READING: EPHESIANS 1: 15-23
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, 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. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
REFLECTION
Today’s reading is Ephesians 1: 15-23, take time to read the whole passage today but I’ll be focussing this morning on verses 17 to 19.  They read:

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. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

Paul is praying for the church that God would give them wisdom and revelation so that they will know God better. And who wouldn’t want that prayer. I long to know God better! However Paul goes on to be specific about what of God they will know better. Namely His hope and His power.

First God’s hope, Paul is longing for the church to know that they are now God children and that gives them hope not only for now but for the future. We looked over the past two days at this coming hope of the kingdom and yet again Paul is keen to impress on his readers that that is the bigger story of God’s work in our world. So Paul’s prayer is that we would have more wisdom to understand that truth.

Secondly Paul prays that we would know God's ‘incomparably great power’ which we each have access to.

At university along with my flatmates I bought a hoover, it was from Tesco and I’m pretty sure it didn’t cost more than about £20. It did the job but I had to work really hard to make the carpets look like a vacuum cleaner had been anywhere near them. When I got married we saved up the John Lewis vouchers people had given us and went to buy our first ever Dyson vacuum. It was a revelation. Not only did the floor look clean the first time you ran it over the carpet but it sucked up pretty much anything in its path! The difference in power between the two vacuum cleaners was staggering but I had no idea until I upgraded.

We can live a lot like that, not knowing that we have access to God’s incredible power. We often sing the words ‘the same power that conquered the grave lives in me’ but do we ever stop to think what that means. It means the same power that healed and restored a body that had been beaten and tortured, the same power that breathed life into a dead body, the same power that rolled away a huge tomb stone, the same power is available to me. I’m pretty sure I don’t live my life in the light of that truth! Do you?
PRAY
Father, give me wisdom today to understand more of what it is to live a life marked by your hope and your power. Enable me to have faith that the same power that raised Jesus really does live in me.