Ephesians 6:18-20 "The Posture of the Warrior"

Introduction: Praying in the Spirit

We have been looking at the Armor of God from Ephesians 6. As Christians we fight our battles dependent on God’s provision to us in and through Christ.

If we are dependent on God in Christ then it is critical that we have a line of communication open to Him. This is where prayer comes in. Christ intercedes for us at the right hand of the Father. And our communication is vital to our victory in battle. John Piper says it this way in his book on missions, Let the Nations Be Glad, he says:

We cannot know what prayer is for until we know that life is war. Life is war. That’s not all it is. But it is always that. Our weakness in prayer is owing largely to our neglect of this truth. Prayer is primarily a wartime walkie-talkie for the mission of the church as it advances against the powers of darkness and unbelief. It is not surprising that prayer malfunctions when we try to make it a domestic intercom to call upstairs for more comforts in the den. God has given prayer as a wartime walkie-talkie so that we can call headquarters for everything we need as the kingdom of Christ advances in the world. Prayer gives us the significance of front-line forces and gives God the glory of a limitless Provider. The one who gives the power gets the glory. Thus, prayer safeguards the supremacy of God in missions while linking us with endless grace for every need. (John Piper: Let the Nations Be Glad, pg.65)

We don’t just put on the armor Christian to make a spiritual fashion statement. We wear the armor for the day of battle and the Christian Warrior’s posture is one of prayer in the Spirit. Look at the first half of verse 18:

I. Prayer In the Spirit (18a).

When Paul says praying at all times in the Spirit he is talking about prayer and supplications in keeping with the purposes and plans of the Spirit. How do we know in detail what that type of prayer entails?

Romans 8:26 reminds us of the Holy Spirit’s contributing role when it comes to prayer--“26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”

But we contribute when we are informed by the Spirit using the word of God in our lives.

The sword of the Spirit is the word of God and God uses His word to inform us to what constitutes a biblical worldview.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. And He only works in accord with truth.

For prayer to be “In the Spirit” it must be done by believers who are informed by the word of God.

Prayer can also be done in the flesh. We can be motivated by sinful desires and impulses.

And we can pray for things that are contrary to the will of God in our prayer and supplications.

Some of you may remember that old Garth Brooks song, “Unanswered Prayers” and the line that goes, “Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers.”

That is a catchy song, but in truth that song actually talks about how uninformed prayers of the flesh in the end have no influence on God.

Prayer in the Spirit always understands that there is an overarching divine purpose and truth governing our prayer lives.

Then we may ask the question then why pray? Because prayer is a secondary cause that God ordains and uses to bring about His purposes in the world.

He commands us to pray to bring us along as a participant in accomplishing His will.

And we get to experience our involvement as a faith builder in our lives. We see Him answer prayer in the Spirit and we are so happy to see Him answer our prayers.

We have an increased awareness of His presence in our lives and we learn to be more dependent on Him and less dependent on ourselves.

It kind of reminds me of when I was a kid and I had a toy metal tractor playing in the dirt.

But those toy tractors were incapable of moving themselves. They had to have my hand moving them, pushing them around.

But my dad’s tractor was real and it had an actual motor that powered it but I couldn’t experience until my dad put me on it and I stood under his shadow as he let me drive.

I was driving but daddy was the one who made it possible for me. And I genuinely believe my dad was thrilled for me.

Prayer is one of the ways God brings us in our sanctification from playing in the dirt of this world to encountering Him in His sovereign providence over our lives. And we should marvel at His greatness.

And there are connections being established in our relationship to Him and to one another when we make prayer a priority. Look back at the second half of verse 18 through verse 20.

II. Prayer as a Priority (18b-20).

The term supplication is used twice in verse 18. In both uses, supplication is referring to making an urgent request to God concerning a need (BAGD).

In this context of Ephesians 6:18 prayer is to be done with alertness with consistency on behalf of all the saints of God.

So there will be needs that the body of Christ will have. We pray for one another, as the body of Christ before God. We pay for God’s will to be done in the lives of God’s people. And we pray for His kingdom to advance in the world.

This is something that no Christian should be passive about. This includes praying but also requesting that others in the body of Christ pray for us. You can make a list or you can use the prayer list that comes out weekly in the Crete Church email. Or you can even download an app for your phone that allows you to construct your own prayer list to your smart phone.

This cultivates a spiritual relationship within the body of Christ among the saints. And you can see God work in answer to prayer and there is a collective joy when this happens among the people of God. God advance His Kingdom by His power in the world.

Collective prayer builds our sense of union in the congregation when we encounter spiritual warfare. We are not isolated warriors on the battlefield. We may be in a battle but we do not stand alone as the church of the living God as we come to Him in prayer.

Same is true when it comes to boldness for the ministry of the gospel as Paul describes in verses 19-20.

He request that they not only pray for all the saints but also for him. That he would be given words for him to boldly proclaim the mystery of the gospel in his Apostolic ministry.

Why would Paul need boldness? I mean he had to be one of the most bold proclaimers of the gospel who ever lived. He requested prayers for boldness because, as he refers to himself in verse 20, he is an “ambassador in chains.” And this is not a reference to Paul’s gold jewelry that he wore whenever he went on a missionary journey. This is talking chains he wore while under arrest for the cause of Christ and the gospel.

He wants to boldly speak the way he ought to speak. Paul is in prison and he doesn’t request that they pray for bail money, he doesn’t say here to pray for my release, he doesn’t even say pray that I will be able to keep my big mouth shut in order to keep him out of more trouble.

He request that they pray that he would proclaim the mystery of the gospel boldly as he ought. I mean does he know that he could be killed for preaching the gospel in his day? Ministers today might pray Lord help me tone it down so I don’t make people mad or cause them not to like me. But, “Oh Lord help me to tone it down” was never a prayer of the Apostle Paul.

Paul ministered the gospel boldly before the Lord and now in prison he is concerned that he might grow weak and fearful over what might happen to him that he may be tempted to not proclaim boldly as he ought.

Christian I find this encouraging that he was aware of his human weakness and fear but collectively called on the saints, the body of Christ to pray for boldness as he ministered in prison. Paul needed the prayers of the Church for ministry boldness. He must have believed it was the Holy Spirit’s purpose and plan that he be bold.

Christian prayer is a priority because there is a collective relationship with us before God but also because there is a collective dynamic to making the gospel known through prayer.

Prayer engages us all into the ministry of the gospel. And it reminds us that ministry is dependent on God to be transformational in the lives of people.

Prayer in the Spirit is the posture of the Christian warrior. Because it challenges the self sufficiency of the Christian minister in exchange for ministry reliance on God. Churches and Ministers or just general Christians can’t rely on personal human traits or techniques as a substitute for gospel transformation bathed in prayer in the Spirit.

Illustration: Getting a phone call due to a severe issue and on the way over I am praying and asking the Lord to help me. And he does. Without him we are not able to minister in such circumstances. Sometimes I have only been able to recite the Lord’s Prayer because I have no words so He gives my the Scriptures to pray.

Other times I have used the Lord’s prayer as an outline to guide my own prayer life before God.

Conclusion:

Christian when we come to Him in the Spirit we have our Father’s ear. And He hears us and His answer is on the way and it will come to pass in His time. I have had a lot of those Garth Brooks kind of prayers offered up in my life. I am so glad that God knows best!

This is why when we confess our sin that He is faithful and just to forgive us in Christ because it is according to His will for us as the people of God. I never tire of it because God desires us to come tto Him and rest in His grace to us.

This is also why we preach the gospel because He uses the gospel to open blind eyes to saving faith in Christ. Unbeliever Believe the gospel! Let’s Pray!