A Prayer of Paul’s – A Meditation on Ephesians 1:15-23 (Pt 2)

“I…do not cease giving thanks for you while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.”

Paul’s prayers are always oriented towards the God of our Lord Jesus.  This may go without saying but Paul was completely unapologetic as to whom he addressed his prayers.  His prayers were clearly directed to one God and no one else.  There was no mistaking who Paul called upon in prayer.  He says it in slightly different ways at times, but his focus was undeterred.  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort” (2 Cor 1:3), “blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph 1:3) and “we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you” (Col 1:3).  And there are many other times when Paul simply refers to Him as “the Father” (I Cor 8:6; Gal 1:1; Eph 2:18; 3:14; 5:20; 6:23; Phil 2:11; Col 1:12 to name a few).

Paul’s prayers were always directed towards Him, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Paul did not direct His prayers to “God” in general terms, nor to a “higher power”, nor to the “man upstairs”.  Paul was clear that the One to whom he made his petitions was the God of Jesus Christ.  He prayed to Him alone.

In a day when it is politically incorrect to mention the name Jesus, to claim allegiance to Him, the name God has actually flourished.  It is still acceptable to call upon God. It is still acceptable to pray to God in a public setting.  Many in our society call upon some god in the course of their life and worship, thus they have not yet completely abolished Him from the public arena.  However to call upon God in general is a very different thing than to call upon the God and Father of the Lord Jesus.  Jesus Himself divides, thus anyone associated with Him also brings division.  Biblically, Jesus came to glorify (to honor and exalt) His God and Father.  And His God and Father is the same God to whom all of the prophets from the Old and New Testaments refer.

He is the Alpha, the Creator God of Genesis 1:1 “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  And He is the Omega, the final Judge and King over the new heavens and earth which He will create in Revelation 22.  He is the self existent One, the “I am” of Exodus 3:14.  He is the God who sees and provides of Genesis 22:14.  He is the Savior of Isaiah 43:11.  He is the One from whom no one can deliver in Isaiah 43:13).  And He alone is the one true God of Deuteronomy 4:39; Isaiah 45:6-7.

All that Paul prays in this section is directed to this One.  Praying to or in the name of any god save the God and Father of the Lord Jesus will fall upon deaf ears.  Praying to the True and Living God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus will always yield great reward.  Later in the book of Ephesians 3:20-21, Paul will end his second prayer with this brief doxology “now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”  These verses mark the central theme of the book which is the glory of God in the church.  But they also highlight the believers confidence in prayer to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, namely God’s passion for His glory.

Without rehashing what so many other more learned men have already declared concerning the glory of God, it is clear from the very first chapter of Ephesians that the work of God in the church is a work that He does “for the praise of the glory of His grace.”  The chief end of God is to bring glory to Himself and He must do so (it is not arrogant for Him to do so) because He is in fact the most perfect in every way, the most glorious, the most high.  And by virtue of His perfections, He must perfectly value all things.  Thus He must perfectly value His perfection above all other things and must see to it that His perfections are exalted above all.  Thus again, in all of His doings, even in His work in the church – which is for our good – He aims to bring about His glory knowing that our good glorifies Him.  And if we pray to Him, that we grow in Him, to be like Him and love Him (which in essence is what Paul prays here in chapter 1) then we know that He will indeed answer for the end of those things are hearts and mouths more adequately equipped to proclaim His excellencies!

May the LORD, the One True and Living God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, grant you joy and confidence as you pray without ceasing to Him alone, trusting Him to answer for our good and His glory.  May He grant you boldness to proclaim His excellencies without apology, to call upon the name of the LORD, the God and Father of the Lord Jesus for all to know to whom you pray.

¹⁰ But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth quakes, And the nations cannot endure His indignation.¹¹ Thus you shall say to them, “The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”¹² It is He who made the earth by His power, Who established the world by His wisdom; And by His understanding He has stretched out the heavens.  (Jer. 10:10-12)

⁶ Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven With the saving strength of His right hand.⁷ Some boast in chariots and some in horses, But we will boast in the name of the LORD, our God.  (Ps. 20:6-7)

² “Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish it, the LORD is His name, ³ ‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ (Jer. 33:2-3)

“And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD Will be delivered…” (Joel 2:32)

Perspective

Perspective is all about point of view. Uh, right. Of course it is. Well, as I was contemplating life just a little while I ago, I realized something. Well, the Lord brought a number of things to my remembrance and it just made sense.

I was lying on the floor next to my youngest daughter earlier and my wife walked by and I noticed how incredibly big she looked from that vantage point. And I was thinking that my little girl probably thought that we were huge whenever we walked by her tiny little body.

A little later when we got back from the store I took a short walk. I intended to pray but didn’t really know what to say to the Lord. It was weird because I had taken several walks a couple of weeks ago that yielded some great prayer. But today I had nothing. It was a little discouraging until I was reminded of the verse “be still/cease striving and know that I am God.” So I thought that perhaps I didn’t need to say anything but simply to quiet my heart and mind a little and to contemplate God.

What occurred to me in that moment, as I was tempted to think about all of the little issues of my life instead of God, was that the aforementioned verse is all about perspective. As I go through life, striving about to solve all of lifes woes and difficulties, I am often as a small child looking up at all of the massive objects circling around my tiny defenseless head. It can be overwhelming and often scary. However when I consider the way the world (and me in it) look from God’s perspective, I realize that me and my problems are not so great at all.

“Be still and know that I am God,” He says. Stop looking at the world from your perspective and remember that He is God. Is there any time when God looks up at something that is greater than He?.. The exhortation for us then is not to get down on ourselves when we become worried or overwhelmed. But to stop and remember who this God is who is on our side. He is not some insignificant, powerless, limited being who is caught off guard by the ebb and flow of our lives. He is God Almighty. He is the God who Sees. He is Lord of heaven and earth. For we agree with the very first verse in scripture which reads simply and matter-of-factly “In the beginning God…(and if that were not enough)…created the Heavens and the Earth.”

To which all of us, though finite and frail, join in with the choir of angels who cry out “You are worthy our Lord and God to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things and by your will they were created and have their being.”

Cease striving. He is God. Period.