Prayer for Divine Enlightenment

From the context of 1:15–2:10 it appears that these verses form the next major section of Ephesians. The apostle has just finished recalling the spiritual blessings that God, through Christ, has bestowed upon all believers. From this universal truth, he turns to something more specific: His thoughts move from doxology to prayer; he reminds his readers that he thanks God for them (vv. 15, 16) and that he prays specifically that they will have the necessary wisdom to understand these blessings in Christ (vv. 17–19).

When the apostle begins talking about Christ, however, he seems to abandon the form of prayer and move into an exposition of God’s power as manifested in Christ’s resurrection, exaltation, and headship over the church (1:20–23) and as manifested in t…