Are You Winning Your Battle?

Are you winning your battle?

Lets READ: Ephesians 6:10-20 (Text: v18)

Ephesians chapters 4-6 are all about "Spiritual Warfare".

The bible tells us about it and a lot of people think that because the battle is on when we are on our knees praying God does not hear because the devil is yelling and screaming while we are.

Not at all when you are praying the devil is silent and we are the victors.

When you knocked on the Lord’s door and ask Him to open it and come into your heart, the door is never shut.

You don’t have to knock anymore.

And when we come to Ephesians 6:10-20, the famous passage on the armour of the believer, it’s speak of how we ought to stand arrayed IN EVERY PART AND ARENA OF LIVING OF OUR LIVES! It’s all spiritual warfare - and the armour never comes off!

BUT HAVING SAID ALL OF THAT, please understand that prayer IS VITAL in our warfare as Christian soldiers. With prayer we "buckle on" our other armour; it must undergird our whole fight. If we think we’ve put on the armour of God, but we’re not PRAYING - we’re kidding ourselves: we are leaving ourselves with defenses down. Your relationship with God, your spiritual walk, your Christian experience, will never rise higher than your prayer life. Prayer is of the utmost urgency for every believer.

Paul comes to the end of his list of the Christian soldier’s armour, and he writes (verse 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; ..."

Do you realise how important "communications" are in any battle? If an enemy can cut off a battalion’s communications, they become immediately isolated, helpless and alone.

Now for the Christian, PRAYER is our line of communication with our Commander-in-chief. God knows our situation (better than we do) - and He knows the enemy’s position too - but God moves in response to prayer. If the enemy can deter us or distract us from PRAYING, then he has us where he wants us. We quickly become isolated, helpless and alone, WITH ONLY OUR OWN RESOURCES. And God does NOT intend for us to fight with our own resources - they’re of no use in a spiritual fight.

2 Corinthians 10:4 says: "For the weapons of our warfare are NOT carnal, but they are mighty through GOD to the pulling down of strongholds".

If we’re not vitally in touch with God - what are we fighting with?! Our weaponry? Our own resources? GOD HELP US!

And so the enemy is very concerned to keep us involved in any other thing, as long as he can keep us from prayer.

"Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon their knees!"(W.Cowper/J.Newton)

All right, today talking about this Prayer of Christian Warfare, I want us to consider three simple things:

1. The PRIORITY of Prayer

2. The POWER of Prayer

3. The PERSEVERANCE of Prayer

Firstly then:

1. THE PRIORITY OF PRAYER

In verse 18 there is one very important little word that we should observe. It’s obviously very important because it appears several times in that one verse. You don’t have to be Albert Einstein to work out that the Apostle Paul is trying to make a point. The word I’m referring to is the word "ALL", and it’s associated word "ALWAYS":

"Praying ALWAYS with ALL prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with ALL perseverance and supplication for ALL saints;"

Here we see the PRIORITY of prayer. We are to ALWAYS be giving ourselves to prayer, in ALL its forms, with ALL our energy and diligence, in ALL situations, and for ALL people. PRAYER MUST UNDERGIRD EVERYTHING IN OUR LIVES! Now, let me ask you the question: does prayer undergird everything YOU do? Is communion with God that kind of a first priority in YOUR life?

[PAUSE.]

Church, the battle is ALWAYS raging. The enemy is desperate, for he knows his time is short - he’s not going to call any "time-out" for rest and recreation; the battle is on in earnest! And if that’s the case, then our armour must ALWAYS be in place, and we must remain alert - watching and praying. Listen to the words of 1 PETER 5:8: "Be sober, be vigilante; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour".

I ’m urging right now, by the compulsion of the Holy Ghost, that we get our spiritual eyes opened to see what’s happening in the heavenlies, and to get serious about this battle we’re in. It’s not a day for complacency; it’s a day for the church to be on her knees (for OUR church to be seeking God), and holding on to Him in fervent prayer until He rend the heavens and come down among us. And oh, He longs to. We cry out, "Where is God? Why don’t we see more of His hand at work among us? Where be the God of Elijah?", and He answers us: "Here I am, but where are the Elijah’s? Where are the people who will humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and repent of worldliness, and laziness, and sin, and hold on to Me until I rain blessing down upon them?!"