What follows is an unholy union, I’m sure. It’s mostly the Phillips translation of Ephesians 1:15-23. But not exactly. What follows is the text as J.B. Phillips meets J.B. Me.

(There was some I-thought-helpful formatting below, but WordPress doesn’t seem to be having any of it. Time’s passing me by, so I’m pushing “publish”.)

Since I heard of
this faith of yours
in the Lord Jesus
and the practical way in which you are expressing it
towards fellow-Christians,

I thank God continually for you and
I never give up praying for you;
and this is my prayer.

That God,
the God of our Lord Jesus Christ and
the all-glorious Father,
will give you

spiritual wisdom and insight
to know more of him:

that you may receive that
inner illumination of the spirit
which will make you realise

the greatness of the hope
to which he is calling you –
the magnificence and splendour of the inheritance
promised to Christians –
the tremendous-ness of the power
available to us who believe in God.

That power
is the same divine power which was demonstrated in Christ
when he raised him from the dead
and gave him the place of supreme honour in Heaven –

a place that is infinitely superior
to any conceivable command,
authority,
power or
control,
and which carries with it
a name
far beyond any name that could ever be used
in this world or
the world to come.

God
has placed everything under the power of Christ and
has set him up as head of everything for the Church.

For the Church is his body,
and in that body
lives fully the one who fills the whole wide universe.

—

—

So the “Jay’s Notes” version…

Pray for wisdom and insight to see what you’re apt to miss.
Pray that what you cannot afford to miss will be illuminated to your sight…
The undefeatable hope that is found in God,
The magnificent sharing of all that is His with all who are His,
The vastness of the power available to all who believe in Him.
Pray this prayer for those you love. Pray it for those you do not know.
Pray it for yourself.

For Christ is over all things, for the sake of the church.
That’s not the institution or non-profit organization that you think you know.
That’s the people of Jesus,
who have worn his name through the ages, and
in whom the universe-filling God does His darnedest to dwell.

So keep praying that prayer.
Pray it for those you love. Pray it for those you do not know.
Pray it for yourself.