Paul’s prayers in the book of Ephesians remind me of Elisha’s prayer for his servant at the city of Dothan (2 Kings 6). The king of Syria was warring against Israel. Yet, God would tell Elisha what the Syrians were planning which gave Israel a great advantage.

Finally, the king of Syria grew frustrated and called on his counselors to tell him why the king of Israel knew his plans almost as he spoke them. One of the counselors spoke up and said that Elisha, the prophet of Israel, was the cause of the king’s troubles. The Syrian king grew furious and sent an entire army to get Elisha.

That morning the servant of Elisha awoke to the sight of the Syrian army surrounding the city where Elisha was staying. He did what we would probably do. He panicked. Elisha calmly told his servant not to worry, because more were on their side than the enemy’s. He prayed that God would open the servants eyes to show him who was really in charge. God revealed that the Syrian army was actually surrounded by the army of God. A great victory was won that day.

Likewise, no matter what the early church faced in their day or what we face in our day, we are not the underdog. Paul prayed for the church at Ephesus that the eyes of their heart would be opened to that fact. He knew that we Christians can never be overcomers until we see that Christ has overcome all things.