Nothing Special

“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. ¹⁸ I pray also 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 the saints,”

--Ephesians 1:17 & 18  [NIV]

“He said to them, "When you pray, say: . .”

-- Luke 11:2 [NIV; emphasis added]

A recent Sunday morning sermon . . .

Me: “I’m here because I love God and I love you.  But, God’s calling –

       God’s grace upon me – compels me.  Woe unto me if I don’t preach

       the Gospel, but you come here for something greater.”

Congregation: Strange looks

Me: “For you to be here on a Sunday, when you could be doing

        something else, shows the depth of your love for Jesus.  And, your

        presence here is a greater honor to the Lord than mine.”

Congregation: Strange looks and mouths agape

What I described in my previous post isn’t something special.  What I mean is that I don’t get any brownie points with God because I’m a minister.  My fellowship with the Spirit of Jesus during my quiet time has nothing to do with the gift of being a minister.  I have a relationship with Jesus as a believer first and then as a minister.  If I don’t believe, then the ministry doesn’t work.

Look at the prayer at the top of the page. 

God wants us to have:

1. Wisdom
2. Revelation
3. Know him better
4. Spiritual insight
5. Know hope
6. Know his glory in the saints

Wow, that’s a lot.

Paul “keeps asking”, but have you kept on asking?  My strongest suggestion would be to start asking by praying that prayer for yourself out loud.  You should pray out loud, because it reinforces it in your memory and because Jesus said to do it.  It may feel a little strange at first, but that’s because you’re asking your flesh to participate in a spiritual act and your flesh isn’t used to it.

You may be asking yourself, “What’s this got to do with quiet time?” Well, part of the point is that we need to put the pieces of what we believe together so that we can see the big picture of who God is and how spiritual things work. 

If you have a revelation of the glory of God living in you, you’ll give quiet time with God greater significance in your schedule.  If you have a revelation of the glory of God living in other believers, you’ll have the wisdom to treat them differently.  Suddenly serving others won’t be such a chore.  If you know him better, fasting won’t be scary.  To have a revelation of him that is from him will make your Bible study something you don’t want to miss.  In fact, to know him better is to want to know him even better still and will allow you to see that knowing God already spills out into every moment of your life.

Let me close in prayer:

Daddy, I come to you in Jesus’ name, and I ask that you would give the reader of this post the will to do your good pleasure in praying Ephesians 1:17-18 for themselves.  Give them a hunger for time alone with you.  Get ‘em, God!  And, I thank you for fruit that remains always.  I believe that I receive all this from your hand of grace, in Jesus’ name.  Amen.