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One way to measure maturity in Christ is to see what kind of prayers a person offers. Do they focus on the physical and temporal or on the spiritual and eternal?
Ephesians 1:18-19 - 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might
What comes to your mind if I ask what are you thankful for? Is it your family, friends, food, house, health, wealth, career, community, the car that you just bought, or is it something eternal, like your salvation?
As we enter the week of Thanksgiving, I wonder how many American families, including believers, will thank God for providing their needs, and how many will skip even mentioning God because either they forgot, which shows that God is not the priority, or they didn’t want to offend a loved one who does not believe in Jesus? That kind of mindset can prevent us from experiencing maturity in Christ.
The problem is that many people tend to be thankful for what is here and now. They need to know that holidays like Thanksgiving are a great opportunity to put their focus on the eternal, here and beyond. That kind of mindset leads to experiencing maturity in Christ.
Last time, we looked at the reason for which Paul was thankful which shows his mindset. Paul in Ephesians 1:15-16 said, “15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,” His thanksgiving was for how they were growing in faith and maturing in Christ.
This is neither the first nor the last time that Paul offered a thanksgiving prayer for believers. In Philippians 1:3, he says, “I thank my God every time I remember you.” In Colossians 1:3, he says, “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you.”
One way to measure maturity in Christ is to see what kind of prayers a person offers. I am so thankful for the faith of my mom because her faith inspired me to walk with Jesus and her prayer life enriched my prayer life. I tell you, she can spend hours thanking God and interceding for others.
The big idea on this Thanksgiving week is to be thankful to God for all the blessings with which He has blessed you, especially the miracle of the new birth in Christ, our salvation. In faith, have the mindset of thanking God for the things you have, the things you have been praying for, and the things you are yet to receive.
The question is: how do we get such a mindset? Verse 18 in Ephesians 1:15-23 answers with “having the eyes of our heart enlightened” to know Christ.
The Purpose of Our Prayers Should Be Knowing Christ (Ephesians 1:18-19)
In Ephesians 1:15-17, Paul thanks God and credits the Ephesians’ salvation and maturity in Christ to God. God enabled them to practice their faith in the midst of opposition, oppression, and persecution. The lesson for us and the church is that not by our works, our will, nor our way but by God’s divine decree, we experience salvation and maturity in Christ. We should always thank God for both our faith and growth.
To this end, in verse 18, Paul prayed for something more. For what did he pray? Why for more? Was what they had in Jesus not enough?
The answer is yes, it was enough. That is precisely why something more was needed to explain that what they had was more than enough to grow in Christ and continue to experience maturity in Christ. Ephesians 1:18 it says, “having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know.” So, the “something more” that they needed was enlightenment, the opening of the eyes of their heart. About what heart is Paul talking?
The Greek word for “heart” in verse 18 is kardias from which we get the word “cardiac.” In the New Testament, it refers to the inner self, which is made up of the mind, will, emotions, and feelings. It is the moral center. Greeks referred to kardias as both physical and spiritual life.
In Jewish and Christian understanding, it is the place where God's activities take place, but if it is empty of God, then the opposing spiritual power pushes in to make a residence. So, the heart in verse 18 is the spiritual heart. Paul's prayer is for their inner self where God speaks, faith lives, and the understanding of God’s knowledge resides so that it may be enlightened to understand the purpose of their life, which is Christ. Unless our kardias experiences enlightenment, we will always struggle to put our faith into practice.
The problem is that we think of hearts as an emotional center full of feelings. The Hollywood depiction of the heart has corrupted our understanding of it. In the Hebrew mind, it was more about thinking than feeling.
Proverbs 23:7 in the KJV translation says, “For as he [man] thinketh in his heart, so is he.” So, your thoughts shape you.
Proverbs 27:9 says, “As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man.” So, your thoughts show what kind of person you are.
Proverbs 4:23 instructs in the NIV translation, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” In other words, our heart, the inner self, the moral center, the mind, and thoughts have to be guarded.
I was mentoring a young man who was worried about his sinful thoughts. I warned him that sin births in our thinking before it manifests in our actions. Second Corinthians 10:5 instructs, “take every thought captive to obey Christ.”
Paul’s prayer for enlightenment and opening of the eyes of the spiritual heart is less about an emotional response and more about convincing the mind that brings forth moral change. His prayer is that God may grant them comprehension so that they are not led by emotions but by understanding they may know Christ more.
Today, way too many churches are into emotionalism. Yes, they get people saved through emotionalism, but also lose them to this. Salvation is never secured through emotionalism but rather a comprehension of who God is and what God has done through His Son Jesus to save sinners otherwise destined for eternal damnation. Once we understand that revelation and the cost God had to pay, it drops us to our knees to thank God for our salvation.
Application
Today, too many hearts are missing the beat of Christ. They beat on the beat of emotionalism. They are led by their feelings. When they feel good, they think they are progressing in Christ, but when they feel awful, they think they are regressing.
If your quest is for a spiritual and emotional charge because of the way you feel. I tell you, you will move from church to church, but your longing will not end. Friend, you need a deeper and more meaningful relationship with Jesus. Only then will you be satisfied. So, pray that God may open the eyes of your hearts to see what and how much you have in Jesus.
Next, I want us to see three particular goals of Paul’s prayer regarding the opening of the eyes of believers. The Ephesians 1:18-19 says that they may know “what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might.”
In Ephesians 1:12-14, these three “whats” or goals were listed as God’s predestined eternal plan to elect, adopt, redeem, and seal us.
Goal #1: to know the hope of Christ. The verse says so that “you may know, what is the hope to which he has called you.” There are three elements that should not escape our attention here.
First, the word “know,” in Greek eido, can be translated as to experience, to perceive with the eyes or to be skilled in. This type of skill to perceive spiritual matters comes from above through the agency of the Holy Spirit. In other words, we cannot know unless we are led to it.
Second the word “hope,” in Greek elpise, means the joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation because it is the person of Jesus Christ.
Third, the word “calling,” in Greek klesis, is a divine call or invitation. There is a general calling and then a specific calling. The general calling is for all humans to come to Jesus and embrace salvation in Jesus when the gospel of Jesus is preached. However, for all the born-again believers, there is a specific calling, calling to live according to the eternal hope in Jesus in our current reality so that the world can witness it.
Our hope of salvation in Christ is rooted in the past when God predestined us to be saved with a future eternal promise, but it benefits us here in the present.
This past week, one of the brothers in our church lost his dad suddenly. He had to fly back to India right away. On his way to JFK, I called him. I asked if his dad was a believer. He said, praise God, he was a believer. Now, why did I ask? I asked because of the hope of resurrection that all believers have. I shared with him that we do not mourn like those who have no hope because our hope is Jesus. If you lost a saved loved one, know that he or she lives because in John 14:19, Jesus said, “Because I live, you will also live.” Second Corinthians 5:8 teaches to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. To this hope, we are called.
Goal #2: to know the love of Christ. The verse also says, so that you may know, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. Ephesians 1:13-14 discussed this inheritance that believers received in Jesus. It reads, “13 in Him [Christ] you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” It means two things: we are His portion and His very own possession.
Only the love of Christ makes us God’s possession. Also, it could be the inheritance that God has and is preparing for us. Paul’s prayer is that believers may understand the value of the inheritance and riches of it. Since the love of Christ makes us worthy to receive eternal inheritance, then it follows that without the love of Christ in us, we cannot inherit it.
Goal #3: to know the power of Christ. The verse also says, so that you may know, “what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe.” Believe in the eternal salvation plan of God, which is being accomplished by God's power demonstrated in His Son Jesus.
As I close, imagine if we all were intentional about Thanksgiving being an event centered on God. Imagine if all of us who profess the name of Jesus intentionally spent even only a fraction of the time that we spend preparing Thanksgiving dinner and watching football games to thank God for all the blessings with which we have been blessed.
Action Step
This Thanksgiving week, be intentional about thanking God around the dinner table. Thank God for all the blessings with which you have been blessed. Thank God for the election, adoption, redemption, and sealing you with the Holy Spirit. Thank God for the Hope of Christ, the Love of Christ, and the Power of Christ.
Appeal
If you are not a believer, pray that God may enlighten you by opening the eyes of your hearts, that is, your mind, so that you may know the riches of His blessing, so that you may put your hope in Jesus. Outside of Jesus, there is absolutely no hope for this life and the life to come.
If you are a believer, live out your hope in Jesus and don’t let the circumstances take this joyful confident hope from you. Let the hope, the love, and the power of Christ shine around your Thanksgiving tables this week. All of this starts with a faithful thanksgiving prayer. May I encourage you, in faith thank God for the things you have, the things for which you have been praying, and the things you for which you hoped, and the things you are yet to receive.
As for me, I thank God for you, your families, your salvation and your walk with Jesus, your faithful witness, your love for Jesus and this church, and your commitment to the gospel.
Study Questions
1. How is the power of resurrection the proof of our prayers?
2. Discuss the significance of the four types of powers mentioned in v21:
inherent power
operating power
ultimate power
endowed power
3. What does v22 mean when it says, God “appointed him [Jesus] to be head over everything for the church?”
Deeper Study Questions
1. How have you personally experienced the power and dominion mentioned in v19-23 in your life?
2. We are surrounded by people who believe in many gods. How would you share with them that Jesus is supreme over everything?
3. Suppose you are talking to a Hindu, a Muslim, or an atheist. What do you propose might be an effective way to communicate v21-23? More specifically, how would you share that God put all things under Jesus’ feet?
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