Wisdom & Revelation

"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe." Ephesians 1:17-19 (ESV)

This prayer that Paul prays for the Ephesians has always been a favorite of mine. The words stir a sense of empowerment and the thrill of being alive inside of me. They remind me of who I truly am and what I have in Christ. I've needed that reminder from time to time and, especially in the day we are living in, so do the people around us. You don't need to look far to find people who are just trying to get by. They are numbly checked out as they go through the motions of their daily life. Maybe life is too scary right now to want to be fully experiencing it, or maybe people are just exhausted. I know I felt the sense of exhaustion myself at the beginning of the summer. That kind of existence keeps us from taking risks, reaching out, and boldly believing the promises God has made to us.

The Lord has gently been reminding me lately to pray for a Spirit of wisdom and revelation for His people. I recently began reading a book by John Eldredge called "Waking the Dead: The Glory of a Heart Fully Alive." In it Eldredge reminds us how imperative it is that we have both wisdom and revelation if we are going to walk with God.

It is by wisdom that I know that this season, this economy, will not last forever. Too many times in my youth I believed the enemy's lie that this was the way life would always be. My mother said to me on many occasions that I felt were the end of the world, "This too shall pass." So many times the Lord has echoed those words in my heart, as in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 which says "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." My prayer is that in the years to come, when the intensity of the moment has passed, I will look back on this season knowing I was not overwhelmed by the momentary trial but that my eyes and heart were steadfast on the eternal glory God has for me.

It is by revelation that I see the signs of transition all around us. God is moving, there is no doubt. Perhaps now, more than ever, we can not afford to be checked out. We must hear his voice. As Pastor Jon has said, we must follow the sound of the river. We must be as John 3:8 describes us, "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit" (NIV). In his book, "The World Aflame" Rick Joyner describes how the leaders of the Welsh Revival took this verse to heart. "They did not try to figure out where the Spirit was going next, they only tried to stay close enough to hear the sound of it" (page 16).

And so Lord Jesus, I ask that you release a Spirit of wisdom and revelation to your people, especially at New Life, that we may know you, and that our hearts may be fully alive with hope. That we would live as children of rich inheritance and glory and incomparably great power. That we would move at the sound of your voice without hesitation or fear. In Jesus name. Amen.