Ephesians 1:3b

Ephesians 1:3b - "who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ."

In the earlier part of this verse , the apostle blesses the Lord and now he states the reason - every spiritual blessings in Christ in the heavenly realms. And from verses 4-14, Paul describes what these blessings are in the heavenly realms.

As I searched through the writings of the Apostle Paul, I could hardly find one that spoke of physical blessings. Health, wealth and prosperity, which are the common pronouncement these days from the pulpit and social media, were never the objective or theme of Paul's writing or preaching. 

His preaching had everything to do with the cross of Jesus and the spiritual blessings it affords to the repentant sinner. 

  • Acts 16:31 - Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.
  • Acts 26:20 -  I preached first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that all must repent of their sins and turn to God—and prove they have changed by the good things they do. 

In fact all the prayers of Paul in the epistles have nothing to do with physical blessings. Paul’s prayers centred on becoming more loving (Phil. 1:9); knowing God more deeply (Eph. 1:17); walking worthy of Christ (Col. 1:10); and sharing the gospel effectively (Philemon 6).

Having said that, it does not mean that we should not pray for physical blessings. Paul himself prayed for his personal healing for the "thorn in the flesh".

However, our focus should be on the spiritual and not the temporal.

In fact Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6 that our Heavenly Father knows our physical blessings:

  • Matthew 6:31-33 (NLT) - “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
And when God blesses us more that we need, let's be mindful that we were blessed to be a blessing. 


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