“Never stop praying” (1 Thessalonians 5:17 NLT)
”So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” (Hebrews 4:16 NLT)
“Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” (Mark 11:24 NKJV)
Let’s claim the “Spirit of wisdom” as we read Paul’s prayer for the believers in Ephesus another time…
…“Because of this, since I first heard about your strong faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and your tender love toward all his devoted ones, my heart is always full and overflowing with thanks to God for you as I constantly remember you in my prayers. I pray that the Father of glory, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, would impart to you the riches of the Spirit of wisdom and the Spirit of revelation to know him through your deepening intimacy with him. I pray that the light of God will illuminate the eyes of your imagination, flooding you with light, until you experience the full revelation of the hope of his calling —that is, the wealth of God’s glorious inheritances that he finds in us, his holy ones! I pray that you will continually experience the immeasurable greatness of God’s power made available to you through faith. Then your lives will be an advertisement of this immense power as it works through you! This is the mighty power that was released when God raised Christ from the dead and exalted him to the place of highest honor and supreme authority in the heavenly realm! And now he is exalted as first above every ruler, authority, government, and realm of power in existence! He is gloriously enthroned over every name that is ever praised, not only in this age, but in the age that is coming!” And he alone is the leader and source of everything needed in the church. God has put everything beneath the authority of Jesus Christ and has given him the highest rank above all others. And now we, his church, are his body on the earth and that which fills him who is being filled by it!” (Ephesians 1:16-23 TPT)
Step 1: Probe the prayer under the light of the Holy Spirit.
Let’s continue probing verse 17…
…… “I pray that the Father of glory, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, would impart to you the riches of the Spirit of wisdom and the Spirit of revelation to know him through your deepening intimacy with him.”
As I wrap up my probing of the “Spirit of wisdom” I think it is worth pointing out that divine wisdom cannot be fully known apart from Jesus. He is the embodiment of divine wisdom.
“God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.” (1 Corinthians 1:30 NLT)
There is so much more that could be said about the “Spirit of wisdom,” but I am sensing in my spirit that the Holy Spirit wants me to move to the “Spirit of revelation.” As I do this, I want to challenge you to probe deeper into the “Spirit of wisdom” on your own. What I share is intended to create within you a desire to know and experience more as you grow in your relationship with our Father. Time to move to the “Spirit of revelation.”
It is only as I am in union with Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit, that I am able to receive the “riches of the Spirit of revelation.” Just like divine wisdom, divine revelation comes from our “Father of glory.” It comes by way of the Holy Spirit and is the catalyst for relationship with the Godhead (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).
Apart from receiving the “Spirit of revelation” it is impossible to truly know the Father or the Son. I definitely miss out on a growing intimate relationship with my Father without divine revelation. I am not even capable of knowing Jesus without having his true identity revealed to me by the Father.
“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.” Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah,the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being.” (Matthew 16:13-17 NLT)
A primary tool that the Father uses to reveal himself to me is Scripture. It is the Holy Spirit that wrote the Scriptures as he partnered with selected individuals to record the Father’s desire and design for me. Unlike other books which have been written by human authors, Scripture requires the “Spirit of revelation” to be understood. It was written to divide my soul (mind) from my spirit (my true identity – image bearer created in God’s likeness) by the “inspiration” of the Holy Spirit (it is “God-breathed”). As the God-breathed revelation authored by the Holy Spirit in partnership with chosen human authors, Scriptures will only be understood accurately by the “Spirit of revelation.” Today I have an accurate representation of the original “Word” given by the Father in a book known as the Bible. It is a love letter written to me by my Father in order for me to know him in an intimate way. It is what I like to call a “plumline” or “standard of truth” to guide me into an eternal relationship with my Father through his Son Jesus by way of the Holy Spirit. This form of “revelation” is foundational in my walk of life, however it is not the only communication that I have with my Father.
The Bible gives many examples of God the Father speaking to us. I believe his voice is the “Spirit of revelation” and can be heard in various ways. At times it is loud and booming as in Psalm 29…
…”The voice of the LORD echoes above the sea. The God of glory thunders. The LORD thunders over the mighty sea. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is majestic. The voice of the LORD splits the mighty cedars; the LORD shatters the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon’s mountains skip like a calf; he makes Mount Hermon leap like a young wild ox. The voice of the LORD strikes with bolts of lightning. The voice of the LORD makes the barren wilderness quake; the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the LORD twists mighty oaks and strips the forests bare. In his Temple everyone shouts, “Glory!” (Psalm 29:3-9 NLT)
This same voice of the Father was heard by Elijah in 1 Kings 19 as he was hiding in fear from a death threat made on his life. However, this time it was anything but loud and booming. Here is how that voice was described in the New Living Translation…
…“Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the LORD told him. And as Elijah stood there, the LORD passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:11-13)
In other translations this voice is described as “still small voice,” “sound of a gentle blowing,” “thin gentle whisper,” “a gentle breeze,” “a voice of still lightness,” or “a voice that was speaking softly.”
The Father’s voice was heard by Jesus’ disciples at least twice as he commended his Son…
…“After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” (Matthew 3:16-17 NLT)
…”Six days later Jesus took Peter and the two brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed so that his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light. Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared and began talking with Jesus. Peter exclaimed, “Lord, it’s wonderful for us to be here! If you want, I’ll make three shelters as memorials—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” But even as he spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him.” The disciples were terrified and fell face down on the ground.” (Matthew 17:1-6 NLT)
There are those who discount the place of Scripture, denying the reality of its being the inspired Word of God. They reject the idea that it is a “living revelation” enlivened by the “Spirit of revelation” as he speaks to us through it. As for me, I believe what it says about itself and I have heard that “Spirit of revelation” deep within me countless times as I have read, memorized, and meditated on Scripture.
There are others who stand strongly on the inspiration of Scripture but deny the reality of a still small voice talking to individuals today. To claim that I heard the internal still small voice within me, or worse yet, that I heard an audible external voice, is by many considered at least foolishness, perhaps delusion, or at worst deception. However, I cannot deny what I have experienced. Especially since I took the time to go to Scripture to “test the message” that I heard, and “try the spirit” to confirm that it was indeed from the Father.
As I continue to learn how to listen, I am hearing the still small voice from within more and more regularly. I have only heard an external voice (which was loud and clear) twice in my 56 years of following Jesus (since I was 8 years old). This is definitely not God’s primary mode of communication. However, I am persuaded I have not heard more because of my inability to recognize when he speaks. Most likely he is speaking regularly and I either miss it, or it sounds like thunder due to my unbelief and hardness of heart (I am working on listening and hearing with the Holy Spirit). Time to pause for a disclaimer…
…Disclaimer: Lest I be misunderstood, I am not talking about “New Revelation” at the level of the revelation of Scripture. If what I believe is being said to me apart from recorded Scripture (or what I read or hear from someone else) contradicts in any way what has been written in Scripture then it is not of God. Anything that attempts to “add to” or “take away” from Scripture is not from God…
…”For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” (Revelation 22:18-19 NKJV)*
*While this refers directly to John’s vision as recorded in the Book of Revelation, I believe it has secondary application to the entirety of recorded Scripture. At the very least it should make us very cautious in receiving anything that is claimed to be “inspired” or “spoken” directly from God.
It is as if some are trying to convince me that God never wrote the love letter to begin with and others who are trying to persuade me to believe that once God wrote the letter he stopped speaking completely.
Can you imagine a romance in which neither partner ever wrote a love letter, a poem, a note, or anything that could remain beyond tomorrow? Or worse yet, wrote the letter and then contradicted it with following conversations? Can you even fathom the idea that once the love letter was written the person never again spoke of love and when asked why was told, “Just read the letter.”
The “Spirit of revelation” that Paul was praying for is the voice of God (written or spoken within or without) intended to reveal the “Father of glory… to know him through your deepening intimacy with him.” It is my Father’s desire to speak to me. To whisper in my ear his love for me. To direct me in his ways and show me his design for my life. To bring me in close and share “ the riches of the Spirit of wisdom and the Spirit of revelation” with me.
Let that flow through you as you meditate on…
…Eric’s Life Lesson # 430: Praying With Paul – Ephesians 1:15-23 Part 4