Paul’s Prayer in Ephesians 1, Its Context, and What it Means for Us

The reason I took up this particular passage, which has been a passage we used in both our daughters’ dedication ceremonies, is because this prayer and the one in chapter three were both prayers that my Uncle James said that he would pray for me. Uncle James is like a second father to me. So, whenever I read this part of scripture, I think of his prayers for me through the years.

The main idea of Ephesians 1:15-23 is that Paul, being grateful for these saints, prays that they may know the Lord better and that they be aware of the power which they possess in the Lord.

Outline:

Paul’s Gratitude (vv.15-16)
Paul’s Prayer (vv.17-19a)
1. That God would give them the Spirit (v.17)
2. That the eyes of their hearts would be enlightened (vv.18-19a)
  1. That they would know the hope to which God has called them (v.18a)
  2. That they would know the riches of God’s glorious inheritance (v.18b)
  3. That they would know God’s power for them (v.19a)
Paul’s Source of Power for them (vv.19b-23)
1. Same power as raised Christ from the dead (v.20a)
2. Same power that seated Christ in the heavenly realms (v.20b-21)
3. Same power that placed all things under Christ’s feet (v.22a)
4. Same power that made Christ the head of the church (v.22b-23)

The book of Ephesians claims to be the work of Paul, though this has been hotly contested in some circles of contemporary scholarship. Many have pointed out that Paul did not give a personal greeting in this book which is accompanied by the fact that author and reader apparently have some kind of second-hand knowledge of each other, which is the impression which flows from the reading.

Another bit of reasoning in this vein is that Paul seems to address the “foundation” of the church to whom the letter is addressed as being built by “Apostles and prophets” in the third person, not referring to himself as the one who established this “foundation” in 2:20. This and other objections such as the fact that the letter seems to use different definitions than those of the same words that Paul uses elsewhere in other letters presumptively makes the issue of who wrote it to be something of a mystery.

However, the fact that the author does not seem personally connected with his audience, and thus could not be the same Paul who stayed three years in Ephesus, can be addressed by the simple fact that Paul might have originally intended this letter to circulate among several or more churches in the area. The reasoning behind this is that the words in the opening to this epistle do not contain “at Ephesus” in some of the earliest manuscripts. The Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible explains,

…it is not certain that the letter was intended specifically for the Ephesians. Since the time when the kjv was prepared, a great deal has become known about the early manuscripts of the NT. It is now known that the words “at Ephesus” did not appear in two of the earliest manuscripts (Vaticanus; Sinaiticus), nor did it appear in an early papyrus (P47), or in early copies of some citations of early Christian writers.

Without getting too deep into textual critical issues, I would assert that the Epistle to the Ephesians came to be identified with the Ephesian church over time but that it was originally composed to be sent to at least several churches in the same region. This being the case, a person cannot go too deeply into background issues relating to Paul’s time in Ephesus and how that relates to the composition of this epistle. As critics to Pauline authorship have pointed out, the book lacks a traditional greeting and instead comes across as if it were written to persons of whom the apostle had only a second hand knowledge.

Having dealt in the book of Colossians with the “mystery” of Christ revealed and other things, he turned to address several other churches (i.e. the Epistle to the Ephesians) and wrote of the “mystery” of a unified Jew and Gentile union in Christ. Therefore, It is not inappropriate to consider the fact that Paul could have used this same word, i.e. “mystery,” in two different senses both here and in Colossians as he does yet in a third sense in the book of Romans. A person can be very certain that Paul really has not exhausted the implications for any theological concept attached to the word “mystery.” The arguments against Pauline authorship are not strong enough for a person to claim otherwise. At the same time, a person can assert very appropriately that the epistle was written during one of Paul’s imprisonments. Ephesians 4:1 and 6:20 affirm the idea of this as a “prison epistle,” and Rome is considered by scholars to be the most likely place, thus yielding a date of AD 59 through 63.

The book of Ephesians is divided into two main sections, Ephesians 1:15-23 is a part of the first section which consists of chapters 1-3, which addresses doctrine in the church. The latter half of chapters 4-6 addresses application of the doctrine specified in the first section. Within the first three chapters there are two prayers of Paul for the saints in the churches to whom Paul is writing this epistle.

These prayers overflow from the heart of Paul that flow from his discussion of the great blessings of sound doctrine for the church. For example, before Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1:15-23 is the introduction in verses 1-14. The introduction expounds on the great and marvelous blessings and blessedness of the life of the saints “in Christ.” The passage restates over and over again the blessings “in Christ,” “in Him,” “through Jesus Christ,” and “before Him” that the saints are all entitled to being “predestined… for adoption” into God’s family. The one who is “in Christ” is privileged beyond anything comprehensible in this life. There is just so much that Paul can relay about this blessedness that he goes on and on in one long sentence in the original Greek without stopping for breath in verses 3 – 14. Paul is lengthy, and he is on fire.

From out of this initial outpouring of joy comes Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1:15-23. This is the passage in question, and it is on the tail end of Paul’s exuberance, out the gate, for all things “in Christ” that the church possesses. Here is Paul’s prayer for them. After this prayer comes the basis for their salvation in Christ, where what we have “in Christ” not only forms the theme for chapter one, but the constant theme of the entire epistle as this language “in Him” or “in Christ” appears some 40 times continuing into the rest of the book.

After this prayer is the opening section of chapter two and Ephesians 2:8-9, which every good Christian has memorized at some point or another. Here is the answer to the question of how Christians were redeemed and brought into Christ. Doctrinally, Paul has somewhat taken a step back chronologically in the ordo salutis. In chapter one, he is talking about all the effects of being in Christ, and then after this he waxes profoundly on the basis for this blessing “not of works least anyone should boast” (2:9).