Ephesians 1:15-23
Paul’s Kind of Praying
How’s your prayer life? Why is your prayer life the way that it is (Good or bad)? Are you intentional about going to the Lord? Do you schedule time with Him regularly? Do you keep a list that you pray through? When you do pray what motivates you to do so?
Today we’re going to look at Paul’s kind of praying. Praying is no small topic in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. There are 2 big Pauline prayers mentioned in it. The first one is here in chapter 1 and the other is in chapter 3. Both of these prayers occur in the last half of their respective chapters. And both prayers come immediately after deep doctrinal discourse by Paul. Paul was motivated to pray when he thought of the deep things of God.
Paul makes other mentions of prayer as well. At the end of the letter in chapter 6 he tells the Ephesians that they should pray (READ). He also alludes to prayer in chapter 5:17 (know God’s will) and 5:20 (giving thanks). The difference here is that he instructs the Ephesians in prayer whereas in chapters 1 & 3 Paul is describing how he prays for them.
Why are these prayers important for us to have today? Let me answer that first by pointing out to you that his prayer immediately follows his teaching on some magnificent doctrines. The picture here is that magnificent knowledge leads to magnificent praying. We need to know the magnificent things of God and that will lead to a more magnificent praying life. In other words, Paul’s kind of praying starts with Paul’s kind of theology. If we know the things in the first half of this chapter like Paul does, we will pray like Paul does in the 2nd half of this chapter.
I would suggest that today if we want to see our prayer life grow then don’t start with verse 15. Instead, start with verse 1. Studying theology, discovering the knowledge of God will lead your spirit to pray.
That’s an important point. Bible study should make us want to pray. If this doesn’t happen for us then something is missing in our Bible study. We shouldn’t view it as if we are cramming for a test. We aren’t competing to know more than everyone else. We are studying to know and love and worship God. Those inner things are produced in us through study but they are the expressed in prayer. What I come to know of God makes me love Him for what I know and how can I but help worshiping Him in prayer?
As I reflected more on prayer this week I thought about some practical benefits that prayer gives and I want to offer them to you today. These are from my personal experience.
First, prayer calms you down. I get restless, anxious, and impatient if I don’t pray. But, when I am praying there is a peace that settles in my heart.
Second, I enjoy the things God has given me more. When I don’t pray, I tend to focus on what I don’t have and forget what I do have. I’m not content. Do you know anyone like that? I’m like that. But, when I am praying I find my heart enjoying the things that really matter in life that I do have and I don’t want so hard for things that I don’t have.
Third, prayer helps me to love better. I find that the amount of love that I have in my heart to give shrinks a lot when I am not praying. I get critical, I get self-centered. But after time spent with the Lord in prayer I find that He enlarges my ability to love.
**When I pray it feels natural to think of others. But when I don’t pray it feels natural to think of myself.
And lastly, I find that when I pray I sense a closer proximity to God. I am more sensitive to what pleases Him and my mind is thinking more about what pleases Him.
But now let us let Paul teach us about prayer. Let’s look at Paul’s Kind of Praying.
Motivation (v15-16)
First of all, notice Paul’s motivation to pray. Look with me at verses 15-16, “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 ijn all my prayers.”
Paul is motivated by the faith and love that other Christians have. When he hears that their faith in the Lord is strong and that they have love for each other and all the believers he wants to pray.
I would ask two questions here. First of all, have you as a Christian ever caused another Christian to pray and give thanks to God for the kind of Christian you are? Has your faith been something for others to be thankful for? Has your love raised the bar for the rest of the Church? These Ephesians brought joy to Paul and he delighted in naming them one by one to the Father in prayer.
The second question I would ask is: What motivates you to pray? Is it pressure? Is it trials? What are the reasons that you turn and pray to God?
That faith and love that the Ephesian believers had came from their salvation and the Holy Spirit living in them (v13-14). Their faith and love were proof to Paul of their real salvation and that made him pray for them.
Now I would say that Paul felt a deep spiritual intimacy with the Ephesians because of their spiritual progress. He had invested heavily into their lives for nearly 3 years as described in Acts 19. He knew their names, their kid’s names, their testimonies, their personalities, their faces. Now, Paul was far away from them chronologically and geographically. It was 10 years later since he had seen them and he was in Rome, a good 600-700 miles away.
But, spiritually, and in his heart, he couldn’t be any closer to them. They were dear to his heart because of how he poured his heart into them every day and he was finding out that it was paying off. They were growing as evidenced by the report to Paul of their faith and love.
I would offer an application for us: if you want to pray more for others then you have to have a stake in their lives. We have to spend ourselves for each other’s benefit and for each other’s “up-building” in the faith. We have to care about each other in such a way that the condition of each other’s faith becomes important to us.
Thanksgiving
Next, notice that Paul’s kind of praying is full of regular thanksgiving. In verse 16 he says, “I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.” Paul gave thanks here, but, later he tells them to do the same thing. In chapter 5:4 he says, “Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.” And then later in the chapter in verse 20 he says, “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Our prayers should be full of thanksgiving – for each other. If you name your brothers and sisters in the Church before God and thank Him for them I would almost be willing to guarantee that we will never break up. We will never have a church split.
Now think about this. When someone says to us, “How can I pray for you?” What is our response? What is usually on our list to pray for? Let me ask you this: of all the prayers mentioned in the Bible how many have to do with physical and temporal needs? I’m in no way saying we don’t pray for people’s physical needs we need to pray for them. What I’m saying is that the content of our prayers reveals the content of our hearts and minds. If 9 out of 10 times our prayer requests as Christians are the physical and temporary needs does that not reveal where our focus is? If our minds are pre-occupied with spiritual needs wouldn’t more of the content of our prayers be about them?
There’s a lot of hurting and we pray for those things. We do here on Sundays and we do every Wednesday morning. We find our lists get full of those who are hurting. Setbacks, tragedies, and trials are often what compel people to pray.
But ask yourself this: Has the news of someone doing well, or, a conversation with someone caused you to bow your head and thank God out loud because that someone was doing really well in their faith? I think as believers we need to keep lists of people we’re thankful for and the good things God is doing in their lives. Do you know someone who is witnessing to others? Do you know someone who is reading their Bible more and more? Do you know someone whose mind has been changed from unbiblical perspectives to think with Scripture on issues? Do you know someone who is praising God during a trial? Do you know someone who is sacrificing of themselves to show love and aid to others here in the Church. If Paul were at EFC those people would regularly be mentioned with great gratitude before God. We ought to be mentioning them.
Is the only time we think about each other on Sunday mornings? Is the only time we ever remember each other in prayer on the 3rd Sunday of the month? Do you ever kick yourself when you see someone here and say, “Uugh, I forgot I wanted to pray for that person.”
It has a bonding effect when you walk in on Sunday and say hi to someone you have been praying for and they don’t know it but you do.
Praying for Progress (v17-18)
Next we see that Paul’s kind of Praying is praying for progress. He prays for the spiritual progress of the Church. Notice verses 17-18, “…………….”
Notice that in verse 15 Paul prays for what God has already done in their lives (they have faith and love), and, then in verses 17-18 he prays about what God is going to do in their lives (wisdom, revelation, enlightenment of your hearts eyes, knowing the hope you’ve been called to).
***He gives thanks for what God has done, and, then intercedes for them so that God would do more.
And looking at this it really is showing a progression in this whole passage: Hearing (v13) – Believing (v13) – Love & Faith (v15) – Know God (v17) – Know our Hope (v18) – Know God’s Power (v19).
The Christian life is one of progression. We all are at some place spiritually. The question is are we moving forward? Are we advancing to greater heights in the faith? Are we today arriving at more maturity in Christ than yesterday?
We should be characterized by development. This should be something that occupies our minds concerning our spiritual state. Paul was concerned about it. Look at 2:21…………3:19…………4:14-16……..
Paul’s concern was their progress in the faith. Every one of us should be concerned about our own progress in the faith.
Paul’s Kind of Praying
How’s your prayer life? Why is your prayer life the way that it is (Good or bad)? Are you intentional about going to the Lord? Do you schedule time with Him regularly? Do you keep a list that you pray through? When you do pray what motivates you to do so?
Today we’re going to look at Paul’s kind of praying. Praying is no small topic in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. There are 2 big Pauline prayers mentioned in it. The first one is here in chapter 1 and the other is in chapter 3. Both of these prayers occur in the last half of their respective chapters. And both prayers come immediately after deep doctrinal discourse by Paul. Paul was motivated to pray when he thought of the deep things of God.
Paul makes other mentions of prayer as well. At the end of the letter in chapter 6 he tells the Ephesians that they should pray (READ). He also alludes to prayer in chapter 5:17 (know God’s will) and 5:20 (giving thanks). The difference here is that he instructs the Ephesians in prayer whereas in chapters 1 & 3 Paul is describing how he prays for them.
Why are these prayers important for us to have today? Let me answer that first by pointing out to you that his prayer immediately follows his teaching on some magnificent doctrines. The picture here is that magnificent knowledge leads to magnificent praying. We need to know the magnificent things of God and that will lead to a more magnificent praying life. In other words, Paul’s kind of praying starts with Paul’s kind of theology. If we know the things in the first half of this chapter like Paul does, we will pray like Paul does in the 2nd half of this chapter.
I would suggest that today if we want to see our prayer life grow then don’t start with verse 15. Instead, start with verse 1. Studying theology, discovering the knowledge of God will lead your spirit to pray.
That’s an important point. Bible study should make us want to pray. If this doesn’t happen for us then something is missing in our Bible study. We shouldn’t view it as if we are cramming for a test. We aren’t competing to know more than everyone else. We are studying to know and love and worship God. Those inner things are produced in us through study but they are the expressed in prayer. What I come to know of God makes me love Him for what I know and how can I but help worshiping Him in prayer?
As I reflected more on prayer this week I thought about some practical benefits that prayer gives and I want to offer them to you today. These are from my personal experience.
First, prayer calms you down. I get restless, anxious, and impatient if I don’t pray. But, when I am praying there is a peace that settles in my heart.
Second, I enjoy the things God has given me more. When I don’t pray, I tend to focus on what I don’t have and forget what I do have. I’m not content. Do you know anyone like that? I’m like that. But, when I am praying I find my heart enjoying the things that really matter in life that I do have and I don’t want so hard for things that I don’t have.
Third, prayer helps me to love better. I find that the amount of love that I have in my heart to give shrinks a lot when I am not praying. I get critical, I get self-centered. But after time spent with the Lord in prayer I find that He enlarges my ability to love.
**When I pray it feels natural to think of others. But when I don’t pray it feels natural to think of myself.
And lastly, I find that when I pray I sense a closer proximity to God. I am more sensitive to what pleases Him and my mind is thinking more about what pleases Him.
But now let us let Paul teach us about prayer. Let’s look at Paul’s Kind of Praying.
Motivation (v15-16)
First of all, notice Paul’s motivation to pray. Look with me at verses 15-16, “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 ijn all my prayers.”
Paul is motivated by the faith and love that other Christians have. When he hears that their faith in the Lord is strong and that they have love for each other and all the believers he wants to pray.
I would ask two questions here. First of all, have you as a Christian ever caused another Christian to pray and give thanks to God for the kind of Christian you are? Has your faith been something for others to be thankful for? Has your love raised the bar for the rest of the Church? These Ephesians brought joy to Paul and he delighted in naming them one by one to the Father in prayer.
The second question I would ask is: What motivates you to pray? Is it pressure? Is it trials? What are the reasons that you turn and pray to God?
That faith and love that the Ephesian believers had came from their salvation and the Holy Spirit living in them (v13-14). Their faith and love were proof to Paul of their real salvation and that made him pray for them.
Now I would say that Paul felt a deep spiritual intimacy with the Ephesians because of their spiritual progress. He had invested heavily into their lives for nearly 3 years as described in Acts 19. He knew their names, their kid’s names, their testimonies, their personalities, their faces. Now, Paul was far away from them chronologically and geographically. It was 10 years later since he had seen them and he was in Rome, a good 600-700 miles away.
But, spiritually, and in his heart, he couldn’t be any closer to them. They were dear to his heart because of how he poured his heart into them every day and he was finding out that it was paying off. They were growing as evidenced by the report to Paul of their faith and love.
I would offer an application for us: if you want to pray more for others then you have to have a stake in their lives. We have to spend ourselves for each other’s benefit and for each other’s “up-building” in the faith. We have to care about each other in such a way that the condition of each other’s faith becomes important to us.
Thanksgiving
Next, notice that Paul’s kind of praying is full of regular thanksgiving. In verse 16 he says, “I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.” Paul gave thanks here, but, later he tells them to do the same thing. In chapter 5:4 he says, “Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.” And then later in the chapter in verse 20 he says, “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Our prayers should be full of thanksgiving – for each other. If you name your brothers and sisters in the Church before God and thank Him for them I would almost be willing to guarantee that we will never break up. We will never have a church split.
Now think about this. When someone says to us, “How can I pray for you?” What is our response? What is usually on our list to pray for? Let me ask you this: of all the prayers mentioned in the Bible how many have to do with physical and temporal needs? I’m in no way saying we don’t pray for people’s physical needs we need to pray for them. What I’m saying is that the content of our prayers reveals the content of our hearts and minds. If 9 out of 10 times our prayer requests as Christians are the physical and temporary needs does that not reveal where our focus is? If our minds are pre-occupied with spiritual needs wouldn’t more of the content of our prayers be about them?
There’s a lot of hurting and we pray for those things. We do here on Sundays and we do every Wednesday morning. We find our lists get full of those who are hurting. Setbacks, tragedies, and trials are often what compel people to pray.
But ask yourself this: Has the news of someone doing well, or, a conversation with someone caused you to bow your head and thank God out loud because that someone was doing really well in their faith? I think as believers we need to keep lists of people we’re thankful for and the good things God is doing in their lives. Do you know someone who is witnessing to others? Do you know someone who is reading their Bible more and more? Do you know someone whose mind has been changed from unbiblical perspectives to think with Scripture on issues? Do you know someone who is praising God during a trial? Do you know someone who is sacrificing of themselves to show love and aid to others here in the Church. If Paul were at EFC those people would regularly be mentioned with great gratitude before God. We ought to be mentioning them.
Is the only time we think about each other on Sunday mornings? Is the only time we ever remember each other in prayer on the 3rd Sunday of the month? Do you ever kick yourself when you see someone here and say, “Uugh, I forgot I wanted to pray for that person.”
It has a bonding effect when you walk in on Sunday and say hi to someone you have been praying for and they don’t know it but you do.
Praying for Progress (v17-18)
Next we see that Paul’s kind of Praying is praying for progress. He prays for the spiritual progress of the Church. Notice verses 17-18, “…………….”
Notice that in verse 15 Paul prays for what God has already done in their lives (they have faith and love), and, then in verses 17-18 he prays about what God is going to do in their lives (wisdom, revelation, enlightenment of your hearts eyes, knowing the hope you’ve been called to).
***He gives thanks for what God has done, and, then intercedes for them so that God would do more.
And looking at this it really is showing a progression in this whole passage: Hearing (v13) – Believing (v13) – Love & Faith (v15) – Know God (v17) – Know our Hope (v18) – Know God’s Power (v19).
The Christian life is one of progression. We all are at some place spiritually. The question is are we moving forward? Are we advancing to greater heights in the faith? Are we today arriving at more maturity in Christ than yesterday?
We should be characterized by development. This should be something that occupies our minds concerning our spiritual state. Paul was concerned about it. Look at 2:21…………3:19…………4:14-16……..
Paul’s concern was their progress in the faith. Every one of us should be concerned about our own progress in the faith.
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