Prayers Of The Spirit: Spiritual Intelligence for Knowing God
Study The Word
Ephesians 1:17-19 (KJV)
“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power.”
Today we look at an important aspect of the will of God for you as a child of God: to have spiritual wisdom, knowledge, and understanding! This is paramount in order for you to experience to fulness of the Christian life. Remember, this that the word is revealing to us is not natural wisdom, knowledge and understanding. This is spiritual wisdom! Spiritual intelligence! Spiritual understanding that God gives! Glory to God! And it is very different from the wisdom, knowledge and understanding of men. This is God’s wisdom that is given by the Spirit of God; and because it’s God’s desire for you, it is revealed to us in this beautiful prayer of the Spirit in our opening verse.
The apostle Paul, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote this prayer for the church at Ephesus, and it is for you today! He says, “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.” Did you catch that? He’s not praying for you to have more money. He’s not praying for you to have a bigger house. He’s praying for something far more valuable: the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God!
σοφία sophia wisdom – divine insight into the reality of spiritual and physical things; application of spiritual intelligence and spiritual knowledge concerning spiritual and physical things
The Greek word here is sophia, means divine insight into the reality of spiritual and physical things! When you have the spirit of sophia, you have the ability to know things as God knows them! You will have spiritual intelligence and spiritual knowledge concerning spiritual and physical things. Think about that! It’s knowing the things that God wants you to know just as He knows them! This is what sophia does for you! It gives you access to the mind of God! It allows you to see things from God’s perspective! It enables you to understand things the way God understands them!
And then he says “revelation.” The Greek word here is apokalupsis, which means unveiling, appearing, disclosure, revealing or uncovering! It’s the revealing of something that was previously hidden, covered or unseen! When you have the spirit of revelation, hidden things become visible to you! Things that were mysteries are uncovered! Things that were obscure become clear! The plans and purposes of God for your life are unveiled before your eyes, and you become fully knowledgeable!
ἀποκάλυψις apokalupsis revelation – unveiling, disclosure, uncovering, manifestation, appearance, a laying bare
The Message translation puts it beautifully, it says: “I ask the God of our Master Jesus Christ, the God of Glory, to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally.” You see that? God wants to make you spiritually intelligent! He wants discernment to be atwork in you! He wants you to know Him personally and accurately, not just know about Him or of Him! There’s a difference between knowing about someone and knowing them personally! God wants you to have personal, accurate, intimate knowledge of Him!
And then the apostle Paul continues and says: “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened.” The word “enlightened” here means flooded with light, illuminated! Your spiritual eyes are to be flooded with the revelatory light of God! You’re not supposed to walk in darkness, trying to figure out what God wants for your life! No! Your eyes are supposed to be focused and clear so that you can know and see exactly what He is calling you to do!
φωτίζω phōtizō enlightened – to give light, illuminate, bring to light, make visible, flood with light
Remember, this is a prayer point. This is a prayer of the Holy Spirit for your spiritual development according to the will of God. This is not something you can achieve through natural education. This is not something you can get from a university. This is spiritual! It requires the spirit of wisdom! It requires the spirit of revelation given by the Holy Spirit! And God wants to give it to you! He wants you to have it,and have operative. That’s why it’s written and revealed as a prayer of the Spirit! So you personalize the prayer, pray it , and God gives it to you!
Now look at what happens when you have this spirit of wisdom and revelation, it says: “That ye may know what is the hope of his calling.” Do you fully understand what is the hope of God’s calling for your life? That’s the will of God! He wants you to know it! He wants you to have it! But in order for you to know it in that way, you need the spirit of wisdom! You need spiritual intelligence! And this prayer of the Spirit has it ready for you to activate it.
And then it says, “and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.” That means God wants you to grasp the immensity of His glorious life that He has for you in Christ Jesus! He wants you to understand the riches, the wealth, the abundance of what He has made available to you as His child! This is where you’ll receive a wealth and riches mindset, that destroys poverty thinking and mentality after you begin to operate in this realm of spiritual wisdom, intelligence and knowledge. This is a revelation of the riches and the wealth of His inheritance! Glory to God! No more poor thoughts and poor thinking, just quality thoughts, wealthy ideas from His excellent wisdom, knowledge and intelligence. What a blessing.
And then comes the part that absolutely blows my mind: “And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power.” The Message translation says, “Oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him – endless energy, boundless, fathomless strength!” Hahaa! Endless energy! Boundless strength! This is miracle-working power! This is the will of God for your life!
God wants you to be acquainted with His endless energy! He wants you to experience His boundless power! He wants you to know, intimately and personally, the exceeding greatness of His power that is at work in you! And this is not just any power. The scripture tells us it’s “according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places.”
That’s the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, the same power that set Him at the right hand of God in heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named – that same power is available to you! That same power is at work in you! But you need the spirit of wisdom and revelation to know and understand it! You need your spiritual eyes to be enlightened to see how it works! You need spiritual intelligence to grasp it’s operation!
The Message translation says, “All this energy issues from Christ. God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule.” Jesus Christ is in charge of it all! He has the final word on everything! And this same Jesus Christ has made His resurrection power available to you!
So today, child of God, I want you to pray this prayer of the spirit over your life. Pray for the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God. Pray for your spiritual eyes to be enlightened, flooded with light, illuminated. Pray to know the hope of His calling for your life. Pray to understand the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints. Pray to experience the exceeding greatness of His power that is at work in you. This is the will of God for you! This is what the Holy Spirit wants for your life! Pray and receive it from today!
Pray The Word
Heavenly Father, God of our Lord Jesus Christ, Father of Glory, I thank You for the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of You. Thank You for enlightening the eyes of my understanding and flooding them with Your revelatory light. I receive spiritual intelligence today to know You personally, to understand the hope of Your calling for my life, and to grasp the exceeding greatness of Your resurrection power that is at work in me, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Speak The Word
The spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God is at work in me! The eyes of my understanding are flooded with the revelatory light and knowledge of God! I have spiritual intelligence to know God personally and to see exactly what He is calling me to do! I know the hope of His calling and the glorious inheritance that He has given to His saints! The exceeding greatness of God’s resurrection power is at work in me, according to the same degree that God worked it in Jesus Christ when He raised Him from the dead and set Him at His right hand, far above all principality, power, might, and dominion, in the name of Jesus!
15 Days Of Prayers Of The Holy Spirit Day 1: Spiritual Wisdom, Knowledge & Understanding