Spiritual Warfare: Prayer
Eph 6:18-20ff
This is
part two of an exposition of the passage in Ephesians six that tells us about
spiritual warfare using the extended metaphor of the whole armor of God.
I believe
there is a natural break after verse 17. It is in 18 that the Apostle turns to
prayer and its objects. Yet, as I hope to demonstrate, prayer to God is always
appropriate for believers. They continue to come to the Lord for many reasons.
They come for themselves, but more importantly, they come to the throne of
grace for others.
I want to
read the entire section once again. I want to make some brief comments to
remind you what was said and open up the text to show how prayer is an
important weapon in out ongoing spiritual struggle.
Eph
6:10-20
1. The
Command
Finally, my
brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
2. The Means
of Strength
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand
against the wiles of the devil.
3. A Caution
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,[a] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places
4. A Reminder
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.
5. The Armor
in Six Parts
A. The
Girdle of Truth
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth,
B. The
Breastplate of righteousness
having put
on the breastplate of righteousness,
C. Sandals
of the Gospel of Peace
15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of
peace;
D. Shield of
Faith
16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able
to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
E. Helmut of
Salvation
17 And take the helmet of salvation,
F. Sword of
the Spirit
and the
sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
6. Another
Weapon
A. For all the saints
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—
B. For
Spiritual Leaders
19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my
mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak
boldly, as I ought to speak.
Let's take
a look at the text:
It is the
whole armor of God that we must put on. Paul tells the church twice. He wants
them to understand just how important it is.
Paul
doesn't tell them to put on just any armor, but spiritual strengtheners to
deflect and disarm the fiery darts of the Wicked One.
Spiritual
adversaries go back ultimately to the principalities and powers--the rulers of
the darkness of the world who have come down from heavenly places. We don't
wrestle against mere men and women. The devil and his followers want to take us
down. They know they are already defeated. And, blessedly so as we read in Col
3. Jesus has already triumphed over him. In this epoch, the devil and his
minions are fighting against the will of God and those things that are
established by the decree of God. But, they try to disrupt nonetheless.
The devil
is like a junkyard dog on a long chain. He has some ability to instill
fear--but against those with the Spirit of God and faith in Christ he will not
and cannot win.
Matt 16:18
makes that clear. As the church goes forward into Satan's domain, the world,
nothing can prevail against her. No matter how it might look at any one time in
history, we need to remember--the Lamb is going to win, He already has having
made a spectacle of the devil, the seed of the woman.
But, we
must not be triumphalistic. The fight is very real. The spiritual struggle is
conveyed with the word at the root of agony elsewhere in the NT. Here we find a
stronger word for the Olympic wrestler who struggles until he pins his opponent
with his foot on the chest or his hands around the neck--until the foe is
immobilized--he is pinned down and defeated. So too, may we in the struggles,
the spiritual struggles of our life.
We must be
sure we are fighting for the right things. Sometimes, even believers are duped
into doing the devil's work. He is more cunning than we. We need God's armor
and his presence fighting for us and making us wise in the spiritual battles in
our Christian lives.
Remember
the Armor:
A. The
Girdle of Truth
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth,
The girdle
is what ties it all together--the truth is so important. We need to know truth
in order to discern it from error. Spiritual warfare is less about feelings,
than it is about doing what the truth demands for our good and the glory of our
God.
B. The
Breastplate of righteousness
having put
on the breastplate of righteousness,
It is God's
armor that gives us the righteousness of Christ on our behalf. He is the just
one and the one that justifies. He is all righteousness where we are not. He
gives us his own perfection to wear as our own. He is our protection in vital
areas usually under attack.
C. Sandals
of the Gospel of Peace
15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of
peace;
Wherever we
go and whenever, we seek to be prepared with the gospel. It is an adornment for
our feet and a comfort to bring us along the way. We don't fight barefooted and
vulnerable, but protected in every important way.
D. Shield of
Faith
16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able
to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
Faith is
absolutely necessary in order to be engaged in spiritual warfare. This is more
than a simple historical faith. And even more than taking note of the truth of
Christianity. It is a whole-souled commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ to save
and protect you and your soul.
Lastly, but
very importantly:
E. Helmut of
Salvation
17 And take the helmet of salvation,
The
salvation accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ in his life and his death tops
off and defines to whom we are joined in the battle. The battle is the Lord's,
the armor is His, our methods of warfare are revealed by him as well.
If you have
not experienced the salvation of God through the Lord Jesus Christ, you have no
claim to this armor, no matter how hard you might pray for it. The only way to
have access to God's strength in spiritual battles is to know Him by believing
in the Lord Jesus Christ to save your soul.
F. Sword of
the Spirit
and the
sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
This is a
principle means of our fight. We don't go on our own with our words of wisdom.
We fight based solely on what God has revealed. If Jesus needed to do this when
tempted by the Devil, how much more do we need the Word of God as the principal
offensive and defensive weapon. To speak what God has said is enough to silence
the critics of God--or at to show their folly, even if they are blind to it.
For those
who put on the whole armor of God and are ready to stand in the battle, another
completely encompassing weapon or warfare method is given. It is simply,
PRAYER. Prayer is an all-encompassing strategy for the Christian life of
perpetual warfare until the Lord comes for us or until he calls us home.
As we wear
the armor, we pray.
This metaphor
is not to convey a clunky suit of leather and metal armor that in our minds we
literally wear. It is spiritualized to make us sleek and effective fighting for
the Lord. Yet, we need something else to animate us in the warfare--prayer.
There are
two groups for whom we pray:
First, we
prayer….
A. For all the saints
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—
I said last
week that we should understand this passage first of all as speaking to us all.
It is as if we are an army with each one of us having put on the gospel
armor--we have each others backs and are there for mutual defense and strength
in the battles.
Yet, while
equipped and ready to go, we use all legitimate means and kinds of prayer for
all the saints. We pray for one another corporately as we pray for the church
and we pray for each other individually according to their needs. The spiritual
needs have the priority and then the physical and material. God often uses the
latter to teach us important lessons about the former.
We pray in
the Spirit for the Lord to provide all that is truly needful. That He also
grants some of our wants is a bonus blessing. Remember the words, with food and
raiment let us be content. We are a spoiled lot. The poorest of us has so much
more than many alive today in the world. Yet, we ask for material blessings
more than we do the spiritual. Did you ever realize what a blessing ill-health
can be? It is something to pray for, yes, but only after the affliction has
done its spiritual work in us. Sometimes, we pray people's afflictions away too
quickly. It is because we don't understand the priority of these things in the
work of God. He wants us to be well, if and when it is His will. He is always
good and always seeking our good as we grow in faith ever-trusting in Him.
We should
persevere in prayer that others might, too: being watchful to this end with all
perseverance and supplication for all the saints….
Being
watchful to this end…why? Because we tend to loose heart and fail to continue
in prayer for the important things. We need to cultivate a life of prayer--to
pray without ceasing. That doesn't mean we spend all of our time praying. But,
it does mean we are always in a spirit of prayer--ready to pray when we
perceive a need of any sort, especially those of a spiritual variety.
We pray as
an army. But, that does not preclude the need for private prayer in our
closets. Even Jesus needed to find a place of solace to pray. At least one time
he rose up early while it was still dark to pray. Jesus needed to get away from
people in order to be alone with his heavenly Father. If the Lord Jesus needed
to do this with his perfect humanity, so too we do, and so much the more with
all of our imperfections. Private prayer has an important place in the
Christian life. But, private prayer is not the only kind of prayer that is
important for the Christian life. Corporate prayer is at least as important, if
not more important for a well-balanced Christian life. He balance I'm talking
about is a proper balance between individual and corporate means of grace. In
our individualistic age, more emphasis gets placed on the personal--that's how
our society thinks and it has its effects on believers, too. We should learn to
think corporately--especially when the commands are spoken to all together.
We also
prayer for those saints who are not here with us. Those who are ill, those who
live in another place, those whose ministry or life has toughed us in some way
for our spiritual good. We pray for the churches with whom we have fellowship. We
pray for all sorts of saints and churches in all sorts of places.
There is a
priority of prayer in the life of the church. That is why prayer meetings are
so important. It is why the church needs to have them--regularly to pray for
ongoing needs and special times of pray to pray for extraordinary needs as they
arise.
The early
chapters of Acts are instructive to show us what the apostolic church did, at
least in Jerusalem. One of the activities they devoted themselves to, as
expressed in Acts 2:42, was prayer. It was one of four things that defined
their life together. The others being apostolic doctrine, fellowship, the
breaking of bread and this fourth one--prayers. Pray was one of four things
that defined that newish church under the care of apostles and elders. They
were known for prayer because they were a praying people. Read about what they
did before replacing Judas--one activity was prayer. Read about what they did
when Peter and John were in trouble in prison--they called everyone together
and prayed. They found it difficult to understand that the men had been
released, but they prayed. What did Stephen do as he was about to be murdered?
He prayed--he prayed for those who were about to stone him. He prayed for their
forgiveness. They were a praying people.
Does pray
define us? Are we committed to this sort of prayer and supplication for all the
saints? You will have to answer that on your own. It may not be as important as
the preaching of the Word, but it is important as it is one of four activities
that defined the early church.
Paul turns
to their prayers….
B. For
Spiritual Leaders
19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my
mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak
boldly, as I ought to speak.
Speaking
publicaly to others about the gospel of God's grace is not given to all
believers equally to do. Some are called to be ambassadors for the kingdom of
God--not everyone is. Here Paul calls himself an ambassador in chains. He has a
message from a higher authority that he must deliver, even if that brings him
before the emperor in Rome. He is ready to be faithful as he had been in so
many places. Yet, Paul doesn't draw on his experience and think, I have been
faithful before, I can be faithful again. No! There is no presumption. He needs
God's assistance every time and anytime he stands to speak.
He wants
the believers to pray he would speak boldly to make known the mystery of the
gospel. Those to whom Paul would speak may not have heard of the good news of
forgiveness and salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. As Romans, they would
naturally dismiss anything that appeared Jewish. Part of the mystery that
through Jesus had been made known is that this good news, the message of the
gospel, was for all men and women, all boys and girls, even the Romans and the
Gentiles to hear. Paul is God's appointed agent to deliver his message as king
to those lost in that part of the world. Paul asks them to pray that he would
speak boldly as he knew he ought to speak.
Let me ask
you a question: Do you pray for those who speak in this place that they will
speak the truth boldly as God would have them speak it?
Have you
gotten to the point where you thank God for those times it seems you are being
addressed personally by the topics in the text of the day? Or do you let it go
in one ear and out the other? Or, worse yet, to you stew towards the preacher
for meddling into your life and experiences even when he may not know that he
is?
Ill:
Preachers don't know everything about you and everything you think about. The
Spirit of God does and can apply what the preacher says directly to you in ways
beyond the preachers ability. A few weeks ago, I made application to the young
people about a matter only to hear from another out of that category, that
those words spoke to them. If conviction comes, don't chalk it up to the
manipulatory abilities of the preacher, but the work of God by the Spirit and
repent of whatever it is.
Preaching
is a dynamic event. It is not something done one on one or in a family.
Preaching is the lively public declaration of the truth of God by his appointed
agents in the church and the proclamation of the gospel by those agents to the
lost and dying. Nothing can take the place of preaching--or at least nothing
should. It is important. Insomuch as it was called "Apostle's
Doctrine" in the early church, it is the first on the list of those
activities that defined them. They lived for preaching. And, if you know the
history of the Apostles, many died for their proclamation to hostile people.
They met their death at the hands of those to whom they preached the good news
of the Love of God. But, as leaders of the church, they were willing to give
their all for the truth.
Behind
these prayer requests is still the armor--whether you are a part of a church or
a leader in it, everyone needs the same armor and the same Spirit to go with
them.
Paul is
all about preaching and praying. He closes out this epistle with a couple more
paragraphs:
6:21 But
that you also may know my affairs and how I am doing, Tychicus, a beloved
brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will make all things known to you; 22 whom I have sent to you for this very purpose, that you may know
our affairs, and that he may comfort your hearts.
Paul knows
they are concerned for him and his well-being. So Paul tenderly tells them that
he is going to send someone to tell them what he has been uo to. He is sending
Tychicus. Notice how he describes this man--a beloved brother and faithful
minister. Paul expects that they will accept Tychicus on his word of
commendation. Tychicus will make all that needs to be known about Paul known to
the church. And, his reason isn't just that they will pray for him, though I am
sure they did. He sent his beloved brother so their hearts would be comforted.
This reason was the most important to Paul. He wanted the church to know what
they were doing and how the Lord had worked through them. What comfort would
there be. The godly expectations would have been, as the Lord has worked
elsewhere, so too He may work among us.
What they
need is the work of God according to his ways. Paul writes a benediction--good
words, beautiful words of ending or departure:
23 Peace to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all those who love our Lord
Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.
Peace,
with love and faith.
Grace to
all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.
Why add
sincerity? We know from the history of the Ephesian Church that they were at
various times besieged by trouble and troublemakers.
The church
needed Peace--more than a cessation of conflict, but a sense of
unpreturbablity. It should be sought and maintained by all. Remember Chapter 4.
The church
needed love--remember the way of wisdom in Chapter 5? Churches need love so
that anyone who comes among them might see their love and glorify God in
heaven.
The church
needed faith--to believe rightly and to fight the spiritual struggles already
among them or that they were sure to face.
That is
why a sincere love for the Lord Jesus is so important. There are people who
join themselves to churches for the prestigue of belonging. There are others
who attach themselves to churches because it is their tradition to do so--they
learn to speak the language and make themselves look real good, especially on
Sundays. The only sincere thing they are doing is advancing their own cause.
Then there
are others who are willing to put on the whole armor of God in order to fight
for his cause with perseverance, no matter what. The end is not the battle. The
goal is peace, with love and faith lived out in deep sincerity.
There is
enough superficiality in the world without bring it into the church. Pray for
each other, the church and her leaders. We need your prayer as much if not more
than all of you. We are the more likely objects of the fiery darts of the
wicked one. Pray for our protection and our perseverance.
AMEN!
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