mary
source of all blessing.

He is also "the Father of Glory." This, too, is a phrase not found
elsewhere. He is the Father to Whom all glory belongs as its Divine
source. In Acts vii. 2 He is "the God of glory," and in 1 Cor. ii. 8
Christ is "the Lord of glory." In Rom. vi. 4 Christ is said to have been
raised from the dead "by the glory of the Father." Glory is a
characteristic quality of God. It is the manifestation of His splendour
and the outshining of His excellence. All radiance, all brightness, all
magnificence come from Him and are intended to be returned to Him in
praise. The glory of God in Romans is threefold: it is God's proof for
man's past life (ch. iii. 23); it is God's prospect for man's future life
(ch. v. 2); it is God's principle for man's present life (ch. xv. 7). And
the association of glory with prayer seems to suggest that the praise of
His glory which is to characterise our life can only come from God Himself
as the Father of glory. If our lives are to be lived "to His praise," His
must be the power. If our lives are to manifest His glory, His must be the
grace. "Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory."

3. THE REQUEST.

Now we come to this profound prayer which teaches the inmost secrets of
the spiritual life.

(1) A Divine Gift. "May give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation." He
has spoken of the wealth of blessing stored up in Christ (ver. 3), and of
God's grace abounding to us in all wisdom and prudence (ver. 8). Now he
asks for wisdom and illumination to perceive all this for themselves as a
personal experience. The word "spirit" seems to refer to their human
faculty, though of course as indwelt and possessed by the Divine Spirit.
But the absence of the definite article from the word "spirit" seems to
suggest a gift rather than a Person. The Holy Spirit of God enters into
our spirit, and the result is wisdom and revelation. These two words refer
to general illumination and specific enlightenment. He desires his readers
to enter fully into the meaning of these great realities to which he has
given such full expression (vers. 1-14).

(2) But this Divine gift is only possible by means of a simple yet
important condition. It is "in the full knowledge of Him." The word
rendered "knowledge" is characteristic of these prison epistles, and
always means "full knowledge," the mature experience of the spiritual man.
It is invariably connected with God; it refers to the deep, growi