Lesson 4 - Walking by Faith and Trust
Read: Ephesians 1 - https://www.bible.com/bible/59/eph.1.esv

In the rest of the book of Ephesians we’re going to see a word repeated again and again - walk. Our responsibility to God is to walk the way He wants us to.

But before we can walk there are a few things we need, and we find these in Paul’s prayer for the people of Ephesus. This is my prayer for you as well who read these words – “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” Ephesians 1:17-23.

The first thing we need is wisdom. This comes from God’s Spirit, and the promise is in James 1:5 – all you have to do is ask, and He gives it to you. Why must you ask? So you are conscious of the fact this wisdom doesn’t come from you but from Him.

We need “revelation in the knowledge of Him” as well. Where is Jesus Christ revealed so we can understand Him? He reveals Himself in His Word, and His Spirit teaches us truth – John 16:13.

We need our eyes opened, but that isn’t enough. We also need our hearts enlightened. Walking responsibly before God does not mean that we will understand everything He asks us to do. We must “see” what we are able to see, but we must also trust with our hearts. Our faith is not by sight but by trust – Hebrews 11:1. We walk by faith, not by sight – 2 Corinthians 5:7.

We need our hope anchored in the right goal. If our hope is anchored in personal gain, we are anchored on something that will fail. If our hope is anchored in the promises He has made to us – see that list we’ve been studying in the last 2 lessons – we are anchored to a solid rock – 1 Corinthians 3:11 and Hebrews 6:19.

We need a source of unfailing strength. We cannot get that from ourselves because we will weaken with discouragement and despair. Our strength comes only from God – whose strength is great enough to raise someone from the dead!

We need to know that victory is already assured in Jesus Christ. He has already won the battle. It may not seem so to us at times, but He assures us it is true – John 16:33.
*What is the first thing we need and we get when we receive the Holy Spirit? 
*Where is Christ revealed? 
*As we follow Christ, what do we need? 1) Hope 2) Our eyes opened 3) That our victory is assured 4) All three _____