Praying at All Times in the Spirit

Ephesians 6:18

As we conclude the series on the Armor of God, this will be the eighth message that I have done on the Armor of God. my hope is that you will be moved by this message to understand not only how important the Armor of God is to your spiritual life but how you can tie it all together to understand that you are in a serious battle as a believer and the only way to grow and be fruitful is to do that in the Spirit.

This message will hopefully allow you to see this verse as the other bookend of the Armor of God which started out with Ephesians 6:10 and will now conclude with Ephesians 6:18.

We have been saying it all along that if we are going to be able to stand firm for the Lord in the midst of this battle we are in against the rulers and the powers of the air, then we are going to have to do all of this in the strength of His might.

In the last message we discussed using the word of God as the Sword of the Spirit because He is the power behind the word. When we use the word as the “Rhema”, the spoken word of God then we can see the devil flee from us. He doesn’t flee because of us but He flees from the power of God.

It’s like in the movies when a person runs from a situation where a stronger person is behind the person that it trying to fight against them and the person thinks that they must have scared the person when it was really the stronger person behind them that scared them away.

In ourselves we have no power but when the devil sees us standing with God, he flees because of God and not us. Let us not kid ourselves, as Jesus states, Apart from me you can do nothing, the sooner we realize that the sooner we cling to God and live in Him to be able to survive the battle.

Galatians 5:16 Tells us “Walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh."The flesh is the area where we are most tempted by the schemes of the devil because the flesh is opposed to the Spirit as we read about in Galatians 5:17 - For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

We cannot help but have this flesh with us at all times but we must work to oppose it and that is done by putting to death the deeds of the flesh by putting on the new nature by walking in the Spirit Rom. 8:13 - For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

We are looking at all of this so that we can understand what Paul is telling us in this verse Ephesians 6:18 - praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

This closing verse for the Armor of God reminds us again that what we are doing is going to have to be done in the power of the Spirit. Notice here that Paul didn’t just tell us to pray at all times but also in the Spirit.

We are going to spend some time working to understand our relationship with the Father, through the Son and in the power of the Holy Spirit. When we started out looking at the Armor, the first piece that we encountered was the Belt of Truth. Having the belt of truth means knowing and understanding the truth of the word of God so that we can know when what we are hearing is either from God or it’s a lie from the devil.

Our Christian life is two parts then, one, knowing the word of God, it’s truths and teachings . Eph 4:14 - Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.

The second part is having an intimate relationship with the Father. 1 John 1:3 - We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

The Apostle John had a close relationship with Jesus and referred to himself as the disciple that Jesus loved. In Revelation which occurred after Jesus had ascended into heaven, he states - I was in the Spirit Revelation 1:10 - On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,

The Believers Bible Commentary says this about that expression - John was in the Spirit, that is, walking in unclouded fellowship with Him and thus in a position to receive divine communications. This reminds us that a person must be near to hear.

What I would like us to see here is that it is possible to be highly educated like the Pharisees and Sadducees and not be walking in the Spirit. Being in fellowship or connection with God. You can be highly orthodox in your knowledge of the scriptures but be far from walking in the Spirit.

Being in the Spirit is not something that just happens on its own or happens when you feel the emotions in a worship time because you like the way the music makes you feel. Instead it is as the commentary stated, in an unclouded fellowship state with God where you put aside the world and your worries and cares and just trust in Him.

When you are walking in the Spirit you will experience the Fruit of the Spirit, you will be listening for and allowing God to speak you you, to guide you and correct you. We will need to be in this type of relationship with God if we are going to be able to have the power that it will take to put on the Armor of God and live in that position.

So I ask you and myself, how is my prayer life? It is easy to pray mechanically or to read some prayer from the bible. When Jesus told the disciples how to prayer and he stated the Lord’s prayer, He didn’t expect them to just repeat that prayer as your own but to see the parts of that prayer as a guide to help them pray.

When I was first saved, I really didn’t appreciate the Psalms, it was like reading someone else’s prayers and thoughts and not my own. As my relationship with the Lord grew though, I started to understand the feelings and understanding that the writers were talking about and how much they knew God and how close they were to Him. Understanding that caused me to want that same kind of relationship with the Father.

Paul wants us to have that kind of relationship when we pray as he wants us to in Ephesians 6:18 when he tells us to pray in the Spirit. If you really understand the importance of living a life in the Spirit, how much you need and have to rely on the Spirit’s power to be able to Stand Firm, then you need to be listening to His guidance at all times. Not just hearing what He says but walking in it as well.

James tells us to be doers of the word and not merely hearers who deceive themselves - Again it’s the idea of living out the word, walking in the Spirit, action words that help me to overcome the schemes of the devil.