The apostle Paul had a prayer for the Ephesians.  Ephesians 1:17-21 “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,  far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.”  This is a prayer that we could all pray for each other.  I only plan to cover the first part of the prayer in this writing.  First of all, he prayed that they would be given the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him and that the eyes of their understanding would be enlightened.   Simply put, I understand this to say that Paul wanted God to give the Ephesians a better understanding of Himself.  It is very important for us to understand God.  I believe that one of the main purposes of the Bible is to help us understand God – who He is, His nature, and how He has dealt with mankind since Adam and Eve, and why He sent His Son to the earth.

One of the reasons Jesus came to the earth was to help us understand God the Father.   John 14:6-9 “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.’ Philip said to Him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?’”   By knowing Jesus, we come to know the Father.  We read how Jesus lived and interacted with the people of His time and we come to know God also: His compassion, love, patience, impatience with hypocrisy, forgiveness, and many other characteristics.

It is good for us to read the Bible and understand about God.  But the apostle Paul prayed that God would reveal Himself to the Ephesians and enlighten them. As we draw closer to God, I believe He will reveal Himself more to us.  James 4:8a “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”  Do you want to know God more?  Continue to read and study the Bible and seek to understand the nature of God.  But also pray that He will reveal Himself to you and “your understanding being enlightened”.  We have an awesome God that we need to know better.  As we do, we can serve and worship Him better.