In this week’s podcast, we are headed to the book of Ephesians to take a look at spiritual revelations. That book contains several prayers that Paul prayed for the Ephesian believers. Often, you wonder how or what we should pray for our fellow believers in Christ. Well, the Holy Spirit helped us in this area. He had Paul write these prayers out in detail. We have a record of the exact words that Paul uttered to God the Father for them. Now, you can find these words starting in Ephesians 1:15–23 and Ephesians 3:14–19. If Paul thought that these prayers were important to pray for the Ephesian church, do you think that you can pray the same prayers for your church and yourself? Thank God – the answer to that is a resounding yes. I mean, you are in the church. You are part of the body of Christ. Everything that the Lord laid out in these prayers, God wants you to have. He desires that you flow and move in a revelation of His power. He wants to be filled with strength in your inner being. These prayers are one of the primary prayers that I pray for others. I am praying these prayers for you right now. ‘Father, in the Name of Jesus, I pray for the listening audience concerning this podcast. I ask you, Lord, to grant unto them all, a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of you — in the knowledge of Your Word. Let the eyes of their heart be opened — be enlightened that they may know you in a greater way. Strengthen them with might by your spirit in their inner mind – that Christ may dwell in their hearts by faith. I pray for them now and I thank you for doing it in advance.” You know I have prayed these prayers hundreds and hundreds of times over the course of my life. And I am going to keep doing it. There are spiritual things in these prayers that you need to get a hold of — that you need active and working in your life. These prayers will enrich and elevate your life, just like they have lifted my life. Let’s take a particular look at one of these prayers today. Why God Wants You to Have Spiritual Revelation Flowing In Your Life, that’s our focus on this week’s Light On Life.

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Read the Notes

You can view a basic transcript of this podcast at the bottom of this section.

Accept the Challenge

Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put it into operation.
This weeks call is:

All that is left for you now is to take action and begin to pray this Ephesian prayer. Pray that God will grant the people in your world spiritual revelation in the knowledge of Him.

Join the Conversation

Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony. Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11).
This week’s question is:

Question: Share a testimony concerning how a spiritual revelation from heaven changed your life? Please leave a comment in the comments section below.

Episode Resources

You can find more information on the subject of the Spirit-Led Life by clicking on the links above.

1. #S1-001: Does the Holy Spirit Speak Today?[Podcact]
2. #S1-002: Being Led by Peace Conscience and the Inward Witness

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 40 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. Both he and his wife Sharon of 37 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is both the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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If you enjoyed the podcast, please rate it on Stitcher Radio and leave a review. If you have a suggestion for a Bible topic, you would like to see taught, or if you have a question, please e-mail me at emery@emeryhorvath.com.

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Podcast Notes

Bible Background: The Book of Ephesians

• As we go through the book of Ephesians, and that’s what we are doing in this series, we will add a little Bible background in each podcast. That way, you will get the feel of this book as it was being written in the first century.
• And with that thought, here is the Historical Background of the day.
• Ephesus – was a seaport city on the Aegean Sea, but it was not your typical seafaring city.
• The harbor traffic had been in decline over the previous 200 years.
• Deforestation (quest for timber), overgrazing, the destructiveness of the Mediterranean goat nibbling away at the mountainside all caused the topsoil to wash away into the harbor – choking it off.
• Ephesus was an economically depressed city.
• Because of that, the city turned to the tourist trade that centered around the Temple of Artemis.
• Another name for the Temple of Artemis is the temple of the great goddess Diana.
• Diana and Artemis are the same false god — just different names.
• Diana was a fertility god, and there was a great deal of wrong sexual sin involved in the worship of this idol.
• Many people came in from the outside to worship in this temple to partake of all that there was.
• Tourists came from and near.
• These people needed places to stay.
• They needed hotels.
• The city capitalized on the tourist trade and their need for food.
• I mean, you have to eat, and so the restaurant business was in full force.
• Then there were the dedication offerings — there was money in providing that.
• Of course, you have to have souvenirs, and so, silver souvenir shrines were made and sold.
• So a lot of money flowed because of the worship surrounding this false god.
• Ephesus built a business and sustained it on idolatry.
• Look for a moment in Acts nineteen.

A Riot in Ephesus

• Acts nineteen recounts the events of a riot that took place in Ephesus.
• Paul was at the center of it.

Acts 19:1–8 (ESV) — 1 And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 2 And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” 4 And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. 7 There were about twelve men in all. 8 And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.

• So, when Paul went into this city teaching the gospel and gaining converts.
• When he did that, and people came to Jesus, it cut into the religious aspect of worshiping these false gods.
• Temple attendance began declining.
• People weren’t worshiping Diana anymore; they were turning to Jesus.
• With that decline in temple attendance came a decline in the industry.
• People weren’t buying dedication offerings to Diana anymore.
• They quit buying shrines.
• The economy was tanking.
• Paul refused to let up.

Acts 19:9–12 (ESV) — 9 But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. 10 This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. 11 And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.

• The power of God was moving.
• Revival fire was falling all over the city.
• Then came another lighting bolt out of heaven that electrified the city.
• That power surge blew up the stronghold of the enemy in that town.

Lightning from Heaven: Paul and the Seven Sons of Sceva

Acts 19:13–20 (ESV) — 13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. 18 Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.

• The Lord is moving — the power of God is changing people’s life — they are repenting — calling on the Name of the Lord — they are getting saved left and right.
• The Seven sons of Sceva are headed for the hills.
• Mass bonfires are being set.
• Witchcraft books are being burned.
• The devil’s works are in ashes.

Acts 19:23–41 (ESV) — 23 About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. 24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. 25 These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. 26 And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. 27 And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.” 28 When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s companions in travel. 30 But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. 31 And even some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. 32 Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. 33 Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. 34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 35 And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky? 36 Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. 37 For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. 38 If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. 39 But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly. 40 For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” 41 And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.

• So, why are you going into all of this?
• I am giving you the background of how the church of Ephesus came to be.
• It was born in a powerful revival of God’s Spirit.
• The church came into being with miraculous power.
• Mighty displays and moves of God’s power all started with a little man who taught the Word of God in Ephesus.
• This Apostle of God is praying for this church.
• He is continuing to teach this church — and build this church up.
• Many times, when Paul would write a letter to a church, he would deal with problems that the Christians in that church or city were having.
• But, not this church — not Ephesus.
• When Paul writes this letter, he deals with no outstanding problems.
• Ephesus is not like Corinth.
• In Pauls’ letters to the Corinthians, he deals with one problem after another, from incest to the wrong use of tongues.
• When Paul wrote a letter to the Galatians, he was dealing there with legalism.
• In Colossi, in Paul’s letter to the Colossian, Paul was trying to correct the whole worshiping of angels.
• In Titus, Paul dealt with the Creatians, who were described as evil bellies and slow beasts.
• We are not saying that the Ephesian believers were perfect.
• Newborn believers are going to make mistakes.
• Immature Christians are going to sin.
• Even grown-up Christians make errors in judgment.
• But apparently, these Ephesian believers had been able to establish their Christianity in the midst of an idol worshiping, fornication-filled environment.
• And the impact they had turned that whole city upside down.
• Do you know that you can live holy and clean while everyone around you is living badly?
• Did you know that you can be an established believer even though the environment is not conducive toward purity?
• You can make an impact with God’s power in the lives of others.

Pauls’ Prayer for Spiritual Revelation

Ephesians 1:15–23 (ESV) — 15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

The Word ‘Revelation ‘ in Today’s Church Circles

• Interestingly, in the city called the ‘Light of Asia’, Paul instructs the Ephesians to pray for light and pray for a spiritual revelation of God’s power.
• The term revelation is a term used lightly in today’s church circles.
• But, there is an old saying…
• Anything lightly spoken is easily broken.
• Some see receiving revelations from God as a badge of spirituality.
• We are not spiritual because we received a revelation; we are spiritual when we do the revelation we have received.
• Every real revelation requires a new dedication.
• Spiritual revelations will be few and far between if the Lord understands that you will not do much with what He tells you.
• We aren’t spiritual because we received a revelation. Were spiritual when we do the revelation God gave us.

Exodus 3:2–4 (ESV) — 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”

• When God saw what Moses would do, God revealed Himself to Moses by calling Him out of the bush.
• Unless God knows that you will ‘turn aside and see,’ He will not ‘light your bush.’
• Spiritual revelations from God come, insights into His Word are experienced if you handle it right the first time.
• When you do, you get another chance.
• If you mishandled a chance, repent.
• Tell the Lord you messed up, and then handle it right the next time.

How You Hear and What You Hear

Mark 4:24 (ESV) — 24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.

Luke 8:18 (ESV) — 18 Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.”

• Jesus said, take heed to what you hear. He also said, take heed how you hear.
• Content and attitude.
• Remember, it’s a big thing you are asking when you ask God to disclose Himself to you.
• Think of how little we disclose ourselves to one another.
• God does not uncover Himself or His treasures casually to anyone.
• Casual folks get very little from God.
• It’s those hungry for God and God’s glory that are filled and satisfied.

Having a Spiritual Revelation of God’s Power

• Paul prayed that the church would have a revelation of what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe.
• Here are some powerful points on power.

Powerful Points on Power: Understand God’s Power by God’s Creation

Solar Power

• The sun radiates more energy in one second than man has used collectively since the beginning of civilization. ¹
• A typical quasar, in one second, throws out enough energy to supply the earth’s electrical needs for the next billion years. ²
• You could fit 1 million earth’s into the sun if you hollowed it out. ³

Galactic Power

• The Milky Way is a family of more than 100 billion stars.
• Scientists say there may be as many as 100 billion other galaxies in the universe.
• They believe billions of these galaxies’ stars may have millions of planets like our earth.
• All of this came from just four words emanating from the throne. Those four words?
• ‘LET THERE BE LIGHT.’
• The distance to the nearest galaxy is nearly 2.5 million light-years.
• This is the distance light will travel in 2.5 million years, going 186,000 miles per second.
• For reference, your car may go one hundred miles per hour.
• That’s Kind of slow galactic-ly speaking.
• How much distance is 2.5 million light-years?
• One website ⁴ has the nearest galaxy, the Andromeda Galaxy, at 2.5 million light-years away, which is 14,696,563,427,345,637,530 (14 quintillion, 696 quadrillion, 563 trillion, 427 billion, 345 million, 637 thousand, 530) miles – that is 158,102,693,144 (158 billion, 102 million, 693 thousand, 144) times the distance between Earth and the Sun.

How Big Is A Trillion?

• Do you have a perspective on how much a trillion is?
• A trillion dollars is so large a number that only politicians can use the term in conversation.
• Mathematicians do not even use the term trillion.
• One trillion equals 1,000,000,000,000.
• Civilization has not existed for a trillion seconds.
• One trillion seconds is 31,688 years.
• The Bible records 6000 years of human history.
• To make it to Andromeda in a Honda Civic, at 38 miles a gallon, you would need about 36,500 trillion gallons of gasoline.
• A standard Honda Civic would have to be modified to carry this amount of gasoline.
• The gas tank would need to have a capacity of about 730 million ocean-going supertankers with a capacity of 50 million gallons each.
• How long will you be waiting to fill up at the gas station?
• It would take 2300 years to fill the tank if the pump had the flow capacity of Niagara Falls.
• The average flow of Niagara Falls is 500,000 gallons/sec.
• This is the same as 15,768,000,000,000 gallons per year.
• This would take 2314 years to fill the 730,000,000 supertankers.
• The Saturn 5 rocket would take over 15 billion years to make it to Andromeda.* The total universe is 8–10 billion light-years long.⁵

Nuclear Power

• One ton of natural uranium can produce more than 40 million kilowatt-hours of electricity.
• This is equivalent to burning 16,000 tons of coal or 80,000 barrels of oil. ⁶
• God’s creation pulsates with power.
• God’s creation pulsates with this image; I am an enormous God.

Romans 1:18–20 (ESV) — 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

• You can understand God’s power in nature by looking at the things that have been made.
• God’s power in nature is not what is referenced in Ephesians 1.
• Understanding God’s power in raising Jesus from the dead comes by revelation.
• The stats listed above did not come by revelation.
• It came by the INTERNET.
• Revelation is an operation of the Spirit of God.
• It is not natural.
• It comes by prayer, which means it comes by faith and believing that you receive.
• It is a spiritual thing.
• Spiritual revelation is not simply being taught something naturally.
• If it is, then revelation goes on every day in every grade school, middle school, junior high, high school, and college.
• Spiritual revelation comes by an operation of God whereby knowledge of God is imparted to your spirit by the Holy Spirit within you.
• What takes place in the education systems of the world is merely natural facts shared through natural means.
• This is teaching.
• This is information transfer.
• It is not revelation.
• Why do we need to have a spiritual revelation of the exceeding greatness of God’s power used to raise Jesus from the dead?
• Because there does not exist anything in nature that you can compare it to.
• Any power found in nature is below the power God the Father exerted in raising Jesus from the dead.
• Spiritual revelation is an operation of the Spirit of God. It is not natural. It comes by prayer and faith.

Act on the Word

• The Ephesian prayer for spiritual revelation discussed in this post should become part of the fabric of your spiritual life.
• Pray this prayer often. Just take the words of Paul and insert your name into the prayer.
• Just like we did at the front part of this podcast.
• Say, “Father God, in the name of Jesus, grant unto… insert your name… a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of you, in the knowledge of Your Word. Help me to know you better, to know you more, to know your ways, your heart, and your thoughts.”
• Pray this before you read the Bible or hear your pastor minister the Word or before you engage in hearing anything of God.
• Doing this will open the doors of your heart to the light of God’s Word.

#S4-022: Breakthrough Revivals: Important Spirit Lessons We Can Learn [Podcast]

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