KNOW CHRIST BETTER THROUGH PRAYER | EPHESIANS 1 DEVOTIONAL

“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.”  —EPHESIANS 1:17

There were two young brothers who spent a night at their grandparents’ home a week before Christmas. Before they went to bed, they knelt down to pray and the youngest boy yelled at the top of his lungs, “God, I pray for a new bicycle. I pray for a Nintendo. I pray for an iPod.” The older brother leaned over and nudged him. “Why are you shouting? God isn’t deaf.” And the younger boy answered, “No, but grandma is.”

Does our prayer life go something like that, a shopping list of needs, wants, aspirations, conveniences? World renowned evangelist, John Stott, once said, “If you want to know where a Christian really is, listen to them praying.” Paul’s prayer in Ephesians is essentially for the person who has everything; that is every spiritual blessing in Christ. He doesn’t pray that they may receive something, but that they may know something.

What’s important here is that Paul is praying the agenda of Jesus Christ into their lives. He is asking for things that only God can do and give, and that is to know Christ better. The preacher cannot do that, nor the church or any type of program or technique. Paul’s prayer drives us back to a condition where he is asking for things which are not possible apart from the intervention of God.

Scripture talks about knowing God through creation, but what Paul is talking about is not knowing God through observation, but through revelation; that is the Spirit of God reveals to our hearts the truths about Scripture. It is discernment and understanding that comes, not by a natural process of our own thinking, but from God, Himself.

Jesus said in John 17:3, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” The Christian life is not an experience, though many experiences are involved. The Christian life is a committed relationship with Jesus Christ, and the more time we spend with Him, the greater our knowledge of Him, and the deeper our relationship.

The more we get to know Christ, the more we know the resources we already have in Him. That is the prayer of Paul. Instead of asking for more of this or that, we start thanking Christ for His presence, because every need of the human heart is abundantly met in Him.

Thank You, Lord, for your presence. I know You are all I need and pray that our relationship grows deeper and stronger, the more I come to know You.

Am I spending quality time alone with Christ and getting to know him better?