The Certainty Of His Promises

The Certainty of His Promises

I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. Ephesians 1:18

IMAGINE HAVING TO GUESS GOD’S DESIRES—not knowing his nature, never recognizing his purposes, perpetually wondering if your words line up with his. It would be like trying to honor a contract you’ve never read, straining to understand a speech spoken in another language, or accepting a gift that can’t be unwrapped. You might piece things together occasionally, but not consistently or with any confidence.

We can be grateful that God has not put us in that position. In fact, he is quite clear about the gifts, blessings, and provisions he intends to give us. His promises reach every area of our lives, and he has invited us to take him at his word. He wants us to understand our inheritance in him.

Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians to understand their confident hope, calling, and inheritance is a good reminder for all believers. These words can mean that as God’s people we are his rich and glorious inheritance or that God has given a rich and glorious inheritance to us. In either case, God’s promises are fulfilled by Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:20) and accessible to us through him. Jesus inherits all things (Hebrews 1:2), and we are coheirs with him (Romans 8:16-17). God’s promises are ours to receive by faith.

Let those promises serve as the “legal” basis for your prayers. They are fundamental to our conversations with God, and asking for what he has already spoken is powerful. His promises stir up our faith and open our hearts to receive from him on a basis greater than our own leanings. They legitimize our requests and draw us into a deeper understanding of his covenant. They ring true in our hearts, confirm our faith, and help us endure until we see the answers. They are evidence of his unbreakable faithfulness in our lives.

The purposes of God are his concealed promises; the promises, his revealed purposes.