 1-21 depicted the sufferings on the cross and here in verse 22 is the victory. For Christ, His greatest personal inheritance is the RFOG that compliments His authority as King of kings and Lord of lords. For the brethren, we inherit the same. We also possess the RFOG along with spiritual and material blessings that stagger the imagination. The only thing missing is our capacity for them. Christ desires to bless His bride, but that can only occur when we comprehend the essence of God which includes His word and His plan. In the midst of the assembly tells us to gather together for the communication of the word of God.

 

/EPH 3:18

may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, \

 

You will not have capacity to enjoy the RFOG unless you have impersonal unconditional love. The same is true for all relationships. And you will not have capacity for spiritual and materialistic blessings unless you possess the virtues of thankfulness, humility, and wisdom.