Pray for Genuine Joy in Knowing God Better

         Have you had your Joy Juice today?  As you drink in the joy of the Lord, remember to pray for your friends.

            Much can be gleaned from the verse in Ephesians 1:18:

“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 holy people.”

We’ve discussed this week

• the eyes of your heart
• enlightenment by listening to the Holy Spirit
• the hope to which God has called us
• and His glorious inheritance that we are promised as His holy people.

           Is there any other “jewel of joy” we can uncover in this verse?  Timothy Keller points out that “Paul does not pray for the goods we would usually have near the top of our lists of requests. Instead he frequently prayed that his friends would know God better. That was what was most important…to have the ‘eyes of their hearts’ enlightened”. 

    Keller goes on to explain: “Biblically, the heart is the control center of the entire self. It is the repository of one’s core commitments, deepest loves, and most foundational hopes that control our feeling, thinking, and behavior. To have the ‘eyes of the heart enlightened’ with a particular truth means to have it penetrate and grip us so deeply that it changes the whole person. …then we not only understand it cognitively, but emotionally we find God’s holiness wondrous and beautiful, and we avoid attitudes and behavior that would displease or dishonor him.”) Excerpt from PRAYER by Timothy Keller )

            Let’s pray for each other to be enlightened and experience the joy of knowing Him better!