Eph 1:15-23

In this prayer Paul prays that God will open the eyes of our heart to see three things:

1. the hope of His calling
In Paul’s writings, God’s “calling” is the powerful word of the gospel by which we are called out from the world and called into relationship with Him. Given that understanding, the “hope of His calling” would refer to the confident expectation (hope) we have that He who called us is able to complete the work He has begun in us. (see Phil 1:6)

2. the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints
Paul has already introduced the idea of inheritance earlier in the chapter. In vs 13-14 we discover that the Holy Spirit is given to us in the present as a down payment on our inheritance to be fully received in the future. So in this prayer we find Paul praying first that we would see the hope of our calling (this present reality of the Holy Spirit guaranteeing a future inheritance) and then praying that we would see in the present, by the same Spirit, the scope of that inheritance (the “riches”).

3. the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe
The final thing Paul wants us to see is that the transforming power of that future inheritance that has been guaranteed by the down payment of the Holy Spirit and revealed as God shows us the full scope of that inheritance, can be experienced in the present in anticipation of that future reality in response to faith.

God has called you and is committed to finish that work. The presence of the Holy Spirit in your life today is the guarantee of the completion of that work. God wants you to know in the present the scope of that future inheritance. God wants you to begin to receive in the present, the manifestation of that future inheritance by faith.

Ask Him to talk to you about that today!