Burning Bush Blogs
Equipping Men with Biblical Knowledge and Leadership Skills
Category: Group Study
Thread: How to Pray for Other Believers
Post Topic: Praying for Enlightenment of the Believer’s Heart
Post in Thread: #3
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Scripture: Ephesians 1:15-19a
Key Verses:
Ephesians 1:17-19a
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. 18 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, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
Series Note
Have you ever wondered how to better pray for brothers and sisters in Christ? Of course, we can pray for their immediate needs – health concerns, employment issues, relationships, etc. But how do we go deeper? How do we pray for their spiritual needs; their spiritual growth?
Paul gives us four examples of prayers for spiritual growth of specific believers in his letters to the churches at Colossae, Philippi, and Ephesus. This series studies how Paul structures those prayers and how we can apply this structure to our own prayers.
If we dig a little, we notice a pattern in the prayers –
- What Paul prays for these believers
- How he expects God to answer
- Why God’s answer will profoundly impact these beloved partners in Christ
Observations
Context
The Apostle Paul wrote Ephesians from prison in Rome.
Genre
Ephesians is an epistle—a missionary letter to Paul’s most faithful supporters.
Opening Question
When you hear the term enlightenment, what images does that bring to mind? What does the world think enlightenment means? Are any of you on a quest for spiritual enlightenment? Maybe you’ve never phrased it that way…
Group activity (answers are just below)
Study the passage together and list what you think Paul is praying for these believers. The how for the entire prayer comes first.
Verse 17, How_________________
Verse 17: What _________________ Why ________________
Verse 18-19: What _________________ Why ________________
Compare to what our bloggers came up with. Does it differ much? If so, that’s okay.
How Paul expects God to answer:
In verse 17, the how comes first in this prayer: I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit …
- It is a gift from God the Father, to send the Spirit to help believers…
- Don’t know who the “Spirit” is? He is the third person in the trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). The Father sends the Spirit to Christians to guide us and give us power beyond our own capabilities. For a deeper dive, read here: Who is the Holy Spirit?
- So the gift from the Father is the power of the Holy Spirit – the power of wisdom and enlightenment, in this case.
Discussion – if wisdom, revelation, enlightenment are a gift from above, how does that affect your pursuit of wisdom?
What Paul prays for the Ephesians to receive from the Father:
- Spirit of wisdom and revelation.
- Enlightenment of the eyes of their hearts.
Discussion – What does Paul mean by “the eyes of their hearts“? When the world thinks of enlightenment, do they think of the mind or the heart?
Why these requests will have a deep impact for the Ephesians and those we pray for:
- Know God better.
- How well would you say that you know the character of God? Does he seem distant?
- Better understand the power of God.
- Do we truly grasp the power of God?
- Fill us with hope of our glorious inheritance.
- How often do we think about God’s ultimate gift of eternity?
Discussion – Which of these three would you most like to see increase in your life? How would that gift impact your life?
Interpretation
Takeaways
- Wisdom, revelation, enlightenment – these are all similar. Paul prays earnestly for these gifts to be bestowed upon the Ephesians.
- As we grow in wisdom and enlightenment, it gives us hope. Why? Because our understanding of God’s power grows too – God’s power to bring about the glorious inheritance that he has promised.
- Paul’s desire for enlightenment goes so much deeper than religions like Buddhism or other worldly quests – for Paul, it is about the heart more than the mind.
- What a beautiful way to think of it – enlightenment of the eyes of the heart!
Discussion
- Can we achieve enlightenment of the heart without also achieving enlightenment of the mind?
- In our Philippians study, we saw how Paul prayed for believers to have abounding love (for both God and man). How are abounding love and spiritual enlightenment connected?
Correlation
Multiple Paths to God?
Because we are discussing a new-age topic like enlightenment, it bears asking whether there are other paths to enlightenment besides Jesus. Have you ever had someone confront you with this question? “Who do you think you are, Christian, to claim that you have the only path to God?”
Our blogs continually stress the importance of context in Bible studies – reading verses before and after the passage we are studying. If we keep reading after Paul’s prayer ends in verse 19, Paul gives us an answer:
that power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
Dissecting this Passage
- Paul’s prayer closes in verse 19a by talking about the hope of God’s great power. Starting in verse 19b, what does Paul say about that power?
- What authorities does God grant to Christ? List all that you see here.
- Does Paul leave any wiggle-room for other paths to God?
- Does anyone know some quotes of Jesus where he claims to be the only path to truth?
- If your group is new to the Bible, here’s one: I am the way, the truth, and the life.
Application
Generic Applications
Pray for the gift of enlightenment and hope in God’s power
Sample Prayer (customize it for yourself or your group):Our Father, give the gift of enlightenment in the Spirit to “name.” Make clear the eyes of their heart, and let them achieve a deeper understanding of you, both in mind and in spirit. Let that wisdom bring them hope in your eternal promises and unmatched power.
- Let’s resolve together to grow in enlightenment of our hearts and minds. Let’s agree to pray for Christ to enlighten the eyes of the heart of one other person in the group at least once a week, if not more often.
How can others pray for us?
Do you ever feel stumped when someone asks how they can pray for you? What will you tell them now?
Personalize it
Ask yourself – How confident am I in my faith in Jesus Christ? Without that piece of enlightenment, no greater state of wisdom can ever be achieved. All the other stuff: growing in knowledge of Christ, understanding his power, having a heart for God and others… it’s all useless (and impossible) without a personal relationship with Christ. If you’ve never experienced that most critical enlightenment, talk to your leader or your pastor about it. Nothing else we’ve discussed will ever matter without it.
Bible study methodology adapted from Searching the Scriptures with permission from Tyndale House:
Swindoll, Charles, Searching the Scriptures. Tyndale House Publishers, 2016.
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