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, 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, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. (Ephesians 6:18-20)
Perhaps this week you have stood on a battlefield. You didn't have to make a special journey to get there. The battlefield was not marked with a historic monument. If you were to page through all of the history books, you could never find it listed. As a matter of fact, no battles had ever been fought on this battlefield before. But one was about to be fought. And you were about to fight it.
The battle to which I am referring is the battle Satan brings to us. The battlefield is simply wherever we may be when the attack comes. As soldiers of the Cross, we must be prepared. That is why God gave us His armor. We must stand ready to fight, clothed in the full armor of God. We must have the belt of truth about our waist. We must have the breastplate of righteousness. Our feet must be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. We must take up the shield of faith and put on the helmet of salvation. In our hand, we must carry the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
Wearing the full armor of God is essential, but to stand in the battlefield with nothing but this armor will not be enough. We must have the full armor of God, but we must have something more. We must have a strategy. We must have a plan. We must have tactics. We must have an additional weapon. This is the weapon of prayer.
The weapon of prayer will make the difference between victory and defeat. To go forth clothed in the best armor, even with the best intentions, and to neglect prayer will bring certain defeat. It is like an army going forth into battle with no battle plan. That we must fight is certain. But we must know more than that. We must know how we must fight. That is why we must pray. Prayer is the weapon Satan fears the most.
With all prayer and petition . . . (6:18a)
In John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, Christian came upon forces of hell where his sword was useless. As Christian pondered the situation, the text says “that he was forced to put up his sword, and betake himself to another weapon, called `All-Prayer.'“
In using this weapon of “All-Prayer,” we must be aware of the variety of prayer available to us. There are many types of prayer for us to pray. When our text mentions all prayer and petition, this is what it means. Different kinds of prayer are essential for the differing circumstances of life. There are times when we need to pray prayers of confession because we have sinned. There are times when we need to pray prayers of thanksgiving because we are grateful. There are times when we need to pray prayers of adoration and praise because we want to worship God. There are times when we need to pray prayers of intercession because others need our prayers. There are times we need to pray prayers of petition for ourselves because of some need in our lives. Different prayers address different situations. And there is great variety in prayer.
We must become familiar with and skilled in the use of all kinds of prayer. A skilled marksman can use a rifle very effectively, while an amateur may not even come close to the target. If prayer is to be an effective weapon for us as believers, then we must refine our skill in using prayer through regular praying. We must become familiar with this weapon.
All too often people simply concentrate on petition prayer. We are very quick to rush into God's presence and ask Him for something. But we must take time to praise Him. We must enter into His presence with thanksgiving and praise. This kind of prayer can take the form of speech or song. Songs of praise directed to God are really prayers. Prayer can be spoken, sung, and even expressed without words.
. . . pray at all times . . . (6:18b)
How often should we pray? We should pray at all times. It is important for us to see the need for continual prayer. When is it time to pray? Always! There is never a time when we do not need to pray.
In the early church, we see that prayer was a way of life. Acts 1:14 says, “These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.” In Acts 2:42 we read, “And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Paul writes in Thessalonians that we are to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). The early Christians knew just how important prayer could be.
But how is it possible to pray continually? Well, it is not possible if by that we mean a verbally expressed prayer. There are obviously times when we cannot do that. We must work, talk to others, eat, and sleep. But if prayer is viewed as an attitude of constant devotion to and communion with God, then it is possible to pray without ceasing. If the attitude of your heart is toward God, then He will be the center of your existence. In every situation and circumstance, you will find yourself naturally discussing it with God. He will be your first thought, not your last. You will run to Him for counsel, rather to everyone else but Him. This is not to say that we will not have times of regular prayer. We will. But our hearts will always be poised toward God.
John Wesley wrote of the person who experiences this kind of prayer.
His heart is ever lifted up to God, at all times and in all places. In this he is never hindered, much less interrupted, by any person or thing. In retirement or company, in leisure, business, or conversation, his heart is ever with the Lord. Whether he lay down or rise up, God is in all his thoughts; he walks with God continually, having the loving eye of his mind still fixed upon Him, and everywhere “seeing Him that is invisible.”
Whatever your profession and whatever your circumstance in life, you can experience this kind of continual prayer. As a business professional, housewife, student, young mother, or single --- everyone can experience it. Your life and mine can have this upward look. It is a state of being.
. . . pray at all times in the Spirit . . . (6:18c)
The power of effective prayer is the Spirit of God. We are exhorted to pray in the Spirit. By this we understand that all prayer ought to be Spirit-directed.
The Holy Spirit is the author of all effective prayer. In Romans 8:26-27 we read, “And 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 to deep for words; 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.” The Spirit is obviously in touch with the will of God. When we do not understand how to pray, it is the Spirit who enables us to pray effectively. He directs our prayers.
There have been many times when I did not know how to pray. It is very simple to just say, “Thy will be done.” Many times, however, the Spirit will enable to do more than that. If we will wait on Him, He may reveal to us exactly how to pray for a certain situation.
He does this in many ways. He may speak to our minds and reveal exactly how He wants us to pray. We may then verbally express these prayers to God. Or He may choose to pray through us in a different manner. In the Scripture, we find the gift of tongues described as a prayer language. It is a language of the Spirit. The Spirit may choose to pray through you using this method. And in this text we have read from Romans 8, there is still another prayer described. At times, no words will do, whether known or unknown. During these times the Spirit prays through us, “with groanings too deep for words.” At these times we must simply wait in silence before God as the Spirit communes with the Father.
The point is this --- all prayer must be led by the Spirit. For us to pray effectively we must maintain our walk with God and our fellowship with the Spirit. The secret of the Christian life is a relationship with Christ. When we are operating out of this frame of reference, then all we do will reflect a life lived in obedient submission to the leading of the Spirit. The Spirit empowers the Christian life and prayer.
John Bunyan gave an interesting definition of prayer. He said that “Prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart or soul to God, through Christ, in the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit, for such things as God has promised, according to the Word of God, for the good of the church, with submission in faith to the will of God.”
. . . and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition . . . (6:18d)
If the weapon of prayer is to be used effectively, it must be used persistently. We are in a continual warfare. For prayer to be effective, we cannot afford to let up. We must be on the alert. We must pray, pray, and pray again.
Jesus emphasized the importance of persistent prayer. In fact, He told a story in Luke 18 to illustrate this point. The reason for that story was “to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart.” Toward the end of the Sermon on the Mount He encouraged all of us to be persistent in our praying when He said, “Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you.” These three verbs are all present imperatives. He is really saying, “Ask, and keep on asking; seek, and keep on seeking; knock, and keep on knocking.” Additionally, there is an ascending order of intensity to these verbs. One begins by asking. But seeking is more than simply asking. It involves action. Seeking is going after something. And knocking involves more than simply asking or seeking. The picture here is of someone pounding on a door. There is no doubt that Jesus intended to graphically illustrate the importance of persistence and perseverance in prayer.
We should never quit praying until we get either a yes or a no response. God can certainly tell us no. In that situation we ought to quit praying. God a can also give us a yes; He can answer our prayer. Then you can also quit praying. But when we hear neither a yes nor a no, then we should keep praying. God may be using our persistence in prayer to accomplish His will. He may be doing something in you, or in someone else. George Mhller of Bristol prayed for two friends for over fifty years. He was asked whether He really believed that God would bring salvation to these men. He replied, “Do you think God would have kept me praying all these years if He did not intend to save them?” They were both converted. One shortly before, the other after Mhller's death. In His sovereign will, God uses persistent prayer.
. . . with all perseverance and petition for all the saints . . . (6:18e)
Prayer can be effective, not only for you, but also for others. In fact, one of the primary uses of prayer should be intercessory prayer. Intercessory prayer is prayer for others. We are called to pray for all the saints.
Just think of it. Your prayers can have a direct effect on others. Your prayers can bless them. Your prayers can lift them up. Your prayers can impact their lives for Christ. Your prayers can encourage them. Your prayers can keep them from falling. Your prayers can fend off the attack of the enemy. Your prayers can impact situations on a global scale. There is no place in this world where your prayers cannot touch lives. What an awesome privilege we have!
Of course, the obvious reason we are to pray for all the saints is that the saints are engaged in combat. Praying for one another is simply watching over one another. As we intercede for one another, we engage in the very ministry which Jesus is performing even now. He is at the right hand of God interceding for the saints. The devil, on the other hand, is accusing the saints before God. Sometimes saints enter into the ministry of Satan rather than the ministry of Christ. They become accusers of the brethren. When they do, they are following Satan. Thus, Christ could say to Peter, “Get thee behind Me Satan.” But we should not imitate the devil, we should follow the Lord. We should become intercessors on behalf of our brothers and sisters in Christ. This is what intercessory prayer does for us.
The importance of prayer cannot be overstated. We are in a spiritual battle, and so are our brothers and sisters in Christ. This spiritual battle must be fought on the spiritual plane. “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.” If we are to win this battle, we must pray.
Do you pray? Do you really pray? Most of us do not pray as we know we should. And there is one very good reason. John Piper described it in his book Desiring God:
Unless I'm badly mistaken, one of the main reasons so many of God's children don't have a significant life of prayer is not so much that we don't want to, but that we don't plan to. If you want to take a four week vacation, you don't just get up one summer morning and say, “Hey, let's go today!” You won't have anything ready. You won't know where to go. Nothing has been planned.
But that is how many of us treat prayer. We get up day after day and realize that significant times of prayer should be part of our life, but nothing is ever ready. We don't know where to go. Nothing has been planned. No time. No place. No procedure. And we all know the opposite of planning is not a wonderful flow of deep, spontaneous experiences in prayer. The opposite of planning is the rut. If you don't plan a vacation you will probably stay home and watch T.V.! The natural unplanned flow of spiritual life sinks to the lowest ebb of vitality. There is a race to be run and a fight to be fought. If you want renewal in your life of prayer. You must plan to see it.
Therefore, my simple exhortation is this: let us take time this very day to rethink our priorities and how prayer fits in. Make some new resolve. Try some new venture with God. Set a time. Set a place. Choose a portion of Scripture to guide you. Don't be tyrannized by the press of busy days. We all need mid-course corrections. Make this a day of turning to prayer --- for the glory of God and for the fullness of your joy.
May God give us the grace to take up the weapon of prayer, and to use it!
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