Text: Ephesians 6:10-20
Spotlight: Ephesians 6:18

Always keep on praying…

Spiritual warfare, I don’t think as believers we can ever be taught enough about spiritual warfare. Sadly, many Christians live their lives completely devoid of any concept of what spiritual warfare means. The day you accepted Jesus Christ as your savior, you enlisted. You were issued you armor and your weapon and you were sent into battle. Make no mistake. As a Christian, every moment of your life is a spiritual battle. If you’re not walking in that reality, it means your losing the battle horribly. Paul uses the word struggle 5 times in his books. Three of those times refer directly to prayer. This occurence in Ephesians speaks about warring with the enemy. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood…” Some translations say “We wrestle not…” Paul has several reasons for making this statement. The first is to remind us of the spiritual nature of the battle we fight as believers. We humans have the tendency to not think about what we cannot see. Since we don’t see the spirit realm, we don’t think about it much, which is why most people will read this text and it will sound fatalistic to them. They would think it to be too radical to see life as a spiritual battle all the time. Others will think of it in the context of how it applies to a particular battle or one struggle in particular. Our struggle with the enemy and with our flesh is ongoing. It’s a 24 hour, 7 day a week war. One thing that has always disturbed me about war is how there are no breaks. I watch on T.V. about the wars going on all over the world and I feel bad for these people stuck in wars. It’s their reality, they don’t get to clock out and go home. This is the same attitude the church should have about our battle with the enemy. We should always be alert, because our enemy prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.
There are many things I could put a spotlight on from this passage of scripture but what I am really feeling led to talk about is the importance of prayer. One verse in the bible that has always intrigued me is Ephesians 6:18a, “And pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” The NAS says “Pray at all times…” The NKJ says “pray always.” I Thessalonians 5:17 echoes this plea and takes it even further by saying “Pray continually” (NIV) or “Pray without ceasing” (NAS). I remember the first time I ever read this statement, I thought Paul was crazy. But then the reality hit, if it is in the word of God it must be not only true that we should pursue this paradigm but it should be reasonable and possible for us as believers to accomplish a state of unceasing prayer. I have been pursing this realty since about 1998… off and on. Recently in the church as a whole we are seeing a reawakening to the importance of ongoing prayer. You might even say there is a prayer movement that is starting up. I have heard of even 24/7 houses of prayer being opened. Verse 18 tells us to pray always and pray for the saints. As we pray for the body of believers, we create a prayer web that brings unity, vision and clarity to the church body. My challenge today is to meditate on this simple phrase, “Pray continually” and to pray for revelation on how to implement continual prayer on your life as a believer.

How to pray this scripture:

Dear Lord Jesus, I pray to you today for an increase in my awareness of spiritual battle that you have called me to fight. I pray that I would put on the full armor of God and fight the good fight every moment of very day. I pray that you would anoint me as a prayer warrior and that I would pray without ceasing. I pray that you would burden me to pray for the saints, pray for my leaders in the church and the leaders of our country. I pray that when I opened my mouth words may be given me that I may fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel. Make me an intercessor, Lord. I ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Additional Scriptures:

I Thessalonians 5:17
II Corinthians 10:4-5
Colossians 2:15
*Study whole passage of Ephesians 6:10-20

Helpful Hint:

Pray the armor of God in the morning before you leave your house. Visually yourself putting on each piece.

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