The document is a summary of Paul's prayers for the church in Ephesus found in Ephesians 1:15-23. It is presented in 4 parts: 1. Paul thanks the Ephesians for their faith in Jesus and love for others. He prays that they may know God's wisdom and revelation through the Holy Spirit. 2. Paul prays that the Ephesians may understand God's power in raising Jesus from the dead and seating him at his right hand. 3. Paul is thankful for Jesus, who rules over all, and for the church, which is Jesus' body. Appreciating Jesus and the church leads to thankfulness rather than bitterness. 4. Knowing God

4. I AM APPRECIATED

5. EPHESIANS 1:15-23
15 For this reason, ever since I heard
about your faith in the Lord
Jesus and your love for all God’s
people, 16 I have not stopped giving
thanks for you, remembering you in
my prayers.

6. EPHESIANS 1:15-23
17 I keep asking that the God of our
Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious
Father, may give you the Spirit of
wisdom and revelation, so that you
may know Him better.

7. EPHESIANS 1:15-23
18 I pray 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 His holy
people,

8. EPHESIANS 1:15-23
19 and His incomparably great power
for us who believe. That power is the
same as the mighty strength 20 He
exerted when He raised Christ from
the dead and seated Him at His right
hand in the heavenly realms,

9. EPHESIANS 1:15-23
21 far above all rule and authority,
power and dominion, and every
name that is invoked, not only in
the present age but also in the one
to come.

10. EPHESIANS 1:15-23
22 And God placed all things under
His feet and appointed Him to be
head over everything for the
church, 23 which is His body, the
fullness of Him who fills everything
in every way.

11. YOU ARE
APPRECIATED BY
JESUS

12. EPHESIANS 1:15-16
15 For this reason, ever since I heard
about your faith in the Lord
Jesus and your love for all God’s
people, 16 I have not stopped giving
thanks for you, remembering you in
my prayers.

13. Paul wants to say this:
“I want to thank you for two things:
your love for Jesus and your love for
God’s people, the church.”
“Your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and
your love toward all the saints.”

14. The love here means that:
you’re praying for people,
you’re giving,
you’re serving,
you’re caring,

15. you get into cell groups,
you give time and energy to serve
through your ministry,
you’re working with the kids.

16. Second thing that he says, is about the
implications of knowing
you’re appreciated by Jesus,
and the big theme is identity in Christ
through the book of Ephesians, and
knowing, “Man, Jesus appreciates me.”

17. 1. APPRECIATED
PEOPLE EXCHANGE
GRUMBLING FOR
PRAYING

18. Grumbling is when you talk about
people to other people.
Praying is when you talk to Jesus
about people.

19. PRAYER IS ALWAYS BETTER
THAN GRUMBLING.

20. He knows that Jesus appreciates his
hard work by the grace of God, and
his generosity, and his service, and his
sacrifice rather than grumbling about
how hard his life is.

21. Paul knows that Jesus appreciates his
life, and his service, and his sacrifice,
as he appreciates the life, and the
service, and the sacrifice of Jesus.

22. PRAYER IS WHEN
WE TALK TO GOD.

23. Paul’s life is very hard.
He’s hated, he’s criticized, he’s opposed,
he’s physically beaten, he’s separated
from his church, he’s sitting in jail, and
what he’s not doing is grumbling.

24. The key to overcoming your grumbling
is to know that the Lord Jesus
suffered for you, that the Lord Jesus
loves you, that the Lord Jesus is
generous toward you.

25. In any way that you are obedient to
Him, He sees, He knows, He
appreciates, and He’s thankful for
you.

26. 2. APPRECIATED
PEOPLE EXCHANGE
COMPETING FOR
CELEBRATING

27. EPHESIANS 1:17-20
17 I keep asking that the God of our
Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious
Father, may give you the Spirit of
wisdom and revelation, so that you
may know Him better.

28. EPHESIANS 1:17-20
18 I pray 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 His holy
people,

29. EPHESIANS 1:17-20
19 and His incomparably great power
for us who believe. That power is
the same as the mighty
strength 20 He exerted when He
raised Christ from the dead and
seated Him at His right hand in the
heavenly realms.

30. We should really appreciate Jesus:
that God the Father sent God the Son
into human history to be empowered
by the Holy Spirit to live among us as
one of us,

31. and He lived without sin, and He died,
and He went in the ground, but He didn’t
stay there; that our Jesus rose from
death, and He conquered Satan, sin,
death, hell, and the wrath of God;

32. and that He ascended into heaven and
today He’s ruling and reigning from this
authoritative position.

33. 1. He starts with:
“Dear Christian, always appreciate
who Jesus is and what He’s done.”

34. 2. He prays for them two things:

35. a. One, that they would learn more
about Jesus. It doesn’t matter how long
you’re a Christian; there’s always
something new to learn about Jesus.

36. b. He prays for not only that they
would have more knowledge about
Jesus, but they’d have a
deeper experience of Jesus.

37. Holy Spirit’s ministry to us:
to take the life of Jesus, to place it in
us, and to give us power to live a new
life, increasingly more, and more, and
more, and more like Jesus.

38. 3. APPRECIATED
PEOPLE EXCHANGE
BITTERNESS FOR
THANKFULNESS

39. “BITTERNESS IS A DEEP RUT IN MY
SOUL.”

40. EPHESIANS 1:21-23
21 far above all rule and authority,
power and dominion, and every
name that is invoked, not only in
the present age but also in the one
to come.

41. EPHESIANS 1:21-23
22 And God placed all things under
His feet and appointed Him to be
head over everything for the
church, 23 which is His body, the
fullness of Him who fills everything
in every way.

42. PHILIPPIANS 2:10-11
10 That at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow, in heaven and on
earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the
glory of God the Father.

43. When you think it’s about your name,
you get bitter, but when you realize
it’s about Jesus’ name, you get
thankful.
We live for the name of Jesus.

44. Paul is thankful for two things:
he’s thankful for
Jesus and the church.

45. 1. JESUS who is ruling and reigning right
now, and He’s in glory, and He’s
enthroned, and He’s in charge, and He
loves us, and He appreciates us, and He
sees everything we say,

46. and everything we do, and every dollar
we give, and every effort we make. He
looks at us and he says, “I thank God
for you all the time. You’re continually
in my prayers.”

47. 2. THE CHURCH
“We really want you to love Jesus and
love the church.”

48. Appreciated people exchange
bitterness for thankfulness.

49. PAUL’S PRAYERS

50. One of the keys to Christian
leadership is prayer.

51. The shortest distance between two
people is prayer.
” Prayer oftentimes lines up with
God’s will and God’s heart.”

52. When you appreciate Jesus and you
know that He appreciates you, it
becomes very easy to talk to Him
about everything.

53. 4. APPRECIATED
PEOPLE EXCHANGE
PERFORMING FOR
SERVING

54. Knowing that God appreciates us
allows us to exchange our
performance for service.

55. PERFORMANCE is done for the sight
and approval of others.
SERVICE is done knowing that God is
watching and approving, whether or
not anyone else is.

56. PERFORMANCE causes us to be enslaved
to others’ opinions, unable to say ‘no’,
and prone to being overworked.
SERVICE frees us to do what God wants,
thereby saying ‘no’ is needed.

57. PERFORMANCEpresses us towards
perfectionism,wherewe seek to do everything
just rightso thatotherswillpraiseus.
SERVICE allowsus to do ourbest knowingthat
God’sappreciationof us is secure,regardlessof
ourperformance.

58. PERFORMANCEcauses us to focuson the “big
things”and onlydo what is highly visibleor
significant.
SERVICE allowsus to do simple,humble,menial
tasks,“littlethings”;knowingthat thepeasant
JewishCarpenterwe worshipequally
appreciatesthem both.

59. PERFORMING is where people are an
audience and you want their praise.
SERVING is where God is the audience.

60. Would you say that your life is
marked primarily by
performing or serving?

61. 5. APPRECIATED
PEOPLE EXCHANGE
BOASTING FOR
ENCOURAGING

62. What happens when we feel
unappreciated?
“I obsess about making known
everything that I do.”
Exaggerate.

63. Have you ever done things, and
people didn’t praise you?
Exaggerating is what people do when
they feel unappreciated.
Lie.

64. WHO DO YOU NEED
TO THANK?

65. When we criticize one another,
we make withdrawals.
When we appreciate one another,
we make deposits.

66. With your friends, with your
roommate, with your spouse, with your
children, with your leaders in church,
with your co-workers in the ministry