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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).

After Sunday\u2019s worship service, Helena and I will be leaving for a 2-week vacation. As such, this will be my last contribution to Wilderness Wanderings until I return. Mr. Rick Verkerk will be filling in for me while I am away, and I am thankful for his willingness to contribute. If there are other readers/listeners who would like to fill in on occasion, please let me know. I hope this will not be my last vacation.

Before I go, some reflections on our text.

First, I have learned to echo Paul\u2019s prayer for the church. What Jesus taught about prayer Paul exemplifies with his prayers for God\u2019s people. Many of you have noticed, I am sure, that his letters to the various congregations are filled with prayers for them.

One of the dangers in our praying is that we pray for what we want. Even though Jesus taught us to pray first for God\u2019s kingdom to come and his will to be done, it is easier for us to pray that our will will be done. Giving up what I want so that I can pray for what God wants, that is the perpetual struggle in prayer. So, when it comes to praying for the church, and that includes you, my dear listeners/readers, it is easy for me to pray for the things that I think God should give you.

Paul\u2019s prayers help to resist that temptation. Since God included them in the Holy Scriptures, I feel safe to assume that they align with Jesus\u2019 teaching regarding prayer. As a preacher, it is my holy task to help you know God and all that he is about in this world. This text reminds me that I am at most only a secondary fiddle. The Holy Spirit is the primary worker in this regard.

This truth offers comforts me. I am bound to get things wrong on occasion and I can trust the Holy Spirit to set things right. Also, I can go on vacation and know that you will be just fine. My absence might even give more room for the Holy Spirit to do his great work of revealing the wisdom of God to so that you may know him better. So, I say to you now and always, look for the Spirit and listen to him, testing everything with the scriptures.

Second, this text reveals just how privileged we all are. 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. Do you hear the profound newness embedded in this prayer? Maybe not since we are so far removed historically from these events.

In the Old Testament, there were only a few who received this \u2018Spirit of wisdom and revelation\u2019. Folks like Moses and Jeremiah, Daniel and David, Elijah and Elisha, they received the Spirit. The rest of the Israelites, the farmers and stoneworkers and beekeepers and soldiers, not so much. For them to know God and his will they went to the priest or the prophet. Jesus\u2019 ushers in this new era with these words, \u201cYet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth\u201d (John 4:23-24).

It is true that sometimes we get all puffed up and spout off about all the things God is allegedly telling us directly. God does speak directly to our spirits, but that is never a cause for pride or arrogance. Rather, it is a reason for deep humility, that God would condescend to speak to someone like me. Yet, it is also a matter of deep comfort for the Christian and of course a matter for praise.

Lastly, it is important to pay attention to the purpose of the Spirit\u2019s presence: that we might know God better. The Spirit\u2019s presence in our lives is never for our glorification but always for God\u2019s. The Spirit will always lead us deeper into the way of Christ and His redemption. He will continually remind us that we are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God\u2019s special possession, that we may declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light (cf. 1 Peter 2:9).

For that purpose, go with the blessing of God:

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you: wherever he may send you.\xa0May he guide you through the wilderness: protect you through the storm.\xa0May he bring you home rejoicing; at the wonders he has shown you.\xa0May he bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.