PRAYING FOR PASSION FOR JESUS
PRAYING FOR THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM AND REVELATION (EPHESIANS 1:17-19)
…that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation
in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the
hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the
exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power.
(Ephesians 1:17-19)
A. If we are going to have passion for Jesus, we must experience the Holy Spirit on the inside of us. If we dismiss the
leadership of the Holy Spirit in the small areas of our lives, we will be powerless in our quest to love Jesus.
B. Our spiritual eyes cannot open without the Holy Spirit’s involvement. We cannot go forward without the Holy Spirit’s
help. We must live in connection with Him, in fellowship with Him.
C. When we pray for a spirit of wisdom and revelation, the Holy Spirit will release the revelation of the knowledge of
Jesus.
D. It is a very powerful thing that takes place inside of us when God reveals God to the human spirit. Divine
information is not neutral. It tenderizes us. It leaves us different. It moves us forward. It marks us. It imparts power to us.
E. Most of the time, on a daily basis, it will be a subtle difference that cannot be measured; but the difference is real.
II. PRAYING FOR THE MANIFESTATION OF GOD’S PRESENCE (EPHESIANS 3:16-19)
…that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner
man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to
comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which
passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:16-19)
A. The Holy Spirit lives in us, so He is always with us; but we want the presence of God to actually be manifest upon
our heart. We want more than to just know that He is in us. We want to be able to sense it, to discern His presence within
us.
B. Our inner man is our soul – our mind, will and emotions. The Holy Spirit desires to release His power upon our
mind, and our will and our emotions.
C. The result of this strengthening is that Jesus will dwell in our hearts – that we will be able to discern the indwelling
presence of the Holy Spirit empowering our spirits.
III. SETTING THE HEART
My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise. (Psalm 57:7)
Therefore we make it our aim…to be well pleasing to Him. (2 Corinthians 5:9)
A. When we set our heart, we determine that we are going to say no to sin and yes to God. Throughout every day, we
must commit our heart to obey God and renounce what is not pleasing to Him.
B. The heart must be set repeatedly. It is not a one-time thing. The heart cannot be set casually, once a day or once
a week. The heart must be set several times throughout the day.
IV. PRAYING FOR DELIVERANCE FROM THE EVIL ONE
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. (Matthew 6:13)
A. It is the evil one that desires to hinder our passion for Jesus.
B. The concept of temptation in the Bible is more than just a subtle pull to the sinful values in our culture. The
temptation in this verse refers to those rare times when the very storm of darkness hits our soul. The devil will attack us
specifically in those moments when our lust is aroused, whether it is anger, or pride or lust in other ways.
C. When ask God not to lead us into temptation, we are asking for the Lord to deliver us from the attack of the
enemy when the circumstances are optimum for sin.
D. His leadership will be displayed in our lives as a result of this prayer.