Grace and Truth

Bible Ministries

We are continuing our examination of intercession as a facet of prayer in our study of the doctrine of Prayer as a mandate for the believer in the PPOG for the church age. Phil 4:6; 1Thes 5:17;

We are presently examining Paul's prayer for believers at Ephesus so we can use it as a model for our own prayers.

Eph 1:18-19a; The Greek word (ὀφθαλμός ophthalmos ) translated "eyes" refers to the believer's spiritual perception The word heart is translated from ( καρδία kardia )refers to the right lobe of the believer's soul where the thoughts and decisions are made.

In the kardia reside the frame of reference, memory center, vocabulary storage, categorical storage, conscience, momentum and wisdom compartments of the soul.

Paul's prayer is for believers to advance to spiritual adulthood which is when the believer begins to become fully cognizant of God's grace provision and their position as co-heirs with TLJC in their union with him.

Paul's prayer is for them to come to a full understanding of the resources that are made available for all believers at the point of their of their salvation by grace through faith alone in TLJC alone. This eternally secure salvation is obtained by simply agreeing with God the Father that the word of the Gospel regarding TLJC is true.

After their salvation, God the Holy Spirit has a ministry of Enlightenment and Enablement to all believers in the Church Age. The emphasis of Paul's prayer in this passage (Eph 1:16-23) is enlightenment or disclosure the emphasis in another of Paul's prayers which we will examine next recorded in (Eph 3:16-21), is enablement.

The three factors of mystery doctrine about which Paul is praying for believers to be enlightened in are;

(1) "the hope of His calling" or all that our personal sense of destiny means as co-heirs with Christ in his destiny, Eph 1:18; see Net note 49

(2)"the glorious riches of His inheritance that we have as co-heirs in association with him as his set-apart ones, the magnificence of the escrow blessings which are on deposit in heaven to be conveyed to all believers who fulfill the PPOG for their lives. (Eph 1:11;Eph 1:14)

Paul was praying for the Ephesian believers and by extension for all believers in the Church age to understand the full meaning of the assets and privileges God had provided for them from eternity past as co-heirs with Christ. These assets and privileges are for both time and eternity.

When believers come to an understanding of these assets and priveleges, their focus is shifted from a hope of glory and achievement offered by the cosmos to the hope of the glorious inheritance in heaven that will be conveyed to them as winner believers in time and eternity.

This the same change of focus which occured with Enoch Heb 11:5; Noah Heb 11:7; Abraham Heb 11:8-10; and Moses. Heb 11:24-27;

Paul's prayer is that all believers become fully enlightened as to what it means to be a co-heir with TLJC and to learn to utilize those resources for the Glory of God just as TLJC did during his life on the earth in the dispensation of the unglorified humanity of TLJC.

(3) the exceeding power which God used when he raised Christ from the dead and set Him at the right hand of the Father in Eternal Glory. This same exact power is now available to us as co-heirs with TLJC for our spiritual life and for our reaching of the objectives God has laid out before us in his PPOG for our lives.

The deliverance of Israel from Egypt was God's divine standard of power in the age of Israel. The resurrection of TLJC from the dead is God's divine standard of power in the Church age.

As co-heirs with TLJC , we have the same words, by means of Bible Doctrine, and in the same power, the Filling of the Holy Spirit, that he did and therefore we have the same power that he used available to us. John 6:63; 1 Cor 2:4-9;

The challenge of course is for us to be enlightened by God the Holy Spirit regarding as to how to use this power because the church age is the age of invisible heros not visible heros which means that for us, this power is primarily exhibited in how we think.

The Scriptures that reveal this power in the church age refer to redemption and forgiveness of sin Col 1:13-14; righteousness, tranquility, inner happiness and contentment of soul. Rom 14:17; Phil 4:6-7;

This can be seen in Paul's prayers for believer's to have inner power. Paul's desire is for the power of "steadfastness and patience with happiness" (Col 1:11), the power of sustaining confident expectation of Divine good while waiting for their inheritance to be conveyed (Eph 1:18-19; cf. Rom 15:13), and the power of Bible Doctrine and love John 14:23-24;

Peter also wrote about the power of protection for the believer in a hostile world (1 Pet 1:5;. ..Protected by the power of God by means of faith ( Bible Doctrine)...

This power is manifested in believer's as they express and exhibit ...faith (Bible Doctrine in their souls and their Application of Bible Doctrine in their thinking), hope ( their absolute confident expectation of Divine good which is shown to them by Bible Doctrine), and love ( their unconditional integrity love for all mankind which is based on their personal love for God which is based God's personal love for them which is described in Bible Doctrine) 1Cor 13:13;

In the Church Age, this power is displayed through outer weakness 2Cor 12:9-10;. Rather than giving believers today the power that will someday crush all enemies, the church today is permitted to be besieged by the powers of the cosmos. 2Cor 4:7-12;