Four Keys for Christian Prayer

I want you to picture with me, if you will, that you are walking through a museum and as you walk up to an exhibit, they have a figure decked out in ancient roman gear. He’s got the breastplate, the boots, the belt, the helmet, and even the sword. This guy is the real deal and looks like he could be a serious problem. The issue? There’s no spark in him. He’s lifeless.

For many of us, we almost groan when we consider the duty of prayer. It’s just another responsibility that we have, almost like eating our greens as a kid. We know we should do it, but we’d rather do something else. The problem here though is that this comes from a misunderstanding that we have concerning prayer. In all honesty, we could say that the issue isn’t with prayer at all but with us and our understanding of it.

If we catch all that Paul has called us to do when it comes to wearing the armor of God and miss this part, we will be exactly like that mannequin, all decked out but having no ability to get anything done. Do you want to have victory over the thoughts that plague your mind? Do you want to be effective in carrying the good news to others? Do you want the world to see Jesus in you? If that is your desire, this lesson is for you because Paul is calling you to suit up, but before you can even find the strength to move in this armor, you’ve got to run to the God who breathes life into His people, who strengthens them, who hears them and answers their prayers.

So, today I want us to leave here knowing that prayer is the lifeline of the Christian warrior and we will learn four things about it in Ephesians 6:18-20

Ephesians 6:18–20 NKJV

18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

I want us to spend the next little bit focusing primarily on verse 18 and the four things that he teaches us concerning prayer there. So, with that said, if we are going to walk effectively as Christian soldiers, we must remember to:

Be Spirit Led in Prayer

Did you know that you can pray deceitfully? The Bible speaks of this a lot. In Psalm 17:1, we read

Psalm 17:1 NIV

1 Hear me, Lord, my plea is just; listen to my cry. Hear my prayer— it does not rise from deceitful lips.

and throughout the Gospels we read of Jesus speaking about the Pharisees and how the really just pray to be seen and applauded by men. So there is a way that we can pray to God that is showy for attention, or we can even pray in such a way that we think if we use the right words that we can manipulate God to do our will on earth. So, Paul calls us to pray in the Spirit.

But what does that mean? Does it mean that I need to be more emotional, or maybe that I need to pretend to be more religious when I’m praying? The answer to that is absolutely not.

Being Spirit led in prayer is the work of the Spirit as He takes the hand of the believer and leads him into the heavenlies to mindfully pray as he should. Or, to put it simply, to pray in the Spirit is to be led by the Holy Spirit to pray as we should and not for selfish and fleshly desires.

With that said, I want to give you three things about the Holy Spirit and your prayer life from Romans 8.

He draws our hearts to pray as children coming to their father.

Romans 8:14–16 NKJV

14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

He teaches us what to pray.

Romans 8:26 NKJV

26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

He prays alongside of us.

Romans 8:27 NKJV

27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

Be Prayer Minded

Have you ever met someone who builds their entire personality around something? Maybe its a sport, a job, a band, or some other hobby. And it’s almost as though every time you speak to them, that is where they run the conversation to?

Well, I want you to notice how in Ephesians 6:18 Paul says, “Praying always...” Now, if we aren’t careful, we might leave thinking that Paul wants us to be monks hiding away and always praying or that we preform really bad in all societal events because we’re standing there praying. But that’s not what he wants from us. Instead, he is calling us to be prayer minded people. But what does that mean?

Well, Being prayer minded is to walk through your day with the understanding that you have the great privilege of fellowship with your heavenly Father through prayer.

It is walking through your day with an attitude of prayer. It is praying before walking into class that you might study to glorify God. It is praying in your mind as you speak to a friend that you might speak words seasoned with grace. It is praying as you find yourself being flustered with how busy life is and asking your Lord for help.

One writer said it this way, “[Being prayer minded] may provide a diagnostic test of how close your relationship with God really is. When you have a close relationship with someone, you want to interact with him or her regularly, sharing joys as well as sorrows” (Duguid, 111)

Concerning the subject of being prayer minded, John Wesley wrote, “[H]is heart is ever lifted up to God, at all times and in all places. In this he is never hindered, much less interrupted, by any person or thing. In retirement or company, in leisure, business, or conversation, his heart is ever with the Lord. Whether he lie down or rise up, God is in all his thoughts; he walks with God continually, having the loving eye of his mind still fixed upon Him, and everywhere 'seeing him that is invisible.’”

Is this you? Do you have that kind of heart set on the Lord? If not, pray that He would grant you such a desire and give you wisdom and strength to pursue such a walk with Him.

Iain Duguid writes, “The more you see God’s hand at work throughout the day, the more you will want to talk to Him about it - the accidents you almost had that He prevented; the test you should have failed but didn’t; the random loving thoughts that come into your mind that you know aren’t from you; yes, even the parking space that opened up just when you needed it. As your eyes open to your heavenly Father, you begin to see more and more of His constant activity on your behalf” (Duguid, 113).

Be Detailed in Our Prayer

In verse 18 Paul moves forward with us being called to pray with all prayer and supplication… Now, this really could be a part of being prayer minded because when we walk through our days being prayer minded, then we will have diverse or varied prayers and that’s what Paul is calling us to have here. He’s calling us to pray for a wide spectrum of things. At the end of verse 18, he calls us to pray for the saints and in verse 19-20, he asks us to pray for him that he might be emboldened to preach the gospel and have wisdom to know what to say when opportunities arise. So, we are called to pray diverse prayers about issues all over the spectrum in our daily lives.

But how many of us would say we pray something like, “God, please bless my family, help me to love you more, save the world. Amen.” Now, we may not say those same words, but if we’re honest with ourselves I think we might find that we can fall into very generic and generalized prayers.

In being too general in our prayers, we lead ourselves to pray with disconnected interest and find ourselves confessing that we don’t believe God is interested in the minute affairs of our lives. Therefore, let us pray for small things, for He, as a loving Father, cares to hear of them. Likewise, let us pray for big things for He, as mighty God, is able to answer.

Are you interested in a boy or a girl? Pray that God would give you wisdom there. Are you working to save up for a car or a new laptop? Pray that God would give you strength and wisdom to represent Him well in the workplace and that you’d be wise with your money. Are you burdened for Alamance County and want to see it underneath the banner of Christ? Pray that He would work in your heart first and that He would use you and others to bring about that change.

Iain Duguid wrote, “He wants us to pray on all kind of occasions because that is part of having a childlike relationship with Him. Children don’t store up their news and requests for a special thirty-minute time at the beginning or end of the day; they burst into their parents’ presence as soon as they have something to share! So too God desires you to share your trials and joys with Him moment by moment throughout the day, delighting with him in the good stuff and sharing the minor struggles and inconveniences, not just the terrible traumas of life.”

Now, if you feel like your prayer life lacks detail and you don’t know where to begin. I recommend reading the prayers of Jesus in the Bible. For instance, in John 17, Jesus prays that He would be glorified by the Father. You can pray that Jesus is glorified in your life. He also prays for His disciples to be safe and united, we can also pray for the safety and unity of Christ’s Church. Jesus prayed for us to grow as believers, so pray for that too. (Duguid, 114).

Be Persistent in Prayer

Lastly, Paul calls us to be “watchful to this end with all perseverance...” This means that we should be persistent in our prayers.

In Luke 18:1-7, Jesus gives a parable to communicate how we need to remain persistent and determined in our prayer lives.

Luke 18:1–7 NIV

1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ 4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’ ” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?

What Jesus is teaching us here is that He is much more loving, righteous, and eager to hear than this wicked judge and so He encourages us to run to Him in prayer and to keep running to Him in prayer no matter how discouraged we might get.

The person who persists in prayer testifies that they know that God is not bound by time even though we might grow discouraged when He doesn’t answer quickly. This persistent prayer demonstrates that this God who is outside of time invites them to come to Him and that He will hear them.

Conclusion

When we fail to pray as we should, we should be reminded that we have a High Priest seated at the right hand of the Father who intercedes for us forever. Let this love, stoke our hearts to run to Him in prayer.

When God doesn’t answer our prayers the way we expect, we should look to the Spirit for understanding and know that though we may be discouraged or heartbroken, this is a new area to trust God in and to rest in His wisdom and love.