I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, (Ephesians 1:18 NAS95)
Paul carries in his soul a rich experience of God. What else would have caused him to write the first chapter of Ephesians? What else motivates his prayer on our behalf? His walk in Christ reflected a communion, an awareness of God’s presence with him that elicited the things he lived and wrote. Even this prayer on our behalf points to the elation he experiences in his deepening awareness of God’s love. Paul was a pray-er before he was a missioner. In fact, his ongoing interactive relationship with God probably stoked the furnace for his mission in the world, reflecting his love for God and fulfilling the call he received on the Damascus Road.
In any case, Paul writes a pretty substantial paragraph in the first chapter of Ephesians about God’s blessing that must have also informed his life experience in the Spirit. As he recollects or reviews what he has felt, he once again is drawn to his knees on behalf of those who believe. The verse cited above indicates Paul’s deep desire for that very same blessing to produce an experience of God’s work that allows us to understand God’s love, His fantastic gifts in our own life. Even more, God finds a rich inheritance in us who believe. He actually delights in us. Paul lived this himself, and it flows into his lifestyle of communion so he prays that we too may enjoy the same in our relationship with God.
For Reflection:
“For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.” (Psalms 149:4 ESV)
- Here Paul prayer that our hearts would grow in the understanding of God’s blessing in Christ. How easy or hard is it for you to believe that God desires our experience of Him to bring delight?
- When have you experienced delight in your relationship with God? What were the circumstances?
