"Hand-Cranked"

Series: Talking Through Ephesians

Open Your Heart's Eyes

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A few months back, we came home to a power outage and dug out our hand-cranked flashlight. Putting our kids to work, we could generate power to light up a little corner of the house for a few minutes. How much cranking would it take to run our entire home? If it depended on our strength, we'd still be in the dark, powerless to accomplish everything we want to do.

Paul frames this first half of Ephesians within praise (Eph. 1:3-14; 3:20-21) and prayer (Eph. 1:15-21; 3:14-19), highlighting our need to depend on the Lord. In Ephesians 1:15-23, he starts with thanksgiving for their faith and love (Eph. 1:15-16). But his prayer focuses on enlightenment (Eph. 1:17-18) and power (Eph. 1:19-23).

The Big Idea

Through faith, the eyes of your heart can perceive the hope awaiting you and God's power toward you. The word enlightenment might conjure images of a cross-legged monk on a mountain. But the enlighted eyes Paul prays for won't come from emptying our mind but filling it with the "word of truth," allowing God's Spirit to seal (Eph. 1:13) and strengthen us (Eph. 3:16).

Paul prays for wisdom and revelation (Eph. 1:17). He imagines eyes within their hearts, asking God to give them light to see the riches of their inheritance (Eph. 1:18). But then, as he prays for them to see "the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe" (Eph. 1:19), he starts unpacking what kind of power he means. That same power raised Jesus from the dead (Eph. 1:20). To grasp it, we need to see that Christ now reigns above every power that is or will ever be (Eph. 1:20-22). The mighty ruler over all — who needs nothing and fills everything — is our head, and we are his fullness (Eph. 1:23). What more power could we need when we stand with the king who conquers all?

The Big Question

Are you trying to operate from your wisdom and power or leaning on the Lord?