If we want to effectively tap the resources for the more abundant life, we must find out what is available to us, what God has promised us. There is only one place where we can possibly go to find out what God has available to us and for us: we must go to the Word of God. It contains “all things that pertain unto life and godliness” (II Peter 1:3). Therefore, we can have confidence because it shows us clearly, in the broad strokes and in the finer details, the proper way to think and live. By looking at a prayer in the Epistle of Ephesians, we will see what knowledge is available to us from God. God wants us to know the hope of His calling, His inheritance, and the exceeding greatness of His power.
Let’s begin reading the first prayer in Ephesians to see what the Apostle Paul, by revelation, is praying for.
Ephesians 1:15-18:
Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,
Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
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 [heart] being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling….
The first prayer in Ephesians is about knowledge of what is available, and it lists three categories.
The first category we are to know is “the hope of his [God’s] calling.” This phrase could be translated as “the hope, that is to say, God’s calling.” Hope relates to something that a person cannot have now but can have in the future. Hope looks forward with expectation. Because it is not yet available, Christ’s return is something we hope for. Jesus Christ will return to gather the saints sometime in the future, and when he does, we shall see him “as he is” (I John 3:2). We anticipate the return of Christ—when we will be gathered together, receive a new body, and be rewarded. Then we shall be forever with the Lord. How inspiring it is to have a heart illuminated with light regarding the Hope! What else does God want us to know?
Ephesians 1:18:
…and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.
God’s inheritance is us, His saints. This is the second category in Paul’s prayer available for us to know. God has a vested interest in our lives because we are His inheritance. As born-again ones, we have His gift of holy spirit. He has put His incorruptible seed in us (I Peter 1:23), and we are His beloved and precious children forevermore. The Word says in I John 3:2 that we are now sons of God and in Colossians 1:27 that we have Christ in us—inherent spiritual power in the gift of holy spirit.
From Paul’s prayer to God in Ephesians 1, we learn it is available to have the eyes of our hearts illuminated so that we know that His inheritance is us!
The third category of knowledge available is
Ephesians 1:19:
And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power.
We are to know the exceeding greatness of His—God’s—power. The power given to all of us who believe when we become born again of God’s spirit has such exceeding, surpassing, and superabundant greatness. Believing is the greatest principle in all of life and the greatest law in the Word of God. Believing appropriates; it brings to pass the promises of God. In this context, believing opens up to us the surpassing greatness of God’s power as the eyes of our hearts are flooded with light. Because of the greatness of the potential power that we have with Christ in us, you and I can do the works Jesus Christ did and greater (John 14:12).
The Book of Acts shows how believers walked with great power manifested by many signs and wonders (Acts 2:43; 5:12), including miraculous healings, raising a person from the dead (Acts 9:36-41), and casting out a devil spirit (Acts 16:16-18). We have access to that same potential power when we believe. We, too, can make a great difference in the world as we walk by the spirit, operating the nine manifestations of holy spirit.
The first thing that we must find in our quest to tap the resources for the more abundant life is what is available. The first prayer in Ephesians shows that it is available to know the hope of God’s calling. We can know that God’s inheritance is us and that we can have a mighty impact as we walk in the surpassing greatness of His power as we believe. God wants us to know (1) the hope of His calling, (2) His inheritance, and (3) the exceeding greatness of His power. Let us therefore walk with confidence because we KNOW.