EPHESIANS 1:15-17 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 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,
Faith In The Lord Jesus - Our Lord Jesus being the object of our faith; Faith in the Greek can be examined as follows;
πίστις pistis ; persuasion, i.e. credence; moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstractly, constancy in such profession; by extension, the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself:--assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity.
This is a conviction based on hearing, it is used in the New Testament always of faith in God/Jesus Christ or things spiritual.
The Saints; For this, we can go back to the first entry in the study of Ephesians and the opening statements.
Moving to Verse 16.
Paul again expresses great pleasure in which the Lord has given to him. Primarily being the result of faithfulness at Ephesus. Paul is praying these things for the church.
In Verse 17.
God of our Lord Jesus Christ; This is covered in this entry in the study about halfway down the page under the heading "In Verse 3..."
Father - From a root signifying a nourisher, protector, upholder. πατήρ pater going with Vines Expository Dictionary definition h, Of God as the Father of lights, ie, the source or giver of whatsoever provides illumination, physical and spiritual.
Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation - The use or absence of the article in the original where the Holy Spirit is spoken of, cannot always be decided by grammatical rules, nor can the presence or absence of the article alone determine whether the reference is to the Holy Spirit.
Paul seems to be talking about the Holy Spirit in this instance however because both wisdom and revelation characterize the Holy Spirit at least in part. Revelation in the Greek is ἀποκάλυψις apokalupsis or the communication of the knowledge of God to the soul. Connotating appearing, coming, lighten, manifestation, be revealed, revelation.
Knowledge - Denotes exact or full knowledge, discernment, recognition and is a strengthened form of gnosis. ἐπίγνωσις epignosis . Has the idea of recognition, i.e. (by implication) full discernment, acknowledgement:--(ac-)knowledge(-ing, - ment).
In all four of the epistles of the Roman captivity, it is an element in the apostle's opening prayer for his correspondence well-being.
Takeaways
1. Paul is starting off light here showing his thankfulness and pleasure in the church's faith and love for one another. We also ought to be lifting up churches to doing the same in prayer whenever we reflect on these things. Paul did it unceasingly, but this isn't a command, he is just stating what he did.
2. True wisdom doesn't come from anything outside of or in contradiction to the Holy Spirit. You may gain some knowledge from varying sources, but having full knowledge, wisdom, and revelation of Jesus Christ comes from the Holy Spirit. So if anyone saying they are "of God" is giving you information that is contradicting scripture which is God-breathed*, is giving you something false.
*2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
(The NIV reads "God-breathed" instead of inspiration of God [ 1,,G2315, theopneustos ] inspired by God" (Theos, "God," pneo, "to breathe"), is used in 2 Timothy 3:16, of the Scriptures as distinct from non-inspired writings. Wycliffe, Tyndale, Coverdale and the Great Bible have the rendering "inspired of God.).
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