The Eyes of Our Heart

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, 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 1:15-18 NIV)

In Paul’s prayer, he is praying for two specific things which he longs would be the experience of each and every Christian. The only way we can receive these is through the gift of the Spirit of wisdom and revelation and it is the Father who gives us this gift. We will not experience these things through our own wisdom or knowledge but through an encounter with our Heavenly Father. What then does Paul want us to receive?

Firstly, he wants us to know God better. It is truly amazing that the Father gives us the very gift we need in order to really know who he is. He is so keen for us to discover the truth that he gives us the spirit of revelation so our eyes might behold who he really is. We are given a clear pointer to who God really is by Paul himself; he introduces his prayer by telling us who he is talking to: the God of our Lord Jesus Christ and if there is any doubt, this God is the Glorious Father.

Secondly, he wants us to know who we are, “the hope to which we have been called”. Paul wants us to know our true inheritance which is to live as sons and daughters to our Heavenly Father.

These two factors are fundamental. The only way we can see them is when the eyes of our heart are opened. We can’t understand them with our own (limited) understanding but we need a divine revelation, given to us by the Father and one which finds its home in our heart. I pray today, that the eyes of heart may be more fully open to these amazing truths.