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

Thoughts on Today's Verse...

Heaven is something we see now with our hearts through our faith. When we are discouraged, doubtful, and depressed, we need to have the eyes of our hearts "enlightened" so we can live our lives with that hope. The dawn needs to rise in our darkness; as we see the dawn of hope and the riches of our inheritance on the horizon, we can be strong, have faith, endure, persevere, and even thrive in our faith. When things look bad, however, sometimes the only way to remember "the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints" is to sing them, pray them, and read God's promises of them in Scripture. These three spiritual practices awaken our faith to see beyond our circumstances! Paul reminds us that, as brothers and sisters in Christ, we can remind each other of these things when we pray for one another to experience them.

My Prayer...

O God, you are my lasting hope. I trust in you and your promises. I admit, however, that at times I struggle with my confidence in my hope that you will act in response to my prayers and do what I've trusted you with my life to do. So, please fill me with your Spirit, who can comfort my doubts, rekindle my passion to serve you with boldness, and to share my hope with others. Thank you for Paul's reminder, and I choose to pray about these hopes, sing about these hopes, and read about these hopes in the Scriptures. Through my LORD Jesus, I pray. Amen.