Eyes To See

What an amazing list of blessings Paul gives at the start of Ephesians chapter one. As you read this list (and I encourage you to take some time to do so) you feel his excitement and joy as he recites the goodness of the Lord. At the end of this great list he pauses for breath before launching into his famous prayer which starts with these words: "for this reason". Because of all these great blessings...

"...I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray 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 his holy people." (Ephesians 1:16-18 NIV)

Paul asks that we would receive two things which will enable us to live in the blessing he's just recounted. First though, we need to note to whom Paul is praying, who is the Giver? Paul makes it very clear that the Giver is the Father. And so he asks that we would receive a spirit of wisdom and revelation which will enable us to know the Glorious Father better than we do at present. Secondly, Paul asks that the eyes of our heart would be enlightened in order that we would know who we really are! The word enlightened means to see with understanding - this prayer is about our heart understanding something profound which has previously been hidden.

When we read this prayer in the context of the whole passage, we see that the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is also our Father and that (from before the creation of the world) we were meant to live as sons and daughters. We can only see this by revelation and, thankfully, the ability to receive revelation is a gift from the Father. This is not an intellectual understanding but an encounter that touches and changes our heart. We see, and understand, with our heart.

We have been blessed with every spiritual blessing simply because God is our Father and we are his children.