This is Paul’s prayer for the church to have spiritual wisdom.

Verses 16-22 are stuffed with highlights. It says “I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. 21Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. 22God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church.” (NLT)

Amazing stuff! So if you were going to pray over your life and for those around you, this is an excellent prayer to journal!

Verse 17 says to pray for “the spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.” Nothing is more dangerous than being satisfied with all the spiritual knowledge or spiritual benefits you already have. We should always have a desire for more, to increase in the spirit. To have a yearning to learn more and to live in that ‘more’ we have learned. It is for our best!

Verse 18 Pray that “your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called — his holy people who are his rich in glorious inheritance.” Paul is saying I hope your desires/wants for your life will be flooded with God’s light and that your eyes are opened and you are able to understand this hope that is found in Jesus. It’s a kind of hope that you can go about your day being confident that Jesus is here with you now, confident that He will always be with you and in you, and confident that one day you will spend eternity with Him in heaven where there is no more pain and suffering (that’s your glorious “inheritance”. You are God’s child and you will inherit heaven one day).

Until the Lord opens our eyes, we are blind in our hearts. We can’t see and therefore we can’t understand.

Until the Holy Spirit becomes our teacher, all we know is ignorance (nothing). This world has nothing of use or value to us because it was all born in sin. That’s why it’s important to seek God and his higher ways – He is the creator. He loves us. He wants to teach us how this life should be lived for our best. He teaches us by His Holy Spirit that lives in us and directs us.

Until the Spirit of God has made it known to us by a revelation the knowledge of our calling in life – set by God – exceeds the capacity of our own minds. We don’t have the ability to even understand what we are “called” to do in this life until the Holy Spirit has revealed it to us.

Verse 19 is another prayer “that you understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe in him.” In another version of the Bible, it says this power is immeasurable.

Verse 20 describes this great power that is given to us as “the SAME mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in a place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.” So what that is saying is that God’s power that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power that He gives to us! This is a pretty big deal because a lot of people walk around like they have weak access to God. Like their prayers don’t mean much because they don’t have access to much power to change the situation. But the Bible says that God’s power that raised a human man from death to life is the same power that lives in me. Wow! That’s incredible. Your prayers hold a lot of power! You hold a lot of power to change things or start things because you are gifted with this same power that was used to raise Jesus from the grave!

Verse 22 says “God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church.” Everything is under the feet of Jesus, even the devil. And the angels. He is the head of everything… directing it for the benefit of His church. He is always looking out for what is best for the Church.

The Church isn’t a building. It’s the body of believers. Everyone who believes in Jesus is a part of the “body”. Or a part of the church. There are other scriptures that talk about the “body” of believers- which is the church – and how important it is for all people who are believers to be a part of a local church. It says that just as the human body has parts – arms, legs, toes, fingers, head, neck – the local church has different parts within its body too, and if those parts are not all there, the body doesn’t function as it should. If you lost your arm, it wouldn’t function the same. God set up local churches around us for us to be a part of because we have something to offer it. It’s easy to dismiss that and say, “what do I have to offer?” Or, “no one even knows the difference whether I’m there or not.” That is just your flesh talking, the sin nature that likes to diminish what God created. The devil is always trying to get us to believe we don’t have a purpose, that we are insignificant, that we don’t have an assignment, that we just ended up in this community. But that’s not true! God orchestrated the things in your life to put you in that specific house, in that specific community, with those specific neighbors, with that specific church for a reason. The Bible says God has a purpose in all things. None of this was created for nothing. Look at the way the animals feed on each other all the way down to the tiny bugs. They were all created for something in the circle of life. The Bible says “How much more does He care about us as human beings?” Everything in your life was set up by God. You might have made some poor decisions, but God was opening doors and closing doors behind the scenes to get you there where you are on purpose.

And not only did we land in these places we’re at for God’s purposes, but we have a calling. All of us have a calling to share the gospel by the way we act (we don’t necessarily have to use words) to our families – yes, even our blood family and our in-laws were set up by God on purpose. God gifted us with skills and strengths to be a part of our family “body”, our church “body”, our community “body”.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for pouring out your wisdom every time I open up your Word. I pray that you will continue to pour out your spiritual wisdom and insight so that I might grow in the knowledge of You, God. I pray that my heart will be flooded with light so that I can understand the confident hope You have given to me. I also pray that I will understand the incredible greatness of Your power living inside of me. Help me to live fully in this same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at Your right hand in the heavenly realms. Jesus, You are far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. I have nothing to fear! You have put all things under the authority of Jesus and have made Him head over all things for the benefit of the church. Thank you, God, for this confidence I can have in You. When I’m tempted to be afraid, remind me that Jesus is still on the throne and the authority over all things. He is working things out for the good of those who love Him. In Jesus’ name, Amen.