Spiritual Warfare – The Whole Armor of God
Praying in the Spirit on all occasions (Part 10)
† Scripture Reading
Ephesians 6:18
“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”
PRAYER
† This verse ties the whole armor of God all together for us. Remember verse 12?
Ephesians 6:12
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, authorities and powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
How do you fight spiritual forces? You fight them in the spirit.
This is why we have the whole armor of God, because it is spiritual. So how should we pray? We should pray in the spirit.
The phrase, “with all kinds of prayers” brings our attention to the fact that there are many kinds of prayer.
We know that prayer itself is us speaking to God.
Once we open up and begin to speak to God though, when we submit to the Holy Spirit, many different types of prayer may occur.
We may just be asking God for something we know is His will, and therefore we ask with confidence.
† I John 5:14, 15
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that He hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of Him.”
Another type of prayer may be to command demons, or circumstances, praying in tongues as the Holy Spirit gives utterance; groanings that the Holy Spirit may initiate in us, that is according to Romans.
† Romans 8:26
“The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with Gods will.”
Have you ever been so broken you couldn’t put your pain in words but knew you had to pray?
Have you ever been so sad about something that all you could do when you prayed is say Gods name over and over because you couldn’t put your heart into words?
Have you ever known that you needed to speak with God, but just didn’t know what to say?
The Holy Spirit, the center of us, He intercedes for us. He puts our hurt into words, He puts our pain into words, He speaks volumes of our emotions, feelings and what ever our needs are, reach our Father in heaven regardless of our inability to put what’s going on in our lives into sentences.
And there are other types of prayers as well.
† Philippians 4:6
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God.”
And what will happen?
“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
† WITH THANKSGIVING!
Are we thankful when we pray?
It is very important to maintain an attitude of thanksgiving as a part of our prayer stance.
Have you ever known a child that was not thankful?
If you were the parent, how did that make you feel?
As a child I was very thankful. This came from growing up extremely poor. When I was growing up, my family was on welfare. We had very little. As a result, us kids became very thankful for anything we did get.
I had a friend though; he was my best friend growing up. His family was rich. His father owned a few lucrative businesses, and was very well off.
In fact, I remember being at his house once and we were playing and he opened his dresser and there was a coffee can full of cash. I couldn’t believe my eyes!
I had never seen that much money before. I asked him what it was for, and he said, “Oh, that? That’s just my allowance. I always throw it in this can because when we are out at the store my dad always just pays for whatever I want.”
What he had meant nothing to him because he wasn’t thankful. There were many times in the years I knew him that he would demand more than he had from his parents, and they would comply to appease him.
In turn, he grew up a selfish, unthankful and greedy man.
Our Father in heaven expects better behavior than that from His children. We need to be thankful not just in abundance, but in times of need as well. We need to be thankful not just when in health, but when we are sick.
Because no matter what our circumstance, no matter how bad it may seem, God is I control. And He loves us.
And there is always something to be thankful for no matter what circumstance you are in.
It could always be worse.
† I Timothy 2:8
“I want men everywhere to lift up Holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.”
So we need to remember to stay thankful.
We must also keep in mind to “BE ALERT!”
This doesn’t mean that we have to start sleeping in shifts at night, but what it means is that we must remember that we are at war right now. And we must examine everything that comes into our life through this fact.
We must stay alert to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
God speaks to all of us, all the time, but we don’t always hear.
The other day I had to take Eric down to spend the weekend with his mother. He goes every other week.
Before I left, just out of the blue, this really nice winter coat that’s like brand new that I never wear and this pair of winter gloves that Bud gave me at the hayride because I forgot mine, they came to my mind.
They have been sitting in my room on a box for weeks, but something told me to put them in the van.
So I told Terri, I’m going to put this coat and gloves in the van just in case we ever need them for anything.
And I set them by the door for when we left that evening.
Remember now, this coat and gloves had been sitting in my room on a box for weeks. And I didn’t know why I should put them in the van, just that I should.
That evening I left with Eric.
We stopped at the gas station, Bublitz, and it was dark out. A young guy in his 20’s was pumping gas into another car, and the lines were getting long. He came over to the van and I realized that he had no gloves or coat on.
So I said to him while he was pumping the gas, “Where is your coat? It is freezing out tonight.”
And he said to me, “I don’t have one. But I have a couple shirts on, but I’m still cold.”
So I said, “Where are your gloves?”
And he said, “I don’t have any.”
He went back to finish pumping gas in the car ahead of me and all of the sudden I remembered the coat and gloves that I was going to bring with me in the van.
But when I looked around I realized that I had forgotten them back at home.
So I had to go take them to him another time.
But the point is, I didn’t realize it, but God was speaking to me through the Holy Spirit, and He wanted me to supply a need that night. He wanted me to reach out and help a young man who may have been praying to God that evening for a coat and gloves!
We need to be alert to God’s prompting, and we need to act on it.
I should have immediately put that coat and gloves in the van.
Sometimes we don’t realize when God is trying to reach us. This is why we need to stay alert.
† Finally,
We are told to always keep on praying for ALL the saints.
We are not just to protect ourselves with the whole armor of God, but we must also be concerned for all of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Some of whom may not have all of the armor on!
Remember when I talked about placing our shields together to fill all of our gaps and better protect ourselves?
That is called the tortoise maneuver, obviously because it looks like one with a big shell.
This is what we can do for each other in prayer as well. We can recognize our brother and sisters weaknesses, and instead of criticizing, gossiping, murmuring, or complaining, we can do what God asks us to do in these situations.
Fill the gap for your brothers and sisters and protect them, lifting them up in their time of need, and you can do this through prayer for them.
Remember, weather you like it or not, we are one body in Christ, and if one of us is attacked, we all suffer for it. When one of us is sick, we all suffer for it. It is our responsibility to take care of our body.
Prayer is a powerful tool. This may be one of the most powerful.
Now it is time for you to put on the whole armor of God.
There is an insert in your bulletins with a simple prayer. If you pray this everyday, knowing what you now know about spiritual warfare, and the whole armor of God, you will be more than capable of handling anything the devil throws at you. You will be READY for spiritual warfare!
† I put on;
The belt of truth,
The breastplate of righteousness;
The shoes of the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Above all,
I TAKE the shield of faith, wherewith I will have the power to quench evey fiery dart the devil fires my way.
I TAKE the helmet of salvation;
I TAKE the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
And I will pray in the Spirit on all occasions;
Staying alert, and always praying for all the saints.
Thank You God for giving me your Spiritual armor. Now I have the power to withstand evil, and take my stand as a soldier in the army of the Almighty God.
My duty and assignment is to stand in the gap, shoulder to shoulder with other soldiers of the Lord as you place me, resisting every attack of the devil.
Holding this ground, refusing to be moved, healing the oppressed and destroying every stronghold of the devil in my life, in my house, in this congregation and in this church.
AMEN
