God’s Inheritance



Ephesians 1:15-23
15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints,
16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,
18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might
20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,
23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

One of the absolutely brilliant things that Paul leaves us in the beginning of several of the Epistles is rich prayer for those to whom he is writing. Those words can and should be appropriated by us as a fantastic resource of positive, life-giving prayer. In these verses we find a model that can help us pray for ourselves and more importantly for those in our lives. This isn’t new information, but it is helpful to have a reminder every now and then of this prayer gift we have been given.

If you look at verses 16-19, you will find that they can be very easily tailored to form a personal prayer of blessing. Simply take the personal pronouns out and use those spaces to put in a name.

I do not cease to give thanks for _______________, remembering _________________ in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give _________________ the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,  having the eyes of ______________________’s heart enlightened, that ______________________ may know what is the hope to which He has called _____________________, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in ___________________,  and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward __________________ who believes, according to the working of His great might.

It is a simple formula and works fantastically in Colossians 1:9-14 as well. This is a simple devotional tool and is great to use when you want to pray blessing down upon someone, for the answer to this prayer is always “yes”! These are great verses to pray for a child, a friend, your spouse, yourself – and even for your enemy. What happens when we engage in these prayers? The person we pray for receives blessings in the spiritual and you are changed as well, for the words abide in your heart and mind as you pray them. You are especially changed if you pray this prayer for an enemy. You cannot hate someone for whom you pray; at least not for long.

These verses ring with hope and the excitement of a true relationship with the God of the Universe, for in this passage, God calls us His inheritance. We are so very used to being on the receiving end when it comes to our relationship with God. But if you look closely at verse 18, you will see that you are called His inheritance. I think that the verse really goes both ways. We received the inheritance of membership in the eternal kingdom of God. But the verbiage also points out that God considers us HIS inheritance. You are so fantastically important and precious in the eyes of God that He counts you as His reward! This is utterly amazing!

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