We have dealing with the spiritual battle we all fight daily. And over the course of the of the past couple of months we have considered the armor of God, the spiritual tools with which we stand against the enemy. Let us review them briefly:
Ephesians 6:14–17 Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, 15 and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
The last thing we must consider in the list of armor is not armor at all, nor is it a weapon, but it is the very power by which we employ the spiritual armor and weapons, that is prayer. Prayer is the very air the spiritual warrior breaths. It is by prayer we face the enemy.
Ephesians 6:18–20
This spiritual battle we face is bigger than any one of us can handle. Even as the church assembled and united, the enemy is out there waiting to squash the church.
1 Peter 5:8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
We as the church face uncertain times ahead. The election on this Tuesday may very well determine the fate of religious liberty in this nation. There are forces we do not know about or understand waiting for the right moment to strike, a time of unrest, violence, rioting, and general anarchy and chaos.
I’m not a prophet, but it does not take a anyone special to figure out regardless of who comes out on top at this election, all havoc will break loose in this divided nation, perhaps as much as open conflict and even civil war. I hope I am wrong. We see all the players in place, violent conflict is just waiting to happen, and this unrest and uncertainty will be with us for the foreseeable future.
We were wondering what the new normal will look like in light of COVID-19. It will be nothing compared to the political turmoil we are about to experience. What can we, the people of God, the church do? For one, if you have not already voted, you need to do so, and we must vote our Christian values. Second, and actually first and foremost, we are called to pray. We as the church are called to prayer like never before. Only the very hand God can cool this red hot situation which we are in. In this spiritual war, prayer is the power behind the armor and the sword.
Old Testament Story of the Exodus (from Exodus 17:8–16)– before the nation of Israel got to Mt Sinai, they encountered the Amalek army. When Amalek attacked Israel, Moses went to the mountaintop to pray, while Joshua used the sword down in the valley. While Moses hands were raise, Joshua and the Israelite army prevailed. It took both to defeat Amalek—Moses’ intercession on the mountain, and Joshua’s use of the sword in the valley.
Our enemy is not flesh and blood
Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Because of these things, because we fight against an unseen enemy (who all too often shows up and real human terms from which we suffer as Christians), Paul tells us to:
Ephesians 6:13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
So we take up the armor. But the Army with the best equipment in the world, means nothing if the soldiers are not trained to use the equipment, and the soldier do not know how to effectively employ the equipment. So without missing a beat, Paul proceeds to talk about prayer. In some translation, verse 18 follows verse 17 with only a comma.
Ephesians 6:18 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
By prayer we ask for armor, In prayer we receive the armor, and with prayer we use the armor.
James 1:5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
Prayer is a theme we find throughout Paul’s writings.
Colossians 1:3 We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving;
Romans 12:12 rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,
1 Thessalonians 5:17 pray without ceasing;
2 Thessalonians 1:11 To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power,
Paul was a man about prayer. We need to be like Paul, being about prayer. But this does not mean we are always saying prayers, for Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:7, that we are not heard for our many words. But we need always to be in the attitude of prayer – and it takes practice. Always being open to God speaking. Always remember His words, always seeking his guidance. Always being and knowingly in dependence on God.
Warren Wiersbe comments that we should never have to pray: “Lord, we come into Thy Presence,” because we should never be leaving His presence!
In this Spiritual battle, how then shall we pray? Notice in verse 18, that little word “all.”
With all prayer; at all times, with all perseverance; for all the saints.
“With all Prayer” -all types of prayer, Public and Private prayer, when we’re in the mood and not in the mood. Deliberate and spontaneous prayers. Supplication and intercession prayers. Confession and prayers of humiliation before God. Prayers of praise and thanksgiving. Both formal and informal prayers. And the list goes on.
We are to pray “At all times,” we are to praying without ceasing, we live in an attitude of prayer, “in the Spirit.” We must be praying in the Holy Spirit because otherwise our prayers would be mostly selfish. Only in the Holy Spirit can we truly prayer for the will of God. Did not Jesus command us to pray:
Matthew 6:10 ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
We too often will pray for our own will and not for God’s will to be done. Praying in the Spirit, the Spirit will intercede for us:
Romans 8:26–27 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.
We are told to “be on the alert.” We are to pray with our eyes wide open. We are to be aware of the world around us. Jesus commanded his disciples to:
Luke 21:36 But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
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.
Nehemiah 4:9 But we prayed to our God, and because of them we set up a guard against them day and night.
Nehemiah, a man of prayer, prayed to God, depended on Him, and set a watch, he kept his eyes open. Jesus told his disciples to watch and pray:
Mark 14:38 Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Yet his disciples still fell asleep. A big problem with the world today is that the church, in times past, have fallen asleep – stuck their head in the sand and because it was not happening within the four walls of the church building the church ignored what was going on around them.
Jesus tells the church:
Matthew 10:16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.
We are to wise to the ways of the world – not to copy the world, but to avoid the pitfalls – to avoid to getting roped into the schemes of the devil. We are not to be naïve, but aware. We are to stay alert, and pray.
Next Paul tells us “with all perseverance.” We are to pray the most when we feel like doing it the least. We are to continue in prayer until God answers or gives us rest. Even when it seems no answer is coming we are to keep up our prayers. We are not to give up praying, just because we do not have an answer or, we get no for an answer, or things seem to be getting worse instead of better.
Luke 11:9–10 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. In the Greek, ask, seek, and knock, are present active verbs can be translated: keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking.
“And petition for all the saints,” intercessory prayer can bring victory to our own lives – not just because helping them be victorious helps us, but we get a blessing too. Remember the story of Job and how his friends were so wrong about him and about God:
Job 42:10 The LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the LORD increased all that Job had twofold.
In Samuel we are told that it is a sin not to lift up others in prayer.
1 Samuel 12:23 Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way.
We need to be lifting up all the saints, because we all are in this spiritual battle together. And Paul asked for prayer too.
Ephesians 6:19–20 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.
Look at Paul’s request for prayer here closely. Notice that Paul never asked to be released from prison. He did not ask that things be made easier for him. Paul asked for boldness. The very thing that put him in jail to start with. If Paul needed the prayers of the saints for himself, how much more do we need to be praying for one-another?
This is a spiritual battle we are in. With the elections coming up, this country is not fighting a political battle, it is completely spiritual, the very soul of our nation is at stake and we need to be on our faces before Almighty God pleading for this nation.
John 14:13–14 Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.
To ask in Jesus’ name - is not a magic formula, It is not something we say to make God work for us. It is all about Jesus. It is all about bringing glory to Jesus.
And to do so, you must know Jesus. To have this power we call prayer you must know Jesus. You must have a relationship with Him. otherwise, He will ask, who are you?
I’m afraid, we are in for some tough times. Do you have on the full armor of God? Do you have a relationship with Jesus, so that you can go to Him in prayer? At the end of the day, it is all about Jesus.
