A Man And His Prayer Life

Last week, in our continuing discussion of “Have You Got What It Takes to Be God’s Man?” We made the case that each person who decides to be a Jesus-follower is automatically enlisted in the ranks of an army. It is an army that does very real battle against a very real enemy who is out to destroy our children, our spouse, our church, our nation and us. Satan’s desire it nothing short of complete annihilation. He wants to keep your loved ones away from the salvation that is offered through faith in Jesus Christ, and he wants to keep those who have found that salvation in a state of weakness, either by constant attack, or, more often, by blinding them to the nature of the battle by allowing them to grow comfortable, convincing them that the war isn’t real, or the enemy is weak and defeated.

The fact is this war is very real, our enemy is very strong, and the casualties of this war are lost not only in this life, but for eternity. We can not be found unprepared for the battle.

Turn with me in your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 6. Beginning with verse 10, we have a description of the soldier of God and the armor he wears. Follow along as Paul describes the uniform of a soldier of God:

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, ^F19 against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;[ii]

That is the Armor of God, and most discussions of the Armor stop there, but Paul adds one more thought – He has described the armor, now he describes the battle. It is found in verse 18:

18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints

Imagine an ancient soldier – preparing for battle. Deliberately putting on his armor, one piece at a time. With each piece, he focuses on the battle ahead, steeling his resolve and his courage to face the uncertain horrors that await him. Summoning all his reserves of steadfastness and determination. He repeatedly draws the shield across his body in anticipation of the attack to come – he adjusts his helmet to make sure it is firmly attached, yet does not block any more of his vision than absolutely necessary. He removes the sword from its scabbard, examines the razor sharp edge, swings it through the air with a “swoosh!” and replaces it. His heart is pounding beneath his metal breastplate so hard that he’s sure the other men must hear it.

On the battlefield, the enemy approaches. One last time, the soldier checks his armor – adjusting the arm guards, testing his footing, fidgeting with his helmet. The enemy army across the field draws their swords with a high pitched chorus – and screams out a blood curdling cry of anger and hate. The soldier swallows hard, his eyes grow wide, his breathing quickens.

Then he does the unexpected. He drops to his knees. Not in surrender. Not pleading for his life. He drops to his knees to do battle. It has been said, “prayer is not preparation for the battle. PRAYER IS THE BATTLE!”

Ø Prayer is the battle because we are mortal men being asked to do supernatural warfare.

Ø Prayer is the battle because it reminds us that we are defenseless and dependant – we can not win the battle without the power of God flowing through us.

In this short little verse, Paul gives us five characteristics of the effective prayer – I want us to briefly look at them, then discuss them.

“Impossible!” You might be thinking. But this does not mean that we must always be in a state of conscious dialogue with God – but rather it refers to what I like to think of as “background tasking.” When you work on your computer, it is possible to have a program running, on a task that is going to take some time, perhaps updating a program or performing some utility, while you are doing some word processing, checking your email, or playing a game. I believe that it is possible to have your heart in such a place that we are in a constant state of prayer or praise. I’ll bet some of you have done it…think back to a time when you had a person you loved who was in real trouble, or sick, or there was a huge trial in your life…I would imagine that you found yourself in that constant state of prayer – you were still able to function – but you were always inteceeding.

This idea is carried over into the next phrase – “with all prayer and supplication.” The NIV says, “with all kinds of prayers,” and that expresses what Paul means here. With all kinds of prayers. Prayer is far more than just a folding of the hands, bowing of the head, closing of the eyes, a deep resonant voice and King James English…”Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth, in whom we live and breath and have our being, hearken thou to our cry…” When we are in constant prayer, we will find constant variety of prayer – prayer while driving, prayer while on our knees, prayer when tempted, prayer when angry, prayer when afraid, prayer when thrilled at life.

This is a phrase that could be, and often is, misunderstood. Some believe that “Prayer in the Spirit” means praying in some special “prayer language” that God gives. Not so – not Scriptural. The gift of tongues is not given to all – and yet Paul makes it clear that for all prayer in the Spirit is possible, necessary and . Romans 8:26 says, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” He continues, “the Sprit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.” The Holy Spirit, who lives within every believer, prays for us, and along with us when we pray. When we pray “in the Spirit,” He will direct our prayers, and will cause us to pray in accordance with God’s will.

There have been times I have been asked to pray for an individual’s healing, and have just sensed that my prayer needed to be for submission to God’s plan, more than for demanding healing. There have been other times when I have known with certainty that I could pray for, and expect God’s touch in a life. That is praying in the Spirit.

Paul says we should “be watchful to this end with all perseverance.” Again the NIV puts it great, “With this in mind, be alert and always keep praying.” Persistent prayer is not the same as praying always – it carries with it the idea of never giving up. This thought is most clearly laid out by Jesus in Matthew 7:7 when He told His followers to “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be open.” The verbs used are in increasing intensity – a simple request, then a request with action, then a consistent, bold action. And they are all three written in the Greek in a tense that means “keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking.”

Finally, in this verse, Paul calls us to pray for each other. In the Marine Corps, Tom Cummings shared with me that each Marine is teamed up with a “battle buddy.” You watch out for his safety, supply and well-being, and he does the same for you. We are not in this battle alone – there are other soldiers all around us, in the same armor, facing the same strong spiritual enemy, and they need our assistance! We need to be praying for each other. When someone tells us of a need, or an issue, our first response should be to pray for them – it’s not the least we can do – it’s the MOST we can do! When we pray we unleash the forces of God against the forces of evil. When we pray for each other – we do battle for them and with them…Pray for each other!

at this time i’d like you to take a look at the discussion questions on the tables and pick one of the five to discuss. If you finish with one, start another. We’re going to take five minutes.
[Five minutes for review of discussion questions. Followed by a brief sharing time from table to table with cordless mic.]

1. Brother Lawrence said, “The time of business does not differ with me from the time of prayer, and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were on my knees.” How can we train ourselves to “pray always?”

2. Paul wrote, “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for everyone…” Four different kinds of prayer – can you think of any others?

3. Jude 20 says, “But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.” What is the link between faith and praying in the Spirit?

4. In Exodus 17 Moses prayed for the Lord’s strength, but needed Aaron and Hur to hold his hands up when he became tired. How can we practically help each other be persistent in prayer?

In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other's spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.

I don’t know how many of you answered question 5, but I’d like to close this morning by asking us to all take a look at that verse. In fact, I’d like us to read it together:

May God help us be obedient to this call to battle from His Word. Pray with me and for me as I pray with you and for you. [Closing Prayer]