Praying For Wisdom and Strength
Would you like more wisdom and understanding in your life? Would you like to be strengthened from the inside out? Sounds good to me! Is it God's will for you to have those things? Absolutely!
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The Ephesians Prayers
Ephesians chapters 1 and 3 give us prayers to pray for ourselves and others. The prayer in Ephesians 1:15-23 is a prayer for spiritual wisdom. Praying for wisdom and revelation is essential, especially when reading the Bible. The Bible isn't a mystery, never to be figured out. God's living Word can be understood by our recreated spirit with the help of the Holy Spirit living on the inside.
Spiritual Wisdom
The prayer in Ephesians 1:15-23 reads, "Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all."
The first part of this prayer is so that you will have revelation and understanding of the second part of the prayer. The power that raised Jesus from hell, is the same power that lives in you and me. Not only that, but Jesus has been given all authority, but as His body, we too have authority on the earth THROUGH Him (not on our own).
Pray this prayer over yourself by making it personal, "I pray that I have the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him." This is God's will for you.
Spiritual Strength
We find another powerful prayer in the 3rd chapter of Ephesians, verses 14-21. It says, "For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen."
Wow! This prayer has so much; let's unpack it a little.
First of all, we are to humbly come to our Father knowing that if God created the whole world, He certainly can create something new in your heart. He will strengthen you from the inside out!
Faith is used to come to God and believe in Him resulting in our salvation, but we must also use our faith to live daily. Jesus is to be our root and source of life that we draw from. God's power is at work in us and will exceed our greatest imagination when we trust Him and stay rooted in His love. This prayer should be prayed regularly to stir ourselves up and remember the power that resides in us.
I challenge you to read these prayers daily if you desire to see significant spiritual growth in your life.