Ephesians 6:18
“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints”
In military strategy and warfare it has been said that “knowing is half the battle.”
In the history of warfare allies have signaled each other with drums, flaming arrows, signal fires, smoke signals, flags, couriers, carrier pigeons, telegraph, telephone, signal lamps, radio and video technology. Even as the technology developed from smoke signals to satellites, the lesson was not lost: “Knowing is half the battle.” Knowing how to communicate – how to pray – in dark days is half the battle. Ephesians 6:18 helps us to pray for the saints with a Spirit-filled perseverance.
Can You Stand It?
The most significant command in Ephesians chapter 6 is the command to stand. “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles [schemes] of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11). “Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Standtherefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness” (Ephesians 6:13-14). In the future, when you hear yourself or another believer say about spiritual attacks, “I just can’t stand it!” think of this passage. “Stand” is a command, and you are standing against the designs of the devil who seeks to destroy you. When it comes to standing, we could rightly say that “Knowing is half the battle.”
If you and I are to stand, we need to hear from the Lord and be heard by the Lord. Communication – both listening to the Lord and speaking to Him in prayer – is essential.
You have all read the story of George Washington crossing the Delaware River on Christmas Day, 1776. He surprised and defeated the English forces, led by Colonel Johann Rail, at Trenton (which is now in New Jersey). What you may not know is that a farmer who was loyal to the English caught wind of the ambush. He sent a message to Colonel Rail, which the colonel never read. The battle lasted only an hour, the English were defeated, and Colonel Rail died with the unread message still in his shirt pocket. Let us be sure that we are communicating with the Lord – both paying attention to His Word and praying in the power of the Spirit. As we do, we will be able to pray for the saints in our congregation with Spirit-filled perseverance.
Standing like Our Savior
Satan’s schemes are designed to deceive us with distractions and detours that would place us in great danger. But the way that our Savior used the Sword of the Spirit in Matthew 4:1-11 shows us how to resist the devil. The Lord Jesus, the Captain of our salvation wielded the Word with remarkable skill to show us how to stand in dark days.
Our Lord, fasting and praying, defeated Satan’s seductive logic with the Scriptures. You and I could do the same. When Satan tried to get Jesus to use His power to serve Himself, Jesus responded, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God!” (Matthew 4:4). When that old serpent tried to get Jesus to throw Himself from a towering wall, our Lord said, “You shall not tempt [test] the Lord your God” (Matthew 4:7). When the wicked one insisted, “Fall down and worship me” Christ told Satan to depart from Him with the words, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve” (Ephesians 6:10).
The Sword of the Spirit and Praying in the Spirit
Do you see the significance of these verses placed side by side in Ephesians chapter 6? “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;” (Ephesians 6:18-19)
Note the reference to the Holy Spirit in these two verses. The Sword of the Spirit is the Scriptures. This is how the Holy Spirit communicates His heavenly message to our hearts. And prayer in the Spirit is how we express our heart desires to our Heavenly Father.
The Weapon of the Spirit is the Word of God; watchfulness in the Spirit produces persevering prayer to God. Knowing the power of these two together helps us take a courageous stand in dark days. Combining the Sword of the Spirit with supplication in the Spirit unites two powerful privileges. This is why Jesus said, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7). Resorting to, remaining in, and respecting the presence of the Lord – the Spirit of Christ – and remembering His words enables us to pray in dark days. Walking in the fear of God and faithfully reviewing His Word will transform us so that – ask what we will – it will be done to us. Try it now. Ask the Lord to help you to draw near to Him and to show you how He answers your prayer. Read the testimonies of men such as George Mueller (on our church blog) to see how they prayed with Spirit-filled perseverance.
What is meant by the phrase “praying … in the Spirit?” Some try to say that this refers to voicing nonsense syllables in a supposed unknown “spirit language.” Paul overturned that nonsense by asking the common sense question, “How can people say ‘Amen’ when you give thanks, if they don’t understand what you are saying?” (1 Corinthians 14:16).
Some have rightly pointed out that the definite article (“the”) does not occur in the original language here. So perhaps there is an emphasis on a wholehearted approach involving your human spirit. After all, Jesus said, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). But even those who emphasize this insist on the need for the enablement of the Holy Spirit.
Certainly Romans 8:26 shows us that the Holy Spirit helps our infirmities when we are not exactly sure how we ought to pray. He helps God’s children pray for those things which are pleasing to the Father. So there is no question that the Holy Spirit enables our praying.
Understanding what “praying in the Spirit” does not mean, and understanding what it likely does mean, let us make a few applications. Worshipful prayer in the Spirit makes full use of the Spirit’s powerful Words. The Holy Spirit breathed out the Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Using the Spirit’s words in prayer, we can breathe in what God has breathed out. We do not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. We could think of praying in the Spirit as praying in the atmosphere of the Spirit.
High in the Himalayas, on the contested border between India and China, soldiers often become disoriented. Fighting the cold and altitude sickness, they often need to revert to oxygen tanks in order to continue to stand watch and be on guard. Surely the same is true of soldiers of Christ who use the oxygen of the Word to be overcomers in this spiritual warfare. We can pray in the atmosphere of the Spirit.
God’s Words search our souls and set aside self-deception to allow us to pray with our whole hearts. We cannot quell the schemes of Satan if we are quenching the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19). (In context, we do this when we dismiss opportunities to hear accurate Biblical preaching, all the while testing it according to God’s Word, 1 Thessalonians 5:20-22.)
Grieving the Spirit hinders this great enablement of the Spirit. We grieve Him with harsh, corrupted speech. By contrast, being filled with the Spirit causes believer to be speaking to themselves and others with “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19). This is a beautiful picture of honoring the Lord as we pray in the Spirit.
Today is September 19, 2021. Six months ago, a volcano in Iceland near Mount Fagradalsfjall began to erupt. But earlier this spring, photographers were stunned to find young people playing volleyball not far from the volcanic eruption.[i] When you see stories like this, it brings to mind that people all around us are playing on the edge of eternity. Why can they not see the danger they are in? As believers, we must pray that the Lord would open their hearts and understanding to the reality of what Jesus Christ has done for us. By the grace of His finished work – dying for our sins on the cross and rising again from the dead – He saves those who come unto God by Him. The Captain of our Salvation transforms silly children into soldiers of the cross who take up His challenge to follow Him. Pray for your fellow believers that we would not act like silly children playing on the precipice of eternity.
All the All’s
During this prayer emphasis week, we are learning to pray for the saints with Spirit-filled perseverance. In conclusion, and in preparation for the message by Pastor Rodney King this evening, we desperately need to learn how to persevere. How should we do this? Consider “all the all’s” in Ephesians 6:18.
- At All Times: Praying
When should we pray in the Spirit? Always – at all times. When we awaken in the night, first thing in the morning, stepping into our daily routine, pausing to ponder over your midday meal, when you feel that afternoon fatigue, as you travel home, as you review your day with your family and as you prepare to sleep. It’s always the right time to pray. There is no moment when it is not right to pray.
2. With All Prayer and Voicing Petitions
Make your appeals “with all prayer and supplications.” These two words combine to communicate the same idea. With this approach, you admit your dependence on the Lord. When do you need Him? You need Him every hour, every moment. So this implies that you include the Lord’s presence in your thinking. You depend upon Him for wisdom in every challenge. You think about Him as you think about how to turn your problems into projects.
3. Watching with All Perseverance
Here is where we feel our need most keenly. It is one thing to take joy in a verse such as we rejoice over it in our assembly today. It is quite another to persevere in dark days. But with the aid of the Spirit, we could and should pray for our fellow members with Spirit-filled perseverance.
4. Praying for All Saints
The special focus of Paul’s letter to Ephesus was on the Ephesian congregation. What if we were to begin here? Pray for each other. Pray for each other the way you want others to pray for you. Like those in the Roman military testudo formation, we could go forward with our shields held together to stand against the schemes of the devil. We could pray for the saints with a Spirit-filled perseverance.
In the late 1800’s, a young lady named Edith Gilling Cherry wrote
We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender; / We go not forth alone against the foe;
Strong in Thy strength, safe in Thy keeping tender. / We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.
Yea, in Thy Name, O Captain of salvation! / In Thy dear Name, all other names above;
Jesus our Righteousness, our sure Foundation,/ Our Prince of glory and our King of love.
We go in faith, our own great weakness feeling,/ And needing more each day Thy grace to know: / Yet from our hearts a song of triumph pealing; / We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.[ii]
Pastor Gordon Dickson, Calvary Baptist Church, Findlay, Ohio, www.cbcfindlay.org
[i] Sightseers Caught Playing Volleyball in Front of Erupting Volcano in Iceland, Epoch Times, May 1, 2021, accessed at Shocking VIDEO: Sightseers Caught Playing Volleyball in Front of Erupting Volcano in Iceland (theepochtimes.com)
[ii] Edith Gilling Cherry, “We Rest on Thee” accessed at https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/881