The prayer of Paul, Part 1
“The Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation…”
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. Ephesians 1: 16-17, NIV.
As Paul prayed for the Ephesian Church, we ought also to pray for ourselves: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ may grant us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. I think that this spirit of wisdom and revelation is the beginning of meaningful spiritual quest. Notice the phrase, “so that you may know him better”. It takes receiving the spirit of wisdom and revelation to know Christ better. Grasping spiritual truth requires spiritual wisdom and revelation. Spiritual things are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2: 1-16, Colossians 1: 9). There is a certain kind of spiritual insight and ‘intelligence’ that comes only from the indwelling Spirit of God. We ought to ask God for this kind of wisdom and insight in all things, but especially, in matters relating to the knowledge of Christ.
Brother Paul, by his own admission (1 Corinthians 2: 1-3), approached spiritual truth with humility, with “fear and trembling”, knowing that spiritual truth can only be spiritually revealed by the Holy Spirit. We ought also to humble our hearts before the Lord every time we come to worship or study His word, knowing that only He can unveil the Word to us in “all wisdom and spiritual understanding”. We dare not approach his throne as people who have known it all, or even as folks who have known most of it. We are only scratching the surface of the divine treasures of Heaven right now. There is yet much more to know. As ministers of the Word, we dare not approach His word merely from our theological training or from our vast knowledge of books, but with humility, entirely depending on the Holy Spirit to grant us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.
Isaiah chapter 11 is generally accepted as a messianic passage, meaning it is a prophecy about the Messiah, Jesus Christ. In that prophecy about the life and ministry of Christ, we notice that even for Him as the Savior, “The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears” (Isaiah 11:2-3, NIV). If the Messiah needed the spirit of wisdom and revelation to be effective in his earthly ministry, how much more then do we need this dual gift from the Father.
“The Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation…”
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. Ephesians 1: 16-17, NIV.
As Paul prayed for the Ephesian Church, we ought also to pray for ourselves: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ may grant us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. I think that this spirit of wisdom and revelation is the beginning of meaningful spiritual quest. Notice the phrase, “so that you may know him better”. It takes receiving the spirit of wisdom and revelation to know Christ better. Grasping spiritual truth requires spiritual wisdom and revelation. Spiritual things are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2: 1-16, Colossians 1: 9). There is a certain kind of spiritual insight and ‘intelligence’ that comes only from the indwelling Spirit of God. We ought to ask God for this kind of wisdom and insight in all things, but especially, in matters relating to the knowledge of Christ.
Brother Paul, by his own admission (1 Corinthians 2: 1-3), approached spiritual truth with humility, with “fear and trembling”, knowing that spiritual truth can only be spiritually revealed by the Holy Spirit. We ought also to humble our hearts before the Lord every time we come to worship or study His word, knowing that only He can unveil the Word to us in “all wisdom and spiritual understanding”. We dare not approach his throne as people who have known it all, or even as folks who have known most of it. We are only scratching the surface of the divine treasures of Heaven right now. There is yet much more to know. As ministers of the Word, we dare not approach His word merely from our theological training or from our vast knowledge of books, but with humility, entirely depending on the Holy Spirit to grant us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.
Isaiah chapter 11 is generally accepted as a messianic passage, meaning it is a prophecy about the Messiah, Jesus Christ. In that prophecy about the life and ministry of Christ, we notice that even for Him as the Savior, “The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears” (Isaiah 11:2-3, NIV). If the Messiah needed the spirit of wisdom and revelation to be effective in his earthly ministry, how much more then do we need this dual gift from the Father.
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