Why does Paul pray "that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened" (Ephesians 1:18)?

At verse 15 the apostle ceases to be a teacher and becomes an intercessor — and you will find that he never in prayer pulls down what, as a teacher, he had built up. You will sometimes hear people asking God to love them. I could never make such a prayer as that. I am to pray for a deeper sense of His love. Paul does not ask God to give them this, and the other; but he asks Him that they may have the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him — that the eyes of their understanding may be enlightened. Oh, for a better heart to know these things! But to ask God to love me, to make me a co-heir with Christ, to appoint me to heavenly places in Him! I will make a prayer much more humbling than that, I am so blessed in my calling; so poor in my enjoyment! If God has lit a candle, I will not ask Him to light it, but to take the film from my eyes, that I may see what He has done, what this magnificent purpose is, and the power that has brought us there. So he prays that you may have an eye to discern the brightness of the heavenly glory, and the resurrection-power that has conducted you from such ruins to such glories.

The first prayer is addressed to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, "that he may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of him; the eyes of your heart being enlightened, that ye may KNOW." Now that is of first importance. There must be the intelligence of the mind of God as to the wonderful position the believer and the church has before God and the Father, before there can be any intelligent appreciation of a walk according to it here below. This, then, is what he seeks for the saints, that there may be the full knowledge of Him who is the object of all God's thoughts and counsels — but heart knowledge; not merely the eyes of the understanding, but "the eyes of your HEART [as it really is] being enlightened, that ye may know;" and then follow the three great subjects of the prayer: first, the hope of His calling; secondly, the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints; and lastly, what is the exceeding greatness of the power that has wrought, to put us into the calling, and to make us heirs of the inheritance.

Having unfolded the wonderful counsels of God for the glory of Christ and for the blessing of His saints, the Apostle Paul prayed for the saints at Ephesus, "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him" (Eph. 1:17). It was not enough for the Apostle to unfold the truth to the saints; to understand what he had made known there had to be the spiritual state to enter into it, and this state is that which is capable of apprehending what has been revealed. To receive the things of divine wisdom, we must have the spirit of wisdom; to receive the things divinely revealed we must have the spirit of revelation. It is God that gives this spiritual state, to those who are desirous of it, those who are in communion with Him regarding the things He has made known by revelation.

That God should give His saints the spirit of wisdom and revelation is not referring to the gift of the Spirit of God personally, for verse 13 declared them already to be sealed with the Holy Spirit. But just as "the spirit of meekness" (Gal.6:1) refers to an attitude characterized by meekness, so this is an attitude characterized by both wisdom and revelation. Wisdom is that which applies rightly whatever knowledge we may have learned. But the spirit of revelation is that attitude of soul that is ready to receive directly from the Lord whatever thoughts He may reveal to us. Thus, as we meditate or think about Christ and His Word, precious things may suddenly come to us which are not the result merely of learning and wisdom. Though having always been in His Word, they had not been formerly revealed to us by God. Wonderful are the gracious ways of our God and Father!

This wisdom and revelation is to be "in the knowledge of Him" (v.17), for in knowing Him personally we shall understand far better His counsels and His ways. Also in verse 18 it is not merely the intellect that is to be involved, but "being enlightened in the eyes of your heart" (Translation by J.N.Darby), for the heart symbolizes the very center of our being and implies the whole person from a spiritual viewpoint.

To enter into the truths which form the subject of the Apostle's prayer, we need the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Christ. All the wisdom of God and all the revelation of God's will are made known in Christ. Hence we need the full knowledge of Christ to enter into the wisdom of God, the revelation that God has made known of Himself, and of His counsels.

(v. 18). Further, the knowledge of Christ for which the Apostle prays, is no mere intellectual knowledge, but a heart acquaintance with a Person, for he says (as the text should read), “being enlightened in the eyes of your heart”. Again and again we see in Scripture, and learn by experience, that God teaches through the affections. It was so in the case of the poor, sinful woman of Luke 7, who “loved much” and quickly learned. It was so in the case of a devoted saint, Mary Magdalene, in John 20. Her affection for Christ was apparently more in activity on the resurrection day than that of Peter and John, and to this loving heart the Lord revealed Himself, and gave the wonderful revelation of the new position of His brethren in relationship with the Father.

In 1:17, the prayer begins by asking of the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Originator of all that is truly glorious, that He will also impart the full knowledge of it. Every word and phrase of the opening section underline the fact that, although this kind of knowledge can be learned, we are dependent on God for this learning by His Spirit. "May give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him" is closely parallel with Isaiah 11:2 about Messiah: "the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord." God has given His Spirit, but this request is for the wisdom, revelation, and knowledge, which are some of His mighty works. We ought never to be afraid to pray for knowledge, the right kind of knowledge, coming to us from the right source.

A very special light is cast on this knowledge by what follows: "the eyes of your heart being enlightened." It is idle to make anatomical distinctions between head and heart and the approximate distance between them. All knowledge must in fact involve the brain, that is, in the popular phrase, be head knowledge. The bearing of "the eyes of your heart" can only be, following the insistence that it comes from God by revelation of His Spirit, that this knowledge is also in a special way bound up with the affections. In other words, the meaning is akin to the condemnation of knowledge in 1 Corinthians 8:2 and 13:2 as well as in 1 John 4:8. Knowledge separated from divine love in the heart, is knowing nothing as we "ought to know."

The effect of having "the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him" is Divine illumination, as the next verse shows. It is not only that we know these truths as in the Word, but to have them as spiritual illuminations in our souls is a far greater thing.

Thus we have the prayer that "the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of him." There might be a little difficulty if it were simply "the knowledge of him." The proper meaning of the word is "the full knowledge of him." They already knew Him, but Paul prayed that they might know Him more. He wanted them to be fathers in Christ, and what constitutes a father is a deep and growing knowledge of Christ Himself. The Spirit of God alone could give them this entrance into it; but it was in the full knowledge of Him. "The eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe." We have three things here brought before us, which call for particular consideration.

First, there is "the hope of his calling." Now I conceive that there he is referring in measure to what we have already found in the early part of the chapter. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love." At any rate, I think verse 4 is before his mind's eye here. Verse 5 brings in His place as Father. "The hope of his calling" is founded on the full blessedness that pertains to us according to that purpose of God which is already ours in Christ — already made known to us and received by our hearts — the calling of God that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. But then if this be the hope of His calling (for everything is made to flow from God Himself), he adds, "and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints." (Ver. 12.) There clearly he refers to what we found in the body of the chapter: the inheritance and not only the calling. The calling was the effectual work of God's grace, and the riches of the inheritance rather the glory suited to such a calling. But, besides this character of glory, there is, first, the hidden portion suitable to being chosen to be holy and without blame before Him in love — called to be the reflection of His own holy, loving nature, which, of course, we have got in the life of Christ, and which we shall have perfectly developed when changed into His image, from glory to glory. For His calling has its own proper hope of what we shall enjoy in His presence.

We come to know the wonders of God's purposes and work in connection with the knowledge of Himself. As we know Him we know that which springs forth from Him. Hence the first request of the Apostle concerns "the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him." We can only know Him by revelation, since by no amount of searching can we discover Him; and again on our side wisdom is needed, that spirit of wisdom which comes from the Spirit of God.

Paul first desires that the Father of glory would give the saints the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him. This belongs to the spiritual state necessary for the reception of the divine communications vouchsafed. It is altogether impossible to apprehend the wisdom and intelligence in which God has abounded to us in the revelation of the mystery of His will apart from having this spirit of wisdom; nor can we truly enter into the blessed revelation that God has made of Himself in His wonderful purpose unless we have the spirit of revelation. This spirit is surely the spiritual affinity, produced within us through communion with God in regard to the communications He has made. We are often content to go on in a low spiritual state in which we cannot enter into God's highest thoughts for us; and the precious things pertaining to the full knowledge of God lie unexplored and unknown. Our knowledge of God largely depends on the character of our communion with Him. Most pray to God for their needs, and about their troubles; others will also pray for the prosperity of the Gospel, and it may be for the whole field of God's interests in the world; but how few comparatively go to God to speak with Him about His purpose and the glory of His Son. It is this last that will give us from God the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him. Depend upon it, if we are absorbed with present things, even if it be with things that are right in themselves, we are not likely to be much concerned with God's purpose, and the great wealth of blessing which is ours because of it. It is not that we may not know the terms of the full know-ledge of God as revealed in these preceding verses; the eyes of our hearts being enlightened would indicate that it is necessary to have the light of them in terms* before there can be the true knowledge in the heart. Two things are therefore essential for knowing these things; first, the spiritual state to apprehend the truth; second, the light brought before us through ministry from God.