Eph 1:15-23 What is the significance of this prayer?
Eph 1:15-23 What is the significance of this prayer?
This is a prayer we can all pray, not only for others, but for ourselves too, knowing that it conforms with God's will for every believer in Christ. God wants believers to receive more wisdom and revelation of His plan for them, and to experience greater abundance of Holy Spirit power in their lives.
The spirit of wisdom and revelation in V17 is not the Holy Spirit but our own spirit - the element of life within us. God wants our spirit to be full of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him (CP Mt 7:7; Jas 1:5-8 with Eph 3:14-21).
Eph 3:20 teaches us that God will do for us not only more than we desire and ask in prayer, but even more than our imagination can perceive, depending upon the degree of the Holy Spirit's presence, power and grace outworking in our lives. The word power here refers to our faith.
Faith is the power of God within us to enable us to reign in life and to receive answers to prayer. The word worketh refers to the exercising of our faith to believe God to do it. Faith makes prayer work (see also comments on Eph 3:20).