Prayer... Rehearsing the Battle Plan - Week 16

Ephesians 6:16-18

16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

As Paul continues the military metaphor, he comes to a most crucial aspect of battle readiness. He is not simply introducing another concept, but ties together the conflict with a vigorous and vigilant stance in prayer.

Praying at all times. In another place Paul wrote, "Pray without ceasing." (1 Thess 5:17) It is not difficult to understand that Paul means in everything we do, especially as it comes to this spiritual battle, we should be in prayer. Some men in times past have taken this to the extreme, particularly monks, praying for many days at a time. However, one must have a vocation, nurture and care for his family, and do service for others. All of these are commanded by Scripture, so Paul is not trying to place the priority of prayer over all other things that men must do.

Rather, think in terms of breathing. The average adult takes between 17,280 and 28,800 breaths per day. Most of these breaths go unnoticed. They are part of our autonomic nervous system, so we usually do not have to focus on breathing. Now, there are times for prayer. It is not as if we never have to make time to pray. We certainly do and should pray during times of public and private worship. But what Paul is getting at here by saying that we should pray at all times is that we should make prayer a part of our thinking, doing, and living. It should come as naturally as breathing. We should be praying whenever a thought comes into our minds or when we stop to contemplate anything. Just as you are reading this sentence, you can pray to the Lord for wisdom and understanding, or thanking Him that you are benefiting from this exercise, or asking His forgiveness moment by moment for your sins of omission and commission, or praying for someone when they come to mind.

Paul was a tentmaker by trade. Making tents and working with the materials would allow one to speak to others as he is doing it, or speak to God if no one was around. We can imagine the prayer life of Paul as being a constant stream of water flowing over rocks in a brook. That is how he is telling us to pray. Let prayer spring up by the Spirit within us and flow at all times and in all circumstances. That is the vigor by which we may stand in the battle.

But he also joins to this vigor a command to keep watch. But this is not just a sleepy watch in the waning hours of the night, when the sentry dozes in and out of sleep.  It is a watch with strength, courageousness, endurance, and steadfastness. This is a watchman who constantly rehearses the battle plan, making sure he is ready to fulfill his duty and complete his mission. This is a watchman who is alert, seeing everything, making sure that all is safe and well. And why should we be keeping this sort of watch? Because our enemy is constantly trying to find a chink in our armor and weakness in our defenses. And this is not only for us, but Paul says we should be praying for our fellow soldiers in the Lord. We are to keep ever on the lookout for each other, praying that not only we would stand in the heat of battle, but that our brothers, sisters, fathers, and mothers would also stay strong in the Lord. We are to pray always for our own strength and that of our fellows.

Yet at least one thing more must be said of this. We could have a never ending stream of prayers flowing from us, but if we do not believe that Christ also prays on our behalf, or that He will not do as His word says, then our prayers will never be effective. In other words, the prayer that is not from faith will never accomplish the task. The writer of Hebrews says, "And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him." (Heb 11:6) James says that we do not have because we do not ask, or perhaps that we ask amiss. (Jas 4:3) Therefore, our prayers must be in faith and we must believe that the Lord is faithful and that He will fight for us. As Andrew Murray put it,

"Beware, in your prayer, above everything, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do. Expect unexpected things, 'above all that we ask or think.' Each time you intercede, be quiet first and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, of how He delights to hear Christ, of your place in Christ, and expect great things."

Assignment:

1. Memorize Hebrews 11:6. Continue to work on the rest of your memory verses.

2. Spend some time in real prayer, perhaps writing it down, or making a list of things to pray about, or people to pray for.

3. Pray specifically for strength and endurance to pray and to fight in the spiritual battle.