Prayer from Ephesians 1:3

Ephesians 1:3--NIV--Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

Eph. 2:6--NIV--And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.

Rom. 8:11--NIV--And if the spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of His Spirit who lives in you.

Rom. 8:17--NIV--Now, if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory.

There is a whole lot of theology in these scriptures that can be broken down into a shorter statements. When we receive Jesus Christ as our personal savior, God considers us His child. He gives us the same rights to His power and authority as he gave Jesus. We are filled with the same powerful Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead.

That's how God sees us. And, indeed, that is how satan sees us. He can spot us anywhere because of the robe of righteousness we wear and the shroud of the the Holy Spirit that hovers around us as we walk the earth. That readily identifies the children of God as we walk through this world of sin.

Here is the condensed meaning of verse three. Every spiritual blessing that the Father has created been given to us, His children. Jesus, died on the cross for our sins and bought back for us every spiritual blessing of the Father. The same Holy Spirit that watched over Jesus as he suffered, died and rose from the dead stands ready to empower every saint that would dare submit themselves wholly to the Father's will.

The Apostle Paul (verse 1) found the Father's will for his life and submitted himself wholeheartedly to it. He was willing to suffer, if need be. Yet, he saw the glory of God manifested in ways that many of his day had never seen. (All of us are different and God has His own way of using each and every one of us.) Acts 19 describes special miracles by the hands of Paul as he prayed over handkerchiefs and aprons. In Acts 13 he commanded a man to be blind for a season.

Paul followed hard after God to do His will. He prayed hard and stayed connected to the Holy Spirit in the middle of each crisis. He saw the will of God and miracles about to happen, 1 Thessalonians 5:18--In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

 Every hard trial began a new adventure for Paul. His statement of faith from Ephesians 1:3 would be, "Here comes a blessing of God that I have never seen before." Then, in the middle of the pain (Acts 16) Paul would pray and sing praises to God. And God would show up in a way that Paul had never experienced.

Pray with me:

Father, I've gone through some hard trials in my life that I just don't see why You placed them in my way. I've hurt and stewed over them for years. Today, I'm going to be like Paul. I'm going praise You and sing praises to you in spite of my hurt. I want to tap into those spiritual blessings that You have given me and that Jesus bought and paid for. Holy Spirit be my comforter and be my guide as I walk each day. Reveal to me the things I need to know and be aware of. As I spend time with you show me the things of God that are rightfully mine. Help me to enjoy my walk with You each day instead of just enduring the pain. Strengthen me to know and do the will of the Father. Help me to reach the lost. Give me a kind word to say to those that are hurting. Help me to be able to see the vision of what the Father wants me to do. Help me to go after it with all of my heart every day. In Jesus Name, Amen.