Prayer!

Intro

The last couple of months we have been preparing for battle! We have looked at Paul’s writings to the Ephesian church and have been challenged to take up our armor, take up our sword, and be ready to stand!

As we round it all out, though, we have come to an imperative part of the battle planning.

As a soldiers prepare for battle, even if they have the same armor and sword, disaster awaits if there is no outside direction. Nobody to rally the troupes, nobody to give constant and direct instruction.

Without constant communication with the general, soldiers won’t even know where to muster for training.

God thought of this when He was inspiring Paul in his writing.

Because, Paul rounds out this section with a call. A call to take up the practice of communicating with God, our General, as we take armor and arms.

Listen to how John Piper describes this call.

Exalting Jesus in Ephesians Be Devoted to Prayer (Ephesians 6:18–20)

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 certainly 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 us 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. (Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad, 41)

Ephesians 6:10–20 KJV 1900

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Over the years, wartime communication has changed, and changed much. However, prayer has not. Through our relationship with the Father through Jesus Christ, we can pray with the Spirits help, by directly speaking to God.

See with me first, this morning, the value of prayer!

The Value of Praying

So often we hear, “well, why do I even need to pray if God already knows what I need or what I am going to say.”

I would say to them in response, “you don’t understand the purpose of value of praying to God!”

What do I mean? I mean that if your only relationship with prayer is for God to look at you and your needs, and if you have such an issue with prayer that you want to find a loop hole to get around it, then you don’t understand what God intended prayer for.

So, what is prayer for if not for me?

It’s for God’s glory!

God intended and designed prayer for a lot of things, and we won’t be able to talk about them all today, but here is a short list of a few:

Expressing worship and gratitude

Seeking guidance

Obtaining strength

Aligning your heart with God’s will

And yes, addressing your needs and even desires.

But, all of this can be boiled down to this thought: Prayer was designed for God’s creation to have communion with Himself.

We are created by God and are a needy people, we need our Father, we need to talk to our Father, to spend time with our Father, to love our Father. We need prayer and we need to give God the glory for it.

Adam and Eve had physical communion with God daily, and ever since the Fall, mankind has craved it, needed it, even if they haven’t always been aware.

The value in praying is that we get to spend time with our Father, the Son, and the Spirit simultaneously through our conversations, our cries, our laughter, our sadness, and our joy in prayer.

So, don’t allow prayer to become a selfish “give me three wishes” activity. Allow it to be a time of worshipful communion with the personal Creator.

And then, Paul addresses prayer in Ephesians. He tells us two direct ways to pray.

Comprehensively

The first is comprehensively.

Ephesians 6:18–20 “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”

Paul encourage us that when we pray, we don’t just say the same type of prayer each time, Jesus actually forbids that type of praying in Matthew 6:7 “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.”

It is important to know that this does not mean we can’t pray for the same things or the same way, but that doing so just to check our prayer checklist is “vain” it is pointless!

Rather, Paul gives us four ways that we can pray that make prayer rather comprehensive.

All the Time

The first way we pray is all the time.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 “Pray without ceasing.”

What Paul is getting at here is that prayer should be our primary instinct the longer that we have been followers of Jesus.

Praying, literally, without ceasing would be impossible. In that case I wouldn’t be able to eat or sleep even. Paul doesn’t mean this. Rather, he means that prayer should be our go-to response any and all the time. Prayer should take us throughout the day as we constantly talk with God.

The attitude of our lives should be an attitude of prayer. We should pray all the time.

All Prayer and Supplication

Next, Paul calls on us to pray “with all prayer and supplication” but, what does that really mean?

More than anything, Paul is encouraging us to pray different prayers.

What does that mean?

Like we talked about earlier, prayer has one intent, but within that intent are factors.

Worship, gratitude, asking for strength, needs, wants, etc.

Paul, here, is telling us to pray those different ways.

Every prayer your pray cannot be “thank you for this day” “thank you for this food” “remember so and so”

As much as those things are okay, we cannot pick a “type” of prayer or one thing to pray for and allow it to be all we do. We must realize that prayer is a conversation and conversation varies, usually based on current circumstances.

When I have a problem and I call my wife, that conversation is much different than a call just to chat, or a call to celebrate something.

The way we communicate varies based on what is going on.

Prayer does that too.

However, each time we pray, worship and gratitude should be a staple.

It is a good practice, even a command, to thank God, so… thank God!

Philippians 4:6 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”

Paul continues his thoughts and challenges us to pray with all perseverance.

All Perseverance

As we pray, the enemy will attack. As we talk to the Commander, the opposing forces will try to catch us off guard.

We cannot curl up in our trenches and allow the enemy to overtake, we must persevere, keep talking to the commander, keep fighting.

Don’t stop talking to the commander until you are face to face with Him on home ground in Heaven.

Persevere through the attacks, through the persecution, through spiritual warfare. But, the only way we persevere is through prayer. And, as you pray, pray with perseverance and the strength of the Lord!

Paul now moves to who we should pray for.

All the Saints

Paul encourages believers to pray for other believers.

We as protestants don’t believe “saints” to be anything other than our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Paul encourages us to pray for them!

Pray for more than just their physical health, pray that they too can take up the armor, take up the sword, take up their walkie-talkie which is prayer, and stand firm!

It is important to note as well that, if you are a follower of God, then you are a saint, a believer.

So, pray for yourself!

We feel so selfish when we pray for ourselves, but God encourages us throughout his word, especially with David in the Psalms, to pray for ourselves.

It is ignorant to neglect your own spiritual life when you pray.

If others need your prayers, don’t be too shy or prideful to think that you don’t need prayer.

Paul even asks the Ephesians to pray for him!

Pray for the saints.

Pray for yourself.

Pray for more than physical needs, dig deep into the spiritual needs that you and your fellow brothers and sisters have, and pray for those things!

You may be asking, well Pastor, what about unbelievers, shouldn’t we be praying for them as well?

You will be glad to know that Paul ends this section with that very thought.

Boldness

Ephesians 6:10–20 KJV 1900

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Paul, in asking for prayers, encourage us, finally, to pray for boldness to share the gospel of Jesus Christ to a dying world.

This goes along well with last weeks message when we talked about God using the sword to pierce the heart of the unbeliever.

We must pray for boldness to share the gospel.

It is not a natural thing to share the gospel, but the longer you are a Christian, and the more you practice it, the more you will be willing to share the gospel with a world who needs it ever so.

But, we must pray that the Lord will give us boldness to take up His armor, and carry the gospel!

It only makes sense that as the Spirit of God pricked your heart with the gospel that you would need his help spreading that gospel to others.

So, pray not only for boldness to share the gospel, but pray for the recipients that the Lord would soften their hearts to receive the message you share.

Once you begin to pray for boldness, however, don’t be surprised when the Lord grants it to you.

And, once the Lord grants you boldness, you had better use it to share the gospel!

But, no matter what you do Church, pray.

Hebrews 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

Pray to have communion with God.

Pray all the time, in all ways, with all perseverance, for all people, and with all boldness.

SONG

Conclusion

Exalting Jesus in Ephesians Be Devoted to Prayer (Ephesians 6:18–20)

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 certainly 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 us 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. (Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad, 41)

Life is war. Jesus is the commander. He gives us armor, a sword, and constant communication with Him. Are you taking advantage of what He gives you? When you face battles and challenges and you feel like you are losing, ask yourself, are you taking up truth, righteousness, peace, the gospel, faith, salvation, the Word and prayer?

If not, why?

If not, you need to make a commitment to God today that you will be a faithful servant.

Maybe you need to make that commitment for the first time today.

*salvation plea*