Prayers Of The Spirit: The Experiential Knowledge of God’s Love
Study The Word
Philippians 1:9 (KJV)
“And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment.”
Here is another prayer that the Holy Spirit Himself has put into the scriptures for us—a prayer that unlocks one of the most profound spiritual realities available to every child of God. Now the Apostle Paul doesn’t just pray that your love would increase; he prays that your love would abound. And then he doesn’t stop there—he says “yet more and more in knowledge.” Wow, so there is an intensity to this thing that is also being revealed? An intensity that’s progressive, an ever-expanding intensity of the nature of what God’s desire is for you regarding your knowledge and experience of His love?
So God is not satisfied with you having just a little bit of a knowledge or an experience of His love. He’s not content with you experiencing His love in some distant, theoretical, textbook way. There’s an progressive intensity where he wants your love to intensify, to overflow, to super-abound still more and more in knowledge! This is the will of God, ever-increasing, ever-expanding, ever-growing experience of His love both in you and through you!
But here’s where it gets interesting, and it’s important to pay very close attention to this because this is the key that unlocks everything else. The scripture says your love is to abound still more and more “in knowledge.” Now, you might study this and think, “Okay, knowledge—I understand that word.” But you’d need to learn more. And the Greek word used here is not the ordinary word and understanding for knowledge that you are familiar with. The word used here is “epignosis.“
ἐπίγνωσις epignosis knowledge – full knowledge, precise knowledge, experiential knowledge, revelation knowledge, complete and exact knowledge
You see, epignosis is full and complete, experiential knowledge. It’s a knowledge that brings you into an experience! This is not theoretical knowledge from studying books or head knowledge that just works in your brain. This is transformative knowledge that comes from interaction and experience. So there’s a beautiful, divine cycle happening here that the Holy Spirit wants you to understand and enter into.
Your experience of the love of God will give you a knowledge of the love of God that is ever increasing with every every experience! Remember there’s a massive difference between knowing about something and actually experiencing it. For example: I can tell you about the taste of honey all day long. I can describe its sweetness, its texture, its golden color. I can give you the chemical composition of honey. I can explain the process by which bees create honey, or you can read about it in a book. But until you actually taste honey for yourself, and experience it for yourself you don’t really know honey. You have information about honey, but you don’t have epignosis of honey. You get it? You have data, but you don’t have experience. You’ll have facts, but you won’t have revelation.
ἀγάπη agape love – the love of God, sacrificial love, affectionate & humble, patient & kind, giving & forgiving, eternal – unchanging & unending, unconditional & reliable active benevolent love of God.
This is exactly what the Holy Spirit is communicating through this prayer. He’s saying that your love—the agape love of God that has been shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Spirit according to Romans 5:5—is meant to grow and increase through experiential knowledge.
This is the highest form of love, divine love, unconditional love, sacrificial love—and this love is meant to keep growing in you through experience! The more you experience the love of God, the more you know the love of God. And the more you know the love of God experientially, the more you can walk in it, live it, and express it to others glory to God!
And
the more you walk in it and express it, the more it abounds and increases! Glory to God! It’s a divine cycle of ever-increasing love that never stops, never plateaus, never reaches a ceiling, never runs dry!
Let me show you how the Amplified Version puts it: “And this I pray, that your love may abound more and more, displaying itself in greater depth in real knowledge and in practical insight.” The Word says in real knowledge and in practical insight! So this is not theoretical love that you read about in a theology book. Or sentimental gush that rises and falls with your emotions. Think about it, this is not religious performance on deliverables and acceptance from church superiors kind of love, that looks good on the outside but is empty within. What epignosis is referring to is real, experiential, practical love of God that grows deeper and deeper as you get to know God intimately and experientially.
περισσεύω perisseuō abound – to exceed, to overflow, to have in abundance, to be more than enough, to super-abound
Let’s look deeper and get into the he word “abound” which is the Greek word “perisseuō,” and it means to exceed, to overflow, to have in abundance, to be more than enough, to super-abound!
This is the kind of love God wants operating in your life—love that is more than enough, love that overflows, love that exceeds every expectation, love that super-abounds! He wants you overflowing! He wants you exceeding! He wants your love tank so full that it spills over onto everyone around you and transforms your environment.
And notice—this abundant love is directly connected to your knowledge of God. The more you know Him, the more you experience Him, the more revelation you receive of who He is and how much He loves you—the more your love grows.
Spend time in His presence. Meditate on His Word. Pray, worship and fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Because in those moments of intimate fellowship with your Heavenly Father, you will begin to gain epignosis-knowledge. You begin to gain experiential knowledge. Every moment you spend in intimate fellowship with Him is an investment in this ever-increasing, ever-abounding love that transforms everything about your life!
So today, make the decision: I will no longer be satisfied with gnosis. I will pursue epignosis. I will press into experience. I will let the love of God flood my heart until it transforms every area of my life. This is your time to grow, to increase, to abound still more and more in the knowledge of God’s love!
Glory to God! Hallelujah!
Pray The Word
Heavenly Father, I thank You for this revelation of epignosis—the experiential knowledge of Your love. I pray today that my love would abound yet more and more, not in mere information, but in real, revelation knowledge of who You are and how deeply You love me. Flood my heart with the experience of Your love, Father. Let Your liquid love envelop me, transform me, and cause my love to super-abound still more and more in knowledge and in all discernment. I choose today to move from knowing about Your love to truly knowing Your love experientially, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Speak The Word
The love of God that is shed abroad in my heart super-abounds still more and more in epignosis—in experiential, revelation knowledge! I don’t just know about God’s love; I experience God’s love daily. The more I know Him, the more my love grows and increases beyond measure. I am being brought into the rich revelation of spiritual insight through my intimate experience of the Father’s love.
15 Days Of Prayers Of The Holy Spirit Day 7: Growth In Love, Knowledge & Discernment