Our Holy Prayers

The Bible does not call you a ballerina. You aren’t called to dance and twirl gracefully.

The Bible does not say that you are a construction worker using tools and machines to build a large temple.

And the Bible does not identify you as a lord or lady, a prince or princess being pampered in a castle.

Instead, Scripture says that you, Christian, are a soldier. But you are not fighting against people. Politicians, mobs, bullies, or anyone who disagrees with you is not your enemy.

Ephesians 6:10–20 ESV

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 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, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

1. Against whom are you fighting (v. 12)?

Not against flesh and blood.

Rather against, authorities, cosmic powers over this present darkness, and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

All of those terms are regarding Satan and his forces.

The war is a spiritual war. The battle is an unseen battle, and we wouldn’t know about this fight unless the Scriptures told us.

Thankfully, God has told us that the attacks on us, our families, our church, and even the state come from our enemy, the devil.

But the best news is this: God has told us how we, as His soldiers, are to engage in the fight.

So, Paul is going to answer several questions in this text.

2. Where is the battle (v. 12)?

The battle is in the heavenly places.

It’s not in the Middle East. It’s not in Washington D.C. It’s not in the media. It’s not even in the schools and universities.

The battle is fought in the heavenly places, but it has implications for where you are in the Three Estates. The devil brings the battle to your church and your study of the Bible and prayers.

The Good News is this:

Jesus has come. By His death and resurrection, Christ has delivered you from sin, death, and the devil. He has delivered you from the domain of darkness and transferred you to His kingdom (Col. 1:13). And Jesus places you in His church so that you are continually reminded of His work, deliverance, grace, mercy, and forgiveness. But the devil hates this.

So, Satan comes and attacks your congregation. He attacks your pastor. The devil loves to whisper in your pastor’s ear, “Everything you are doing is failing. There are fewer people here now than there were last year. You don’t have the resources you used to have. The people don’t seem to care about the Scriptures.”

And the devil loves to attack you. But he doesn’t come straight on. Instead, he comes prowling around and sneaky like a lion.

He attacks you by trying to weaken your love for the Scriptures. He tries to get you to focus on yourself and the things that bring you pleasure. All of that takes your focus off of Christ.

The devil tries to lull you to sleep so you forget that because of Jesus you can stand before God with a clean conscience now and on the day of judgment. The devil brings the battle to you. This means that you are not called to be a soldier marching off to war. No. Instead, the battle comes to you.

3. What is our role in the battle (v. 11, 13-14)?

Stand.

Did you hear how often this text told you to stand? Four times in three verses you are told to stand. Verse 11, “Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” Verse 13, “Take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” And verse 14, “Stand therefore.”

You are not told to march out and attack (neither are you told to retreat). Stand.

This is your duty. This means that you are a particular type of soldier.

4. What kind of soldier does that make you? What are the duties of that soldier? What two things could that soldier be punished for?

You are a sentry. A sentry is a particular kind of soldier whose job is to watch and guard a particular place. And you, holy Christian, are called to guard holy ground.

When Paul was writing this letter, one of the most important jobs a solder could have in the Roman Empire was sentry duty. All around the boarder of the empire, sentries were placed on a wall to be on guard through the night listening for an attacking army.

This duty was so important that a sentry could be immediately executed for one of two failures in his duty:

The first offense he could be executed for was leaving the post either by retreating or attacking. If a sentry saw the enemy approaching and left his post to attack by himself, he would be killed (though, he’d probably die in the attack). The sentry wasn’t there to fight; he was there to call in reinforcements, battalions who were stationed behind the boarder at various intervals. The sentry would call in these troops so they could defeat the invading army.

And the second offense he could be executed for is if he fell asleep. If the sentry fell asleep while on duty, he’d lose his head. The sentry had to always be ready to call in the troops to defend the boarder.

5. As a sentry, what are you called to do (v. 18)?

You are to be praying at all times (v. 18), and keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.

Now, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t ever sleep at night. And it doesn’t mean that you will be executed if you fall asleep in church. Instead, you are to be spiritually aware and ready. Be watchful in your prayers.

So, here is the picture.

You, believer, are a soldier who has been stationed at the boarder guarding the holy kingdom of Christ’s Church. You have a particular post. God has placed you in particular places where no one else has been placed and no one else is watching and guarding.

When you see the devil attacking, you don’t leave your post and fight. Instead, you pray and call in the reinforcements.

When the devil attacks your parents or siblings, pray and call in the reinforcements. When you see the devil attacking your pastor and congregation, pray. When you hear the enemy advancing on your friends , pray.

Those are the places God has called you to watch over, and He hasn’t called anyone else to that particular post.

Do your duty. Stand. Watch. Pray. So that the devil may not find a way in. Your job is to stand, guard, watch, and pray. This is dangerous work, so…

What is your protection (v. 13, 14-17a)?

God’s armor.

You are not protected by your own might. You aren’t safe with your own ninja skills. Instead, you are clothed with the armor of Christ.

God’s truth and Christ’s righteousness are your protection.

The Gospel guards and makes your feet swift.

The shield of faith in Christ protects you.

And the helmet of salvation protects your head and mind.

It doesn’t matter which direction the devil shoots his arrows at you, you are covered in God’s armor. The devil takes aim at you with thousands of flaming darts trying to condemn you and attack your faith, “You said this. You did that. You fell into temptation here. You sinned against your neighbor.” But the armor of God stops every one of them leaving you unharmed.

The armor of God protects you. But there is one more thing you are given, the sword of the spirit, which brings us to the last question.

7. What weapon are you given for battle, and how are you to use it (17b-18)?

The sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.

How are you to use this sword? Verse 18, pray. Praying at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication. Use God’s Word to pray.

The promises given to you in God’s Word are the very things you are to pray.

When the fighting comes near you and you have to fight toe to toe with the devil, use God’s Word.

It is what Jesus used when He was tempted by the devil.

2 Kings 6:8–23 ESV

8 Once when the king of Syria was warring against Israel, he took counsel with his servants, saying, “At such and such a place shall be my camp.” 9 But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, “Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are going down there.” 10 And the king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God told him. Thus he used to warn him, so that he saved himself there more than once or twice. 11 And the mind of the king of Syria was greatly troubled because of this thing, and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not show me who of us is for the king of Israel?” 12 And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.” 13 And he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and seize him.” It was told him, “Behold, he is in Dothan.” 14 So he sent there horses and chariots and a great army, and they came by night and surrounded the city. 15 When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” 16 He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17 Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 18 And when the Syrians came down against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, “Please strike this people with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness in accordance with the prayer of Elisha. 19 And Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” And he led them to Samaria. 20 As soon as they entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.” So the Lord opened their eyes and they saw, and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. 21 As soon as the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, “My father, shall I strike them down? Shall I strike them down?” 22 He answered, “You shall not strike them down. Would you strike down those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master.” 23 So he prepared for them a great feast, and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the Syrians did not come again on raids into the land of Israel.

Exodus 14:1–29 (ESV)

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. 3 For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ 4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.

5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” 6 So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him, 7 and took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. 8 And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly. 9 The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea....

10 When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. 11 They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” 13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

15 The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. 16 Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. 17 And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. 18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

19 Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, 20 coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.

21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 23 The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 24 And in the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, 25 clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.”

26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. 28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained. 29 But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

When you pray, you are calling in the reinforcements, you are calling in Christ Himself and all His holy angels.

Jesus is Champion who defeated the devil. It looked like the devil won when Jesus was in the grave. But Jesus stood up. He crushed the devil’s head. And you, dear Christian, you stand with Him.