Ephesians 6 Verses 17 to 20 Battle Prayers March 30, 2025

Ephesians 6 Verses 17 to 20 Battle Prayers March 30, 2025 Lesson 13 The Immeasurable Love of Christ series Class Presentation Notes AAAA

Background Scriptures:

• Mark 14:38 (NASB95)

38“Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

• John 15:7 (NASB95)

7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

• Job 42:10 (NASB95)

10 The LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the LORD increased all that Job had twofold.

• Romans 15:30 (NASB95)

30 Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me,

Main Idea:

• Once a soldier is dressed for battle, the battle is fought in prayer.

Study Aim:

• To understand that the battle prayer is true, aggressive, warfare praying. It is hard work, and sometimes you will wrestle with God.

Create Interest:

• “We will never surrender our nation or our faith in Christ to those who glory in death and destruction. We will not be intimidated because we know and trust in the power of the cross”. Archbishop, Eliud Wabukala of Kenya.

• That is exactly what it means to put on the armor of God. While we are wearing this spiritual armor of faith in the gospel, Satan will continually fail in his attempts to stop our churches from demonstrating the wisdom of God in his gathering us under Christ’s rule. To be victorious in spiritual warfare, all we have to do is keep trusting the gospel!

• In our lesson last week, Dressed for Battle, we identified our strength in God, analyzed the threat of the enemy to launch his lies at us to create doubts and divisions, clarified our plan to stand firm, and explained the defensive armor of faith in the gospel, Paul now outlines his strategy for victory…Battle Prayers

Lesson in Historical Context:

• Paul concludes his discussion regarding the preparation of the church for external conflict in this paragraph. He instructed believers to put on the armor of God (6:11–20), but these verses move away from that running illustration. Instead, he provides them with a personal call to prayer. Recognizing the schemes of Satan (6:11–12), Paul desires that the Ephesians cry out to God, who should be their source of strength (6:10), for help.

• The letter concludes with a declaration about prayer, not because Paul thinks of prayer as one more weapon, but because prayer is to pervade all our spiritual warfare. Prevailing prayer has four universals.

o We are to pray … on all occasions, with all kinds of prayers and requests, we are to be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people (Vs.18).

o Most Christians pray sometimes, with some kinds of prayer and some degree of perseverance for some of God’s people. But to replace ‘some’ by ‘all’ in each expression would be to introduce us to a new dimension and depth of prayer. We will address that in Vs. 19-20 in our study.

o Pray also for me (Vs.19), Paul begged. He was wise enough to know his own need of strength for his own ministry as he was………..

o an ambassador in chains (Vs.20) for the gospel.

Bible Study:

Ephesians 6:17–18 (NASB95)

17 And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,

• Vs. 17: The mandate: to receive. The outline is divided here because the Greek word take is an imperative, rather than another participle. This parallels the imperative “stand” in verse 14. The helmet and sword are the last two pieces a soldier takes up. A helmet, being hot and uncomfortable, would be put on by a soldier only when he faced impending danger. Having one’s head guarded by a helmet gives a sense of safety, so the helmet of salvation refers either to present safety from the devil’s attacks or to a future deliverance, “the hope of salvation as a helmet” (1 Thes. 5:8).

• Finally, a Roman soldier would take his sword in hand, his main offensive weapon. Of the Spirit refers to the source or origin of the sword; hence it is “the sword given by the Spirit.” “The sword of the Spirit” is specified as the Word of God. “Word” (rhēma; cf. Eph. 5:26; Rom. 10:8, 17; 1 Peter 1:25) refers to the preached Word, the written Word, the Bible, or an utterance of God occasioned by the Holy Spirit in the heart. Believers need this “sword” to combat the enemy’s assault, much as Christ did three times when tempted by the devil (Matt. 4:1–11).

• Vs. 18: Although the military imagery continues into this verse—arm yourselves and be alert—the prayer to which the readers are summoned should not be taken as a seventh piece of the Christian’s armor. God has given his splendid armor to the believer, but the “putting on” and the utilization of that armor in battle calls for discipline in prayer in the Spirit. According to Stott, “Equipping ourselves with God’s armor is not a mechanical preparation; it is itself an expression of our dependence on God, in other words, of prayer” (p. 283).

• The prayer that the believers are admonished to utter has some significant qualities about it.

o First, it is to be unceasing: pray … on all occasions. The Christian warrior, although heavily armed, can only stand firm against the enemy through the agency of prayer. Praying is done in the Spirit. To do so is not to be transposed into some ecstatic or euphoric condition beyond the senses but to live in the realization that the Spirit is the believer’s helper (5:18) and intercessor (Rom. 8:15, 16, 26, 27). “It is an approach to God relying not on our own piety, but on the help which God in his Spirit offers to us” (Mitton, p. 228).

 The Greek, and most English translations (RSV, NIV), employ the two expressions prayers (proseuchē and “supplication” or requests (deēsis). Most commentators feel that “prayer” always addresses God, whereas “supplication” may be used to address either God or humankind. The GNB “asking for God’s help” takes the Greek as a request to God and not as intercession on behalf of human beings.

• Second, prayer is to be intense. Be alert and always keep on praying. In other words, maintain a spirit of watchfulness and perseverance. A Christian warrior must not be caught off guard. This exhortation toward constancy and watchfulness in prayer and the Christian life is common to the NT (Luke 18:1; Rom. 12:12; 1 Cor. 16:13; Phil. 4:6; Col. 4:2; 1 Thess. 5:17; 1 Pet. 5:8). But since this phrase falls between two other exhortations, it is not entirely clear where “perseverance” (keep on praying) belongs. Should it go with the idea of praying constantly with all alertness, or does it relate to the following phrase, in which believers are summoned to intercede for others? Beare suggests that alertness refers to the believer’s spiritual conflict but that this, in turn, leads to “persevering intercession on behalf of all his comrades in the fight”.

• Third, prayer is unlimited. Always keep on praying for all the saints. Since all believers are involved in a spiritual battle, prayer must transcend its narrow individualism and encompass the entire body of Christ.

o As members of an army, believers must manifest a concern for all who are fighting along with them. Here the apostle’s concerns are not unlike those in 1 Peter, were, in a similar context of warning his readers about the devil, Peter writes:

 “Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings” (5:9).

Ephesians 6:19–20 (NASB95)

19 and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,

20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

In Vs. 18, we did a generalized view of prayer…now we go deeper. Read on….

• Vs. 19-20 Prayer is the energy that enables the Christian soldier to wear the armor and wield the sword. We cannot fight the battle in our own power, no matter how strong or talented we may think we are. When Amalek attacked Israel, Moses went to the mountaintop to pray, while Joshua used the sword down in the valley (Ex. 17:8–16). It took both to defeat Amalek—Moses’ intercession on the mountain, and Joshua’s use of the sword in the valley.

o Prayer is the power for victory, but not just any kind of prayer. Paul tells how to pray if we would defeat Satan…………………….

• Pray always. This obviously does not mean “always saying prayers.” We are not heard for our “much speaking” (Matt. 6:7). “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thes. 5:17) says to us, “Always be in communion with the Lord. Keep the receiver off the hook!” Never have to say when you pray, “Lord, we come into Thy presence,” because you never left His presence! A Christian must “pray always” because he is always subject to temptations and attacks of the devil. A surprise attack has defeated more than one believer who forgot to “pray without ceasing.”

• Pray with all prayer. There is more than one kind of praying: prayer, supplication, intercession, thanksgiving (Phil. 4:6; 1 Tim. 2:1). The believer who prays only to ask for things is missing out on blessings that come with intercessions and giving of thanks. In fact, thanksgiving is a great prayer weapon for defeating Satan. “Praise changes things” as much as “prayer changes things.” Intercession for others can bring victory to our own lives.” “The LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the LORD increased all that Job had twofold.” (Job 42:10).

• Pray in the Spirit as we saw in Vs. 18: The Bible formula is that we pray to the Father, through the Son, and in the Spirit. Romans 8:26–27 tells us that only in the Spirit’s power can we pray in the will of God.

 Romans 8:26–27 (NASB95)

26 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;

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

o Otherwise, our praying could be selfish and out of the will of God. In the Old Testament tabernacle, there was a small golden altar standing before the veil, and here the priest burned the incense (Ex. 30:1–10; Luke 1:1–11). The incense is a picture of prayer. It had to be mixed according to God’s plan and could not be counterfeited by man.

 The fire on the altar is a picture of the Holy Spirit, for it is He who takes our prayers and “ignites” them in the will of God.

 It is possible to pray fervently in the flesh and never get through to God.

 It is also possible to pray quietly in the Spirit and see God’s hand do great things.

• Pray with your eyes open. Watching means “keeping on the alert.” The phrase “watch and pray” occurs often in the Bible. When Nehemiah was repairing the walls of Jerusalem, and the enemy was trying to stop the work, Nehemiah defeated the enemy by watching and praying. “Nevertheless, we made our prayer unto our God and set a watch” (Neh. 4:9).

o “Watch and pray” is the secret of victory over the world (Mark 13:33), the flesh (Mark 14:38), and the devil (Eph. 6:18).

o Peter went to sleep when he should have been praying, and the result was victory for Satan (Mark 14:29–31, 67–72).

 God expects us to use our God-given senses, led by the Spirit, so that we detect Satan when he is beginning to work.

• Keep on praying. The word perseverance simply means “to stick to it and not quit.” The early believers prayed this way (Acts 1:14; 2:42; 6:4); and we also should pray this way (Rom. 12:12 “rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,”)

o Perseverance in prayer does not mean we are trying to twist God’s arm, but rather that we are deeply concerned and burdened and cannot rest until we get God’s answer.

 If I were Paul, I’m afraid I would have said, “As for me, pray that the doors of this prison might open so that I could get out of here. I’m tired of the dungeon. I’m tired of being chained to the soldier. I’m tired of my pain.” But Paul didn’t say that. He simply said, “Pray that I might be bold in sharing the gospel.”

o As Robert Law puts it, “Prayer is not getting man’s will done in heaven; it is getting God’s will done on earth” (Tests of Life, [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1968]).

 Most of us quit praying just before God is about to give the victory.

o Not everybody is so constituted that he can sincerely spend a whole night in prayer, but all of us can persevere in prayer far more than we do. The early church prayed without ceasing when Peter was in prison and, at the last moment, God gave them their answer (Acts 12:1–19).

 Keep on praying until the Spirit stops you or the Father answers you. Just about the time you feel like quitting, God will give the answer.

• Pray for all the saints. The Lord’s Prayer begins with “Our Father”—not “My Father.” We pray as part of a great family that is also talking to God, and we ought to pray for the other members of the family.

o Even Paul asked for the prayer support of the Ephesians—and he had been to the third heaven and back.

 If Paul needed the prayers of the saints, how much more do you and I need them! If my prayers help another believer defeat Satan, then that victory will help me too. Note that Paul did not ask them to pray for his comfort or safety, but for the effectiveness of his witness and ministry.

Thoughts in Closing to put together our thoughts on Battle Prayers

• Every preacher, everyone who has tried to talk to others about the gospel, will know how he feels as he asks for prayer in his task. How can you find the right words to say? How can you make it clear? How can you get your own mind sufficiently around the extraordinary saving plan of God and then describe it in such a way that other people will find it convincing and compelling? But are we trying to find words to convince people or are we trying to find God’s will in a situation?

• That’s the problem we all face; but for Paul it was worse, granted his situation. And he was determined to do it with full boldness: the word he uses in verse 20 could almost mean ‘brazenly’. He is settled in his mind that he will go on talking about King Jesus, his victory over death, and his present and future kingdom, no matter what happens.

o But he knows that unless people are praying for him, he won’t be able to do it, and it wouldn’t mean anything if he did.

• The point of prayer is, rather, that it accomplishes things we couldn’t do by our own effort, organization or skill.

• Prayer remains mysterious at one level. Nobody quite knows ‘how it works’, and this not knowing seems to be part of the point. But it remains a deeply practical thing to do.

• He knows that the prayers even of young and inexperienced Christians are every bit as powerful and valid in God’s presence as those of a seasoned apostle. And he knows that their prayers for him are therefore just as important as his for them.

• Prayer is hard work. It can’t be reduced to a few moments of sleepy meditation at the end of the day, or a few snatched moments at the beginning. (We must of course add quickly that that would be better than nothing, but only in the same way that a piece of stale bread is better than no food at all, but nowhere near as good as a proper meal.) Paul insists that you’ll need to stay awake and keep alert if you’re to engage properly in prayer.

• If you’re going to take praying seriously, you will probably want to plan it out a bit. You may find it helpful to make a few lists of things and people to pray for, not in order to be legalistic or regimented about it but in order to be faithful both to God and to the people who depend upon you for support. Just as in most families there are lists of birthdays, anniversaries and the like, so there is no shame, and plenty of good sense, in keeping a notebook of the people you want to pray for regularly.

o Some people I know keep a two-sided notebook: the left-hand side to record the prayers they’ve prayed, the right-hand side to fill in the way in which the prayer was answered (including times when the answer was ‘no’).

o It is remarkable how many small but significant miracles would otherwise be forgotten.

Questions for soaking on as you go your way……………………………

Questions for reflection

1. Consider a time recently when you gave in to temptation. What aspect of gospel truth had you failed to remember and live by—i.e.: to “wear”? How can you stand firm next time that temptation comes?

2. When are you most likely to be “fearful” about speaking out about Christ, and therefore remain quiet? Who will you ask to pray for you?

3. The home and the workplace are battlegrounds in which we are called to stand firm against the devil’s schemes.

What might that look like to you today?

Where will the battle be hardest, and how will you stand?

Richard Coekin, Ephesians for You, ed. Carl Laferton, God’s Word for You (The Good Book Company, 2015), 208.