Monday: Experiencing Insight From the Holy Spirit
“I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 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” (Ephesians 1:16-17, ESV).
In reporting his prayers, Paul records one central request that he places before the throne of God. He has already noted that the Holy Spirit has come into believers’ lives at the time of their conversion (Ephesians 1:13-14). Now Paul prays for a fresh blessing of the Spirit to give needed spiritual insight focused on a deepened understanding of Jesus (“in the knowledge of him,” Ephesians 1:17).
Paul prays that the Holy Spirit will bring special insight to believers on what three topics? See Ephesians 1:17-19.
Image © Jim Gerlitz at Goodsalt.com
When Paul prays for insight for them about “the hope to which he has called you” (Ephesians 1:18, ESV), he prays that they will be alert to the past actions God has already taken for their salvation (Ephesians 1:3-9, Ephesians 1:11-13) and to the glorious future He has planned for them (Ephesians 1:10, Ephesians 1:14).
When he prays for insight into “the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:18, NKJV), he is recalling the Old Testament idea of believers as God’s inheritance (Deuteronomy 9:29, Deuteronomy 32:9, Zechariah 2:12, compare Ephesians 1:11). He wishes them to know that they not only possess an inheritance from God, but that they are God’s inheritance, and Paul wants them to understand their value to God.
When Paul prays for spiritual insight about “the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe” (Ephesians 1:19, NKJV), he imagines the Holy Spirit bringing fresh understanding of the immensity of God’s power and actualizing it in their experience.
In all these prayers, Paul wants these people to experience for themselves what they have been given in Jesus.
| How can you better experience “the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe”? What does this mean in daily life? |
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We carry a lot of baggage when it comes to the work of the Holy Spirit. On the one hand, we have the charismatic, "speaking in tongues" movement promoting the notion of ecstatic experiences as evidence of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives. And on the other hand, we have those who are praying for an "outpouring of the latter rain" as though it is the magic that is going to usher in the time of the end.
My scientific mind does not resonate well with some of these images. I am the sort of person who finds it difficult to raise my hands in the air and wave them about while singing, let alone bursting into some sort of charismatic event. But I do find a strong association with the idea of "insight".
I know what it is to work on a computing problem far into the early hours of the morning, struggling to understand the interactions and nuances of a problem; even going to sleep at the keyboard; but waking to find the solution in all its clarity staring me in the eye. So often it is after the deep struggle and the feeling of absolute frustration with the problem that you relax and then your brain kicks in and the solution disentangles itself from the mess that you have created.
And in our spiritual lives, when we are frustrated with our spiritual progress and think we have made a big mess, then the Holy Spirit steps in with insight; not with charismatic "Umpah",glossalalia, and "slaying in the Spirit", but with peace and understanding.
The work of the Holy Spirit is described simply:
This is a very practical Holy Spirit.
I love your analogies! Well said.
Huperballo is the Greek word used for “exceeding” in Ephesians 1:19.Huper is “above” or beyond, and “ballo” means “throw”.For us to experience the boundless overthrow of God’s power(“dunamis” in Greek) , we have to let that power which can never be equaled or rivaled work within us beyond measure.Our hearts’ eyes also, the eyes of our understanding,need not be dull, but enlightened(Ephesians 1:18) by the spiritual light.
We also have to depend upon God for us to experience that limitless power.We have to wait on God and have confidence on His promises.
In our daily lives,we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.Phillipians 4:13
"The apostle Paul makes supplication to God: “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.” But the mind must first be made adaptable to the nature of the truth to be investigated. The eyes of the understanding must be enlightened, and heart and mind brought into harmony with God, who is truth. He who beholds Jesus with the eye of faith sees no glory in himself; for the glory of the Redeemer is reflected into the mind and heart. The atonement of his blood is realized, and the taking away of sin stirs his heart with gratitude. Being justified by Christ, the receiver of truth is constrained to make an entire surrender to God, and is admitted into the school of Christ, that he may learn of him who is meek and lowly of heart. A knowledge of the love of God is shed abroad in his heart. He exclaims, O, what love! What condescension! Grasping the rich promises of faith, he becomes a partaker of the divine nature. His heart being emptied of self, the waters of life flow in, and the glory of the Lord shines forth. Perpetually looking unto Jesus, the human is assimilated by the divine. The believer is changed into his likeness."-RH February 18,1896 par. 11-EG White.
The idea of studying the Sabbath school lesson has been ingrained in me to a point where if I don't or fall short of looking at the word for a day or so I somehow feel that there is something lacking or I'm missing on something, (seems to me that the Holy Spirit is just waiting to impart some spiritual insight).
So, I was looking on the word "insight" as mentioned as I studied the lesson. I was amazed of how important the word is, and the wealth if information that is impacted in this profound word. here are a few: acumen, astuteness, insight, subtlety, just to name a few, based on the prayers that the apostle Paul prayed. It is the Holy Spirit that gives us this insight.
Sometimes, I find it appalling how we trivialize the working and or leadings of the Holy Spirit. Often you will hear some Christians mention that they were arguing with the with the Holy Spirit about something He tells them to do, (give me a break). The bible states that when we receive the Holy Spirit we will become witness for Jesus Christ. so I wonder who's this spirit they are talking about.
God is every positive thing that we can describe. Sometimes, our limited minds try to "box" Him, and we may even adore Someone we don't know! But again, His best definition is LOVE, and true love is free and gives freedom! God is every positive thing we can live through!
I see more than just three things that Paul prays for here besides "Wisdom, Knowledge, and Enlightement: I also see here hope of God's calling, Riches of Glory of His inheritance, and Greatness of His Power.
Each day our prayer should include a petition that the Holy Spirit be our teacher and our minds be acceptable to his leading.
Perhaps the folks who are praying for the latter rain to be poured out are the ones who read in the opening chapters of Acts how thousands were converted in a day and that that was only a foretaste of what we can expect in the latter days! They believe Jesus when He said "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth".
For this reason, they are praying for the Holy Spirit to prepare people's hearts when "the gospel of the kingdom to be preached unto all the world as a witness unto all nations; and then the end shall come". With today's technology, we should already witness what we thought was impossible. With God all things are possible!
Yes, Tom! We are getting closer and closer to the return of our Master!
How can you better experience “the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe”? What does this mean in daily life?
We already believe, for a great experience, trust, have faith and obey! I wish it were as simple, but knowing that the Holy Spirit dwells in us, we should always remember to start each waking moment with thanksgiving and recognition of who we are in Christ.
How can we better experience "the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe"?
What I have found is when self is put aside, knowing my efforts are fruitless, and through earnest prayer placing it in God's hands, this results in some of the most remarkable experiences of realizing the greatness of His power.
I love the account in the Old Testament of the Prophet Elijah when he had already seen "Scientific," and "Extra ordinary Weather, manifestations of God's Power," wind, earthquake, and fire and God was not there at all for him until he heard "A Still Small Voice," telling him that God still had 7,000 that had not bowed to Baal even after Elijah still thought that he was the only one left in Israel that was still loyal to God. Jacob had that kind of experience when he was left alone to wrestle with someone he thought was an enemy but all along it was God's Angel like Elijah's still small voice. And that is how we can also become victorious with God in learning to wrestle with Him to give us victory over our defects in our characters etc. and etc.