Your Unlimited Life (15 page)

Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease 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 to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.

Ephesians 1:15-17

“The spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God” refers to the Spirit of truth. The Spirit of truth brings wisdom (how to apply the truth) and revelation (a revealing of the truth) of the knowledge of God. Paul is praying that the work of the Holy Spirit will happen in this young church’s life because he knows that their success, victory, and prosperity as Christians are dependent upon their walk in truth. It is not dependent on how many miracles they have seen.

RENEWAL TRUTH

Because God’s power (His Spirit) is at work in me,

He is able to do exceedingly abundantly

above all that I could ever ask or think.

(Ephesians 3:20)

Wisdom is to know truth and to know how to apply it. How do we know when a person is wise? They do things that work and that bring good results.

A woman may know about proper relationships with men and about guarding and protecting her life, but that doesn’t mean she is a wise woman. But, when a woman doesn’t get involved with carnal men, or become trapped in her emotions and desires for improper relationships, and doesn’t find herself being used and abused by men of the world, then we would say, “This is a wise woman.” It is in her application of truth that we see wisdom.

P
RAYING FOR
O
THERS

How can we pray for people in our churches and families to help them be the people God wants them to be? To help them find success in their lives?

In verse 17 of Ephesians, chapter 1, when Paul speaks of the Spirit of wisdom, he is speaking of the
Spirit of God
- not some angelic spirit, a human spirit, or a demonic spirit. It is the Spirit of God who brings wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God.

When we pray for people, we pray that they will be healed. We pray that people will prosper. We pray that they will have success in life. But notice, when Paul prays for them, he prays that they will
know the right things
. That is the key for them to be healed, prospered, and to have success in life. When John prays for them in 3 John 2, he prays that they will prosper,
even as their soul prospers,
because he knows that is the key to their success in life.

Far too often, we pray for a change of the symptoms rather than a change of the root cause of the symptoms. We want the body healed, but we fail to go after the thing that caused the sickness in the first place. Remember back to the beginning of this book, the issue is the root and not the fruit. We want the checking account to be prosperous, but we fail to identify what made us poor in the first place. If we go after the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God, then healing, prosperity, and success will come. Why? Because now we are abiding in the anointing and the anointing is leading and guiding us into all truth. And when you know the truth, you will prosper in all things.

RENEWAL TRUTH

Because I abide in Jesus and His Word abides in me,

whatever I ask in line with His will, He does for me.

(John 15:7)

Paul goes on in Ephesians 1:18 to say,
“the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know.”
Paul is praying for us to know something. He is praying for us to have revelation and wisdom in the knowledge of God. So we can know
“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”
(v. 18-20).

Why doesn’t Paul just say, “I pray that the power will hit you upside the head”? If you don’t understand how to walk in truth and power, what it really means is, once a church service is over you will go back out into the real world facing the same problems, and you will end up in the same negative circumstances again. What we have done is, we have tried to impart the power, but we didn’t pray that they would
know
the power. Paul prays that we would
know
. Then, no matter where we are, whether the preacher is present or not, whether it is Sunday or not, whether we have our friend beside us or not, if we have the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, we will be led by the truth (God’s Word).

Usually, we pray for the power to come down, but Paul prayed for us to
know
what Jesus has already done for us. It seems to me that we are always trying to get God to do something, and Paul is praying that
we would plug into what He has already done
.

RENEWAL TRUTH

The Lord has done great things for me.

(Psalm 126:2)

Paul prayed that we would know
“what is the 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”
(Ephesians 1:19-20).

That resurrection power is now ours. While we are busy begging God to send a revival, God is saying, “I sent My Son, I have poured out My Spirit, I have given you My Word, and I have sent laborers to help you understand it, but you are still waiting for something to happen. What else can I do?” We need to stop asking God to give us things He has already given!

I remember sitting in Bible school some thirty years ago. One of my teachers was talking about the days of revival in 1948, and he said, “Those days are coming back and they are going to hit us anytime.” He believed revival was to hit before the 90’s. I raised my hand and asked, “Do we just have to wait for it, or is there something we can do to kick start it?” He said we had to wait on God’s timing. I went out and started a church that grew to five times the size of his church within two years. We went ahead and had our revival, while he was still waiting on revival to come.

This mentality needs to be replaced with the knowledge of what God has already done for us. This is what the renewal of the mind is all about. I am not waiting on God. He is waiting on me. As I am transformed by the renewing of my mind, I begin to establish the perfect will of God. I think when Jesus told the disciples how to pray, He was giving them the perspective that we must have.
“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come…”
(Matthew 6:9-10).

That wasn’t a question or a request. It was a demand on what God has given. “Thy Kingdom be established,” not “Thy Kingdom, I’m coming.”
Thy kingdom come.
Establish it. Make it happen. Put it into the lives of people on earth. Then, “
Your will be done
,” not “If it be Thy will.”

Know the will of God and establish it.
“Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”
(v. 10). Not, “I can’t wait to get to heaven.” No,
Your will be done on earth,
not “I can’t wait until I’m out of here, man. I’ve got the Jonah spirit on me.” If you’ve got Jonah’s attitude, God will find you a special prayer room and it won’t be comfy (like the belly of a whale)!

This attitude that Jesus is giving us is not, “The Kingdom of God is coming.” His Kingdom is in us. We are to establish it and demand that the will of God be done in the earth now. I am helping people to receive this truth and establish it in their own lives. I’m not just waiting for something to hit. It has already hit! Jesus gave His life, the Holy Spirit has come, and the truth has been given. Now, go on and make it happen in your life.