“O Father, almighty and sovereign LORD, I pray with the apostle Paul that you will give love to those I know and bring before you by name …, that you will give them the “Spirit of wisdom and revelation” so that we can know you, O God. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

I can think of no more important prayer for us to pray for each other as brothers and sisters in Christ than that God will give each of us “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation.”

Paul is praying this prayer for new followers of Jesus, and I love the language, “I keep asking …” This intercession is his ongoing and constant prayer for them. And this prayer isn’t asking for stuff, strength, or even forgiveness. Paul keeps asking that the Father send the Spirit in such a way that the Ephesian Christians can know God more fully because the Spirit brings a kind of wisdom and insight that they could never have without the Spirit  1 Corinthians 2:11-14.

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. — Ephesians 1:17