Dear Brethren,

MEDITATION
17  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,  18  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,

Ephesians 1:17-18

OBSERVATION AND INTERPRETATION

1. This is a deep and wise prayer

a) It is good to learn how to offer such prayers
b) Our prayers can sometimes be rather shallow, lacking in needed depth

2. The content of this prayer

a) All prayers must, of course, be offered to God the Father (Matthew 6:9)

i) Paul does this consistently
ii) This is found in the prayers noted at the beginning of his epistles

b) Prayer to God that He might give the Holy Spirit

i) Called here, “The Spirit of wisdom”
ii) And (The “Spirit”) of revelation
iii) Only the Spirit of God can give much-needed revelation

c) In the knowledge of Him (The Lord Jesus Christ)

i) The Spirit’s help is badly needed
ii) He is called “The Spirit of Christ” and He knows all about the Lord

3. The impact of the work of the Spirit on our life

a) “The eyes of our understanding will be enlightened”

b) We will know “the hope of His calling”
c) And, “what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints”

APPLICATION TO LIFE AND MINISTRY

1. Prayers for our country

a) It is important to be much in prayer for the country we live in
b) Pray for the leaders of the country

2. Prayers for our pastors

a) Pastors can lack in so many ways

i) Lacking in knowledge
ii) Lacking in understanding
iii) Lacking in discernment

b) Let us pray in the spirit and in the light of Ephesians 1

i) Let us ask that the Spirit of God might truly enlighten us
ii) Let us pray that we will be ever growing in spiritual maturity

3. Prayers for our churches

a) That our members be committed to growing spiritually
b) That they would desire to seek much-needed enlightenment

4. Prayer for all seeking to be ordained

a) They must understand the challenge to be a pastor
b) They must be deeply committed people
c) Lets us become more and more prayerful as we grow older

Prayerfully,
Pastor Charles Tan