Praying for Saints
God “has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3b, NIV84)! Were you a little disappointed that Paul didn’t mention any material blessings? Or were you overjoyed at the spiritual blessings he showed us? Paul’s not done calling us to a higher view of this life. Think of your prayer life. What do you typically ask God for, whether for yourself or others? Who do you usually pray for? According to his usual custom, Paul records how he prays for these saints. Let’s see what was most important to Paul, and what we can learn for ourselves. From Ephesians 1:15-23.
Unfamiliar Saints
15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,
As we saw two weeks ago, this letter is strange in that Paul appears not to know these people personally, but rather he has only heard of them and their faith. Not unlike the Colossians, though Paul knew some of the key people in Colossae, as seen by the final greetings of that letter. But in his letter to the Colossians, Paul mentions another church that has never met him personally, the church at Laodicea (Colossians 2:1). And as he ends his letter to the Colossians, he urges them to read their letter to the church of the Laodiceans, and also that they read the letter from the Laodiceans (Colossians 4:16).
Paul’s letters ended up widely circulated, read by many different churches—even to today, we’re still circulating and reading his letters. Is it possible that this letter we call “Ephesians” is actually the letter to the Laodiceans? Or to another church? Or to many churches that Paul had heard about but had not yet personally met?
Sure, it’s possible! But whether it is or it isn’t doesn’t really matter, as I mentioned previously. The teaching remains valid. In fact, if this letter was meant for many churches, then it is certainly also meant for us, and we too need to listen to it carefully and learn from it diligently.
Love for Saints
So Paul heard about these new believers, and what he has heard is that they have faith in the Lord Jesus and love for all other believers! That is an important thing to recognize. Faith in Christ does not merely bring into our hearts a love for God, but a love for all other saints. You should hear echoes of the two greatest commandments: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.
As Jesus told the Twelve at the Last Supper, we should have a special, remarkable, visible love for other believers, over and above our love for unbelievers (John 13:34-35): “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” All men are supposed to see that we love brothers and sisters in Christ significantly more than we love those outside of Christ.
We talked about assurances of salvation last week. This is another element that should bring us assurance that we belong to Christ: We have a great love for all others who believe in Jesus Christ—even those we’ve never met!
Look at Paul’s response to hearing of the faith of these saints and their love for other believers:
Continual Prayer
16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.
Does it delight you when you hear about someone turning to the Lord in repentance and faith?
What if they seem to have no special care or concern for other saints? What if they can’t even be bothered to meet together with other believers? What if instead they complain about the fakeness or hypocrisy of other Christians?
Can you rejoice over such a “believer?” Do they truly believe in Jesus? They have no love for other believers! They might even prefer the company of unbelievers, because they’re “refreshing for their honesty and genuineness.” Is such a person even saved?
Becoming a Christian is no easy thing! In fact, truly coming to faith in Jesus Christ is a transformative thing! It changes everything. It also depends entirely on God! And one of the many changes it brings is a love for others who believe in Jesus Christ!
To be sure, there are many in our churches who profess faith in Christ but are indeed hypocrites, not genuine believers. But are there really churches in which no true believer dwells? Perhaps. But are there really no churches in which at least one or two true believers fellowship? Because to write off all churches is to imply that you alone are a genuine believer and there are no other believers to be found, at least within driving distance!
That’s a remarkable thing to suggest! Wouldn’t it then be wonderful if all these “lone ranger” Christians met together in fellowship? We might finally see what the church was always meant to be, what true Christian fellowship was supposed to look like! Or perhaps such “believers” are themselves also hypocrites and false believers!
And don’t say, “I get my church online.” If you choose to “worship God alone” when you are fully capable of joining the fellowship of other saints, you’re offending God by rejecting His other children! You’re living in defiance of God and His clear command: “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24-25, NIV84).
Peter quotes Proverbs 11:31 with an interesting twist: “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” (1 Peter 4:18, NIV84)
Being saved is no easy thing: We saw last week that God must have first chosen us, that we might believe in His Son. And there are certain evidences of our salvation, like loving imperfect people whom God calls “saints.” The only way to do that is to recognize that we too are still growing and imperfect, so we need to extend to others the same grace and mercy we desire to receive from them. That’s not to say we apply no diligence in our own growth and maturity. If all we needed were to believe the Gospel and go on with our lives, this letter to the Ephesians could have ended after chapter 3. But it doesn’t.
There is a humility and teachableness needed in order to meaningfully meet together as believers—because our duty to one another is to help each other grow in Christlikeness. Unless you’ve arrived at perfection, there are going to be rough edges that need knocking off.
We have been taught to rejoice over anyone who prays the “sinner’s prayer,” anyone who accepts baptism or who passes some catechism. Those are not marks and assurances of salvation. As I said last week: How we respond to the Gospel and the rest of God’s Word reveals whether we are saved or not. And Paul here points out that one of the key evidences of genuine faith is a love for all other saints.
Don’t get me wrong. My point is not that we go around judging whether so-and-so is a genuine believer or not. Rather, we take everyone at their word. And if we discover that one of us is not walking in accordance with our confession of Christ, then our love for one another demands that we speak up and look for ways to help each other grow! The fellowship of believers should bring about rebuke and correction and encouragement for all who claim to trust in Christ—and that can be incredibly painful at times. Which might lead to accusations of a church being judgmental and condemning, and a desire to stop meeting together. Those are not healthy, growth-oriented, God-loving and saint-loving responses.
Paul recognizes that these people he is writing to, they are saints, believers in Jesus Christ, and he knows it by the testimony of their love for all other saints. So of course, Paul rejoices. But he doesn’t stop with rejoicing. He goes on to pray for them, and as we continue through this letter, we’ll see he also goes on to instruct them in godly living.
Catch that: Just because someone has come to Christ, even demonstrated a consistent and growing love for God’s people, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing left for them to learn! On the contrary! They’re just getting started! God is so much bigger than our initial understanding, as mind-blowing as that already is! And living in the likeness of Christ is so far different from anything we have ever been or done. We have so much more to learn!
Paul knows the miracle of faith in Christ. He thanks God for every person who comes to Christ, knowing that only God could do such a work. And he begins praying for them—even though he doesn’t know them!
There’s a challenge for you and me! Oh to be so amazed at the miracle of salvation, and so delighted when someone is added to the family of God that we start praying for even strangers we hear about. Knowing the challenges, the pitfalls, the tests, the growing pains, the attacks they’ll face. Pleading with God to grant them strength and endurance and every good thing, including brothers and sisters to help them succeed.
Paul graciously gives us a window into the things he prays for every believer he hears about. You may be surprised at what matters most to him. He has four main requests. And I’ll tell you at the outset, there’s nothing about material blessings. I’m sorry. Paul has greater things he’s concerned about, for you and for me. He’s learned from the spiritual blessings he listed beforehand. He’s knows His God; he knows what the Father desires for His saints. You and I would do well to take note and adjust our praying priorities in accordance with this revelation.
Know God Better
17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit [Or a spirit] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.
The first thing Paul prays for saints like us is that we may be given a spirit of wisdom and revelation—so that we may know God better!
Remember, these are saints who have a notable love for other believers!
Paul just told them that they have been sealed with the Holy Spirit, so I do not believe Paul is here writing that he prays for the Holy Spirit to come upon them and teach them in some special, mystical way. There is no “the” or “a” in the Greek here, so you’ll find some Bible versions read “the capital-S Spirit of,” like the Holy Spirit, while others render it “a little-s spirit of,” like an attitude or heart.
To be sure, the Holy Spirit and angels have revealed mysteries and explained dreams to many people in the Scriptures, like Joseph, Daniel and Ezekiel.
Paul could be praying for the spiritual gift of knowledge or wisdom or even prophecy to fall on at least some of the saints in this church.
But this is a prayer for all the saints here, which makes it seem more like Paul is asking that they would all have a spirit, an attitude, a hunger or heart of wisdom and revelation—for the purpose of knowing God better! Does Paul want all believers to know God better or only a few? Even if only a few are specially gifted or enlightened, he still wants all to hear and know God better. Surely his prayer is that each and every believer would have a humble and teachable heart, eager to learn more about the Lord and diligent to do so.
Countless cults have used the idea that there is some special revelation hidden from everyone down through the ages, until finally God chose to reveal it to their founder. Finally God found someone who was worthy to receive this special spirit of wisdom and revelation, to receive knowledge that upends Christendom’s longstanding understanding of God and His plans! That’s not what Paul is talking about here.
Sure, there are still debates about this doctrine or that doctrine, but that doesn’t mean that the Scriptures are lacking some key revelation. Rather, it either means we’re arguing about things that God didn’t mean for us to bother with. Or, one side or another of the argument actually has it wrong, and the matter ought to be clear to all who seek the Lord in humility and truth, and have grown in sufficient maturity to know God well.
That’s actually Paul’s vision for any body of believers, as laid down in chapter 4. He believes we can all grow into maturity in Christ—of whom there is only One! Which means we all ought to arrive at the same understanding and conclusion on any and every matter, if we’re all really seeking what Christ revealed to us and we’ve all arrived at the same level of maturity. But that doesn’t happen overnight.
It comes with effort. And with God granting this request, that we all have a spirit of wisdom and revelation, to know Him better.
How do we know we have this spirit of wisdom and revelation to know God better? We’ve actually talked about it before! And it doesn’t require seminary or reading books about the Bible or special seminars by experts or famous teachers!
There are four key things that bring us deeper understanding about God:
Our obedience to Jesus’ commands, as Jesus talks about in John 14 (v. 15, 21, 23-24). The spirit of wisdom and revelation is the spirit of humility and submission to the wisdom and ways of God, such that we obey God’s instructions. He in turn promises to reveal Himself to those who “have His commands and obey them.”
The Holy Spirit Himself was given to us not just as a guarantee of our resurrection, but also to teach us and remind us of all Jesus taught (John 14:26; John 16:13-16; 1 Corinthians 2:6-16). The one who has a spirit of wisdom and revelation is the one who knows to listen to the Holy Spirit and believe all He teaches.
The Scriptures, which Jesus tells us, “These are the Scriptures that testify about Me” (John 5:39, NIV84)! The Scriptures are the unchanging standard of God’s message to us: about Himself, about us and about His desires and plans for us. In Acts 17:11 (NIV84), the Bereans were praised because “they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” That’s the spirit of wisdom and revelation: A commitment to believing only what the Bible actually teaches, trusting it to be the true revelation of God to us.
Those pesky believers we’ve already talked about—the knowing of one another and communal desire to give and receive instruction, correction, rebuke and training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16). That takes a true spirit of humility and wisdom and revelation!
God has given us everything we need to know Him. But will we make use of it? Will we make knowing Him a priority? That is the spirit of wisdom and revelation! It is a heart that wants to know Him and the corresponding effort to seek Him.
One of the saddest things in all of history is God taking pains to show Himself to us, to teach us about Himself so that we would know how to live—and we refuse! We push someone else forward to learn about God so we can go about the things we consider more valuable: seeking food and drink and clothing. Cars and houses and careers and position. Temporary trinkets!
At Mt. Sinai, God appeared to the whole Israelite community, spoke the Ten Commandments to them and would have taught them all His Law, but they were terrified, and rightly so. “When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, ‘Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die’” (Exodus 20:18-19, NIV84). Sure, sure, sure!
So Moses went up on the mountain to meet with God alone—why didn’t anyone else realize the privilege? Did you know God told Moses twice to make sure no one broke through and climbed the mountain to look at Him? Moses even reminded God, “Uh, you already told us not to climb the mountain.” “Tell them again.” Why? Because, yes, His presence is terrifying, but there He was! Right there! The God of all creation! Work your way up and around the mountainside, hide behind this boulder, and you could see Him! They should have been shoving past each other to get a glimpse! But no. “You go, Moses. We’ll wait here. Come back and tell us what God wants and we’ll do it.” Forty days later with no sign of Moses, they made a golden calf idol to worship. No drive to see God; no lasting fear!
God comes near. God makes it possible for anyone to know Him, and what do we do? Yawn and go look for something fun and interesting to do. Let someone else spend their precious time learning about God, then come give us the quick version so we can get on with what’s really important!
As far as God and Paul are concerned, there’s nothing more important than knowing God, and knowing Him better.
Do you remember what the prophecy of the New Covenant is? Jeremiah 31:31-34, quoted in Hebrews 8:8-12. The heart of it is in verses 10-12 (NIV84):
This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."
God has always wanted each one of us to seek Him and know Him personally, individually. That is the whole point of the New Covenant, of Jesus’ death and resurrection in payment for our sins, making us holy so He could dwell within us and teach us and guide us in His ways! This prophecy is fulfilled today! But it isn’t. We can all be taught by God. We who believe in Jesus have His Spirit dwelling in us and His Word in our hands! If we’ll only add the heart to know God that leads to diligence to read, study, memorize and meditate on God’s Word so as to put it into practice.
The Hope
18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
The second thing Paul prays for God’s people is that we know the hope to which God has called us. We talked a lot about this last week in discussing all the spiritual blessings we have in Christ. The Hope to which God has called us is first the kingdom of Christ as He reigns for a thousand years on this earth, then an eternity in the kingdom of God on the new earth and heavens He will create. This hope should consume us and reorient all we live for, not the hope for a better life here, but the hope for a better resurrection there!
Hebrews 11 ends with a brain-blowing summary of the kinds of people God delights in:
…. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. (Hebrews 11:35b-39, NIV84)
We need a change of heart and a change of vision! “Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection!” Now that’s investing for eternity! To abandon our lives, our safety, our selves in order to live in honor and obedience to the Lord. It may not bring torture—at least not yet—but it is what Jesus meant when He “... he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it” (Mark 8:34-35, NIV84). “Take up your cross” may be metaphorical, but giving up your life for Him and the Gospel is not—and in some cases may be brutally literal!
God’s Glorious Inheritance
Third, Paul prays that God’s people know the riches of God’s glorious inheritance in the saints. This is one of the strangest sentences in all of God’s Word, as far as I’m concerned. “The riches of God’s glorious inheritance in the saints.”
I don’t know about you, but I’ve met quite a few saints, and there are few I could describe in such terms. Myself included! We each know how much we struggle with walking in God’s ways. I more often than not feel like an embarrassment to God, not a credit to Him! How could Paul ever call us a glorious inheritance to God?
But I suppose that’s why he prays this for people like me.
God sent His precious and only Son to suffer and die for us, to redeem us from sin and Hell that we might dwell forever in His presence. Why? What was so compelling about us? We just saw that all of those magnificent spiritual blessings were “to the praise of His glory!” All about Him, though we enjoy great spiritual and eternal benefit.
What’s so special about all of us saved people? All of us saints?
You know we all, as the Church, are the Bride of Christ. A bride is supposed to be the great delight of a man. She certainly is in the early years, but how often do things sour—and sometimes it doesn’t take that many years! Divorce rates even among church-attenders match the national average! We’ve lost something great in our understanding of husband and wife and the delight each is to be to the other. Chapter 5 will give us hard instruction about the differing roles and responsibilities. But when we have been tested and proven, when we have endured great trial and difficulty for the sake of our Lord and Savior, when we have given up all the trinkets of this world to serve and glorify Jesus, you can be sure that the Lord will delight in us who give all for and to Him! That will be a rich inheritance for Him indeed, to the praise of His glory!
Think again of Hebrews 11, the so-called “Hall of Faith”! Abel, Enoch and Noah. Abraham, Sarah , Isaac and Jacob. Joseph and Moses and Rahab!
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:13-16, NIV84)
These people chose God, even though they couldn’t see Him, even though they would lose everything here, because they were looking ahead to a far better reward that God offered them. “Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God.” When we choose God, when we choose Jesus over all the treasures of this world and this life, we are indeed a rich inheritance to God. He is proud to call us His own!
God’s Power
19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
The final thing Paul desires saints to know is God’s incomparably great power for and toward us who believe. Paul tells us that power is like the working of His mighty strength, and he points to two examples: Jesus’ resurrection and His exaltation.
You’ll notice that this is not merely miraculous power to make broken things well. It includes that! It is power over death itself. This power brought Jesus back from the dead—and not just back into His old, mortal body, but into a new immortal body! This power is life itself; it is resurrection power; it is miraculous power.
But there is more. God didn’t simply raise Jesus from the dead, but exalted Him to the Father’s right hand. God raised Him up above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every conceivable title—not just in the present age but in the age to come. There is no higher authority but the Father Himself. God’s power is the power to exalt and the power to rule.
Does God have power to reward you? This calls back to the second request Paul prays for us, that we would truly understand the hope we have, of eternity with God in His eternal kingdom. You should have no doubt that God can raise you from the dead and give you a new eternal, indestructible body, just like Jesus. But do you believe that He is willing—even planning—to exalt you, just like Jesus—to the degree that you surrender to and serve Him? Not to the highest place: Jesus has that. But there are lots of other positions that need filling in Jesus’ kingdom.
Exalted for the Church
Notice where Paul goes next:
22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
God appointed Jesus as head over everything—for us, the church! Not merely to rule over everything so that we can sit back and relax and live in eternal peace. But we will be brought into that authority, sharing in it as members of His own body, as His Bride. Did you know God says that though now we have been made lower than the angels, in time to come, we will judge the angels? (Hebrews 2:5-8; 1 Corinthians 6:3)
Paul indicates here that we, the body of Christ, are an expression of the fullness of God “who fills everything in every way.” Individually, we are filled with His Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Corporately, we are the dwelling place of God (Ephesians 2:21-22), filled with Him. And like leaven working through a whole batch of dough, the Gospel has gone out into most of the world, bearing fruit and bringing to life new saints in every place. Like God, we are filling this world, though the work is far from done.
We, as the Body of Christ, is a topic that arises multiple times in this book. So we’ll be learning more about it in coming chapters.
Conclusion
So what do you think of Paul’s love for the saints expressed in his prayer? Is this how you and I pray for each other? For believers near and far? Again, he’s fixated on spiritual needs, not material. Just as he pointed out that God blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ, not material blessings.
I’m not suggesting that it is wrong to pray for friends and neighbors who are not believers. Neither am I suggesting that it is wrong to pray for healing or a job or other earthly matters. But you remember that Jesus said, “Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34, NIV84). What is uppermost in our thoughts and heart comes out through our mouths. Do we care most about a person’s spiritual well-being or do we usually only think of concerns of this life and this age?
I would encourage each one of us to adjust how we pray: Start with these four spiritual needs. Pray for one another; pray for saints near and far. Pray that they would grow in their understanding of God, that they would truly and deeply understand the Hope to which God has called us, that they would understand the preciousness to God of all us saints, and that they would understand and experience the greatness of God’s power. Then pray for their earthly needs.