Ephesians 1:16-19 - "I do not cease to give thanks for you." He doesn't complain about the church or people; he give thanks.
"I have a good thanks for people, making mention of you in my prayer. So he's in his prayer. He just thanked God for the people that's been entrusted to him. Now, here's what his prayer is...
He's saying: "My prayer is that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation."
He's praying for the church - that's for believers, that's for you - that God would give you something you need. It's called the spirit of wisdom. It's the Holy Spirit; who imparts wisdom (knowing what to do), and understanding (knowing why to do it).
He prays specifically for three things, and they're all interrelated.
Paul is saying: "...that the eyes of your understanding might be enlightened, that you might know the hope of His calling." Theres the first one.
"...the riches of the glory of His inheritance, (what God gets in you), and the exceeding greatness of His power towards us who believe according to the working of His mighty power."
So he's praying then that God will give us three areas of understanding; that you would understand what God is doing, and this would unfold for you. It would be progressive.
The first one is: that you would understand the hope of your calling. God has called to you. That means he's invited you. He's extended you an invitation. You should know what He's inviting you to. If you don't know what he's inviting you to, then it's hardly likely you will fulfill the invitation. He's inviting us to a great wedding. He's inviting us into sonship. He's inviting us to be part of His plan in changing creation. There's many aspects to what he's inviting us to.
It's called the hope - something you look forward to; something that hasn't happened yet. The hope of his calling.
Paul called it: the prize of the high calling of God. He said: I abandon everything, just to do that.
Many Christians just live to come to services and survive life. That is not how we're designed to live. We're designed to live with a great hope, of God's calling and purpose in our life. We're designed to live out of purpose, so everything connects to that purpose.
And he said (the second thing): "the riches of the glory of his inheritance and the saint."
I pray this prayer over me every day. I pray for the spirit of wisdom, and understanding, knowledge of you, and that the eyes of my understanding might be open. I know the hope of my calling - that's the riches of the glory of your inheritance and the saints.
God has something he wants in you. God has an inheritance. An inheritance comes after someone died. There's something that God has in you, that He's longing for, that's connected to his purpose.
The third thing he prays for is: that you might know the exceeding greatness of His power towards us who believe. He wants you to understand that the power of God is incredible; and He demonstrated through raising Christ from the dead, indicating this hope has to do with us being raised out of this mortal body. Oh, that's a good news! That is great news! That is exciting news!
Most people just think of the inheritance as being, they think of the of what God has for us, as 'going to heaven'. Nothing could be further from the truth. Go see if you can find one verse that says that God's plan is to get you safe, so you can go to heaven. It says: heaven is the place his inheritance is reserved for you.