Ephesians 6:18
Praying Always
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Now here is the secret to spiritual warfare. Gird your loins with truth, put on the breastplate of righteousness, cover your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, take up your shield of faith, wear the helmet of salvation, carry the sword of the spirit and you will still be vulnerable. To be completely protected, you must pray.
Why is prayer so important? A warrior who stands still in battle, although he is completely covered in armor, will eventually die in that battle. To defeat the enemy, he must take aggressive action and he must have the power and the skills to win. No man has the power and skills to defeat the devil, else we would not have needed a Savior.
God is the source of all power, so we must come to Him in prayer and enlist His help in the battle. In His book, The Purpose in Prayer, E. M. Bounds begins with these words: "The more praying there is in the world the better the world will be, the mightier the forces against evil everywhere. Prayer, in one phase of its operation, is a disinfectant and a preventive. It purifies the air; it destroys the contagion of evil. Prayer is no fitful, short-lived thing. It is no voice crying unheard and unheeded in the silence. It is a voice which goes into God's ear, and it lives as long as God's ear is open to holy pleas, as long as God's heart is alive to holy things. God shapes the world by prayer."
It is no wonder then that Paul finishes his instructions on spiritual warfare with the exhortation that we should be "praying always." The words literally mean to be praying on every occasion and in every circumstance. We can never turn our back to the enemy on the battlefield and we cannot find a place where there is no battle. Satan is the prince of the power of the air (2:2) and his evil is spread everywhere. Like it or not, we are at war.
Then, no matter what the occasion, we must pray. Things can seem to be going very smoothly for us but, if we forget to pray, evil will creep in. It is there in the air, waiting for you to turn your back, waiting for you to give it an opening, waiting for you to take a break from the tensions of warfare. It waits, ever lurking during even the most joyous circumstance. Prayer, however, as Bounds has said, purifies the air.
We must use every form of prayer available to us. We must praise and glorify our Savior and King; we should lift our requests to the Father through Jesus' name; and we should make intercession for all of the saints.
Prayer must be done in the Spirit. This does not mean that we should be praying in some imaginary unknown language. It means that we must be completely and spiritually engaged in the work of praying. We must pray with all of our heart, with the utmost sincerity and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Without His guidance, we will pray for our own will to be done, which will result in ineffectual praying. Jesus taught us to pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." The Holy Spirit guides us to know the will of God and makes our prayers effectual.
Lastly, we must persevere. He that has no faith in God will give up when he does not receive an immediate answer to his prayers. The faithful man, however, knows that God will use his prayers to accomplish His divine will, so he keeps on praying day after day until he sees the results.
Be a prayer warrior, perfectly equipped with the full armor of God, and you will consistently defeat evil. You must constantly fight the good fight, if you want to enjoy an everlasting peace.
Before The Throne:
Begin and end every day with prayer. Fill the spaces in between morning and evening with prayer. Ask the Holy Spirit to be your guide. Pray that God's will would be done in your life. Ask Him to give you the power of discernment and to resist the evil when you see it. Praise Him for all things. Be humble before Him, never forgetting that only He distributes the power and that only He will use your prayer to shape the world.
For Further Study:
(v.18) ** Praying: Eph 1:16; Job 27:10; Psa 4:1; 6:9; Isa 26:16; Dan 6:10; Luk 3:26, 37; 18:1-7; 21:36; Act 1:14; 6:4; 10:2, Act 12:5; Rom 12:12; Phi 4:6; Col 4:2; 1Th 5:17; 2Ti 1:3 ** supplication: 1Ki 8:52, 54, 59; 9:3; Est 4:8; Dan 9:20; Hos 12:4; 1Ti 2:1; Heb 5:7; ** in the: Eph 2:22; Zec 12:10; Rom 8:15, 26-27; Gal 4:6; Jud 1:20; ** watching: Mat 26:41; Mar 13:33; 14:38; Luk 21:36; 22:46; Col 4:2; 1Pe 4:7; ** all perseverance: Gen 32:24-28; Mat 15:25-28; Luk 11:5-8; 18:1-8; ** supplication: Eph 1:16; 3:8, 18; Phi 1:4; 1Ti 2:1; Col 1:4; Phm 1:5;
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Now here is the secret to spiritual warfare. Gird your loins with truth, put on the breastplate of righteousness, cover your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, take up your shield of faith, wear the helmet of salvation, carry the sword of the spirit and you will still be vulnerable. To be completely protected, you must pray.
Why is prayer so important? A warrior who stands still in battle, although he is completely covered in armor, will eventually die in that battle. To defeat the enemy, he must take aggressive action and he must have the power and the skills to win. No man has the power and skills to defeat the devil, else we would not have needed a Savior.
God is the source of all power, so we must come to Him in prayer and enlist His help in the battle. In His book, The Purpose in Prayer, E. M. Bounds begins with these words: "The more praying there is in the world the better the world will be, the mightier the forces against evil everywhere. Prayer, in one phase of its operation, is a disinfectant and a preventive. It purifies the air; it destroys the contagion of evil. Prayer is no fitful, short-lived thing. It is no voice crying unheard and unheeded in the silence. It is a voice which goes into God's ear, and it lives as long as God's ear is open to holy pleas, as long as God's heart is alive to holy things. God shapes the world by prayer."
It is no wonder then that Paul finishes his instructions on spiritual warfare with the exhortation that we should be "praying always." The words literally mean to be praying on every occasion and in every circumstance. We can never turn our back to the enemy on the battlefield and we cannot find a place where there is no battle. Satan is the prince of the power of the air (2:2) and his evil is spread everywhere. Like it or not, we are at war.
Then, no matter what the occasion, we must pray. Things can seem to be going very smoothly for us but, if we forget to pray, evil will creep in. It is there in the air, waiting for you to turn your back, waiting for you to give it an opening, waiting for you to take a break from the tensions of warfare. It waits, ever lurking during even the most joyous circumstance. Prayer, however, as Bounds has said, purifies the air.
We must use every form of prayer available to us. We must praise and glorify our Savior and King; we should lift our requests to the Father through Jesus' name; and we should make intercession for all of the saints.
Prayer must be done in the Spirit. This does not mean that we should be praying in some imaginary unknown language. It means that we must be completely and spiritually engaged in the work of praying. We must pray with all of our heart, with the utmost sincerity and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Without His guidance, we will pray for our own will to be done, which will result in ineffectual praying. Jesus taught us to pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." The Holy Spirit guides us to know the will of God and makes our prayers effectual.
Lastly, we must persevere. He that has no faith in God will give up when he does not receive an immediate answer to his prayers. The faithful man, however, knows that God will use his prayers to accomplish His divine will, so he keeps on praying day after day until he sees the results.
Be a prayer warrior, perfectly equipped with the full armor of God, and you will consistently defeat evil. You must constantly fight the good fight, if you want to enjoy an everlasting peace.
Before The Throne:
Begin and end every day with prayer. Fill the spaces in between morning and evening with prayer. Ask the Holy Spirit to be your guide. Pray that God's will would be done in your life. Ask Him to give you the power of discernment and to resist the evil when you see it. Praise Him for all things. Be humble before Him, never forgetting that only He distributes the power and that only He will use your prayer to shape the world.
For Further Study:
(v.18) ** Praying: Eph 1:16; Job 27:10; Psa 4:1; 6:9; Isa 26:16; Dan 6:10; Luk 3:26, 37; 18:1-7; 21:36; Act 1:14; 6:4; 10:2, Act 12:5; Rom 12:12; Phi 4:6; Col 4:2; 1Th 5:17; 2Ti 1:3 ** supplication: 1Ki 8:52, 54, 59; 9:3; Est 4:8; Dan 9:20; Hos 12:4; 1Ti 2:1; Heb 5:7; ** in the: Eph 2:22; Zec 12:10; Rom 8:15, 26-27; Gal 4:6; Jud 1:20; ** watching: Mat 26:41; Mar 13:33; 14:38; Luk 21:36; 22:46; Col 4:2; 1Pe 4:7; ** all perseverance: Gen 32:24-28; Mat 15:25-28; Luk 11:5-8; 18:1-8; ** supplication: Eph 1:16; 3:8, 18; Phi 1:4; 1Ti 2:1; Col 1:4; Phm 1:5;
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