At the end of Paul’s detailed description of the armor of God, he tells the Ephesians to pick up the sword of the spirit which is the Word of God, and pray at all times with the spirit, with all prayer and supplication…
It is not enough to pick up the Sword of the Spirit – we must pray at all times. He double downs on the importance of prayer in the sentence by stating it twice: “praying at all times” and “with all prayer and supplication…”
According to Paul, prayer does two vital things for us as soldiers of Christ:
🪖 Prayer keeps us alert with all perseverance. It helps us maintain our focus and watchfulness. It reminds us that while we live in this physical world, the spiritual world that truly matters. Prayer helps maintain our perseverance – it helps us through the bad times and guides us through the good times. God hears our prayers. Throughout the Bible, God is said to hear our prayers. They move him to action – in our lives and in the world. Our prayers connect us directly to God and His power.
🪖 Prayer reminds us to make supplication for all the saints. When we get in the habit of praying and truly begin to appreciate that we are fighting in a spiritual war against the greatest enemy this world has ever known, we soon realize that prayer is not just about expressing our troubles and desires to God but to avenue to appeal to God for others. We all know of people who are struggling – they are sick, in need, persecuted, sad, lonely, disappointed, trapped by Satan, or even dying – either physically or spiritually. We are all in this battle against Satan together and we should use prayer not primarily for ourselves but for others. We should put others before ourselves – even in our prayers.
Prayer is one of the mightiest tools God has given us and one of our greatest blessings. Yet so many of us (myself included) struggling with a consistent and selfless prayer life. It ought not to be so. In Revelation (Rev. 8: 1 -5), John tells us the prayers of the saints are like incense to God in heaven. They motivate God to act.
We cannot fight this war against Satan alone. We must appeal to God for help and not just for ourselves but for others. We must pray at all times with all prayer and supplication for the saints and for help in our fight against the Devil. #SoldiersForChrist #TheLordIsMyBanner
Adonai's Appeal 