A first great prayer of the apostle Paul is in Eph. 1: 16-23 : "I never cease to give thanks to you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation In his knowledge, and illuminate the eyes of your heart, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the richness of the glory of his inheritance which he reserves for the saints, And what is to us who believe the infinite greatness of his power, manifesting himself with efficacy through the power of his strength. He unfolded him in Christ, raising him from the dead, and making him sit on his right hand in the heavenly places, above all dominion, authority, power, dignity, and name Can be named, not only in the present century but also in the century to come. He has put everything under his feet, and has given him as supreme head to the Church, which is his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all."

It begins with "... I never cease to give thanks for you ...". It is a key principle : before praying for a person, let us begin by giving thanks for him. This will put us in a good disposition of heart to pray for him.

Then Paul prays for the Ephesians that they receive a spirit of wisdom and revelation in his knowledge. With our intelligence, we can understand certain things, which is good. But it is only in our minds that we can receive revelation and true knowledge of God. The Word of Life says : "Then you will discover God and you will really know Him. We will discover that this prayer is truly a key prayer: when we really know God, everything in the Christian life becomes easier to grasp and live, prayer included.

Paul continues :

"... and illuminate the eyes of your heart, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the richness of the glory of his inheritance which he reserves for the saints, Towards us who believe the infinite greatness of His power, manifesting Himself efficaciously through the power of His power."

Paul was very intelligent and educated. Yet he does not pray for the enlightenment of our understanding, but he prays that he will illuminate the eyes of your heart. That is, our deepest faculty of understanding.

We can provide our best efforts to bury things there, hide them under another appearance, sooner or later the Lord will allow in his love that we know our true heart, and this can do very badly. That is why we must pray that He will illuminate the eyes of our hearts, so that we may know what hope is attached to His calling. Often we do not recognize the Lord.

Even the disciples, by boat on the lake during the storm, thought they saw a ghost! But if our heart is illuminated, we will know what is going on, and we will be able to submit to the work of the Holy Spirit.

We will continue with a few prayers from the Apostle Paul afterwards.

"Lord, I want to learn to always give thanks, for everything, and everyone. I pray Lord that you will illuminate the eyes of my heart, and give me your revelation, to know you truly! In the name of Jesus, amen !"

René de Groot