“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:18). In the first part of Paul’s prayer for the church, he prays that God will give to us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God. As Paul continues his prayer for the church he is praying for our eyes to be opened to the spiritual world that is around us.
There is a spiritual world that is just as real as our material world, but for the most part, we do not see, feel or touch it. I do think that sometimes we have feelings that are of a spiritual nature. Have you ever been thinking about someone and decide to call them only to have the phone ring and it was them? I do not think that is a coincidence, there are spiritual forces working around us all the time. But to recognize this God has to open our minds and eyes to spiritual revelation, it is not something we can do on our own.
Elisha’s servant came in and told him that they were surrounded by the Syrian army and chariots, Elisha prayed for the Lord to open the eyes of his servant to the spiritual realm so that he could see that Elisha was surrounded by horses and chariots of fire from God. It wasn’t Elisha that was in trouble; it was the Syrian army. Then Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike these people with blindness.” So the Lord struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked. Here we see God at work, using His spiritual forces to protect His servant Elisha (2 Kings 6:15-18). What a difference it makes when we can see into the spirit realm.
Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den for praying. After he had spent the night in the lions den, the king came near the lions den and called out, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?” Daniel answered, “O king, live forever! My God sent His angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king” (Daniel 6:1-27). We see here that God’s spiritual forces protect people who live to please God. “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and he delivers them” (Psalm 34:7).
Daniel was reading the book of Jeremiah and he realized that the 70 years of captivity that God had pronounced upon Israel was about over and he began praying for his people. While he was still in prayer, the angel Gabriel came to him and said, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding” (Daniel 9:1-23). God uses angels not only to protect us, but also to give us wisdom and show us the future.
Herod had Peter arrested, but the night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. The angel then told Peter to get his clothes on and follow him. Peter thought he was having a dream or vision, but after they got outside the prison the angel disappeared and Peter realized the Lord had sent His angel to rescue him (Acts 12:1-11). “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14).
Paul was a prisoner of the Roman government and they were taking him from Caesarea to Rome for trial. On their way to Rome, a strong storm came upon them and the sailors thought they were going to sink, but Paul said that an angel of God told him that they would not sink, but they would be grounded on an island (Acts 27:1-28:10). Actually what God wanted to do was spread the gospel of Jesus Christ on that island and He used a storm to get Paul there. “Praise the Lord, you His angels, you mighty ones who do His bidding, who obey His word” (Psalm 103:20).
On one of Paul’s missionary journeys, he came to the city of Philippi and as he was preaching to a group of women, one of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message (Acts 16:12-14). Even though it takes an act of God to open the ears and eyes of a person to hear and see spiritual things, if our minds are constantly on earthly and material things, God will not open our hearts; He will not violate our free will.
One of the problems in the church today is that we have become so involved in our material world that we have lost our spiritual insight. The cares of this life, the deceitfulness of riches and the desire for the material things have choked out the desire to see or hear the spiritual dimension. We don’t think or talk much about heaven anymore, we are afraid of someone saying, “Well, he is so heavenly minded that he is no earthly good.” But I would rather be so heavenly minded that I’m no earthly good, than if I was so earthly minded that I’m no heavenly good. As a Christian you are to: “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Colossians 3:2). Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). How you live your life shows what you think about.