This is the ninth prayer in the prayer acrostic, F.O.L.L.O.W. C.H.R.I.S.T.
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R: Reveal yourself!
- "making mention of you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, 19 and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe" (Ephesians 1:16-19).
Prayerful Observations:
In the immediately preceding passage, Ephesians 1:3-14, Paul listed "every spiritual blessing" which we have in Christ. In verses 16-19, Paul mentions his prayers that the Ephesians would understand what God has done for them.
In other words, Paul first spoke God's truth. Then he prayed that they would understand it. So, Paul revealed the two step process for making disciples. It is the method he used to make disciples of the Ephesians. The two step process is: Repeat the words of the Father and pray. It's easy. Jesus said that it is easy to make disciples in Mathew 11:30. He said, "my yoke is easy".
Everything that Jesus said was a repetition of the words of the Father: "For I spoke not from myself, but the Father who sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak" (John 12:49). The same is true for the Holy Spirit (John 16:13).
We understand God's words by prayer. We enable others to understand God's words by prayer. If we believe that God will reveal knowledge of scripture through our prayer, He will. If we don't, He won't.
We should follow the example of Paul... speak the words of the Father and then pray that God will reveal Himself those who hear.
To see all twelve prayers in the acrostic FOLLOW CHRIST, click here.