Putting on the Armor of God in Prayer, Part 2
“With all prayer and petition, pray at-all-times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints. Ephesians 6:18
In the later part of the First Century, Paul took the various pieces of a Roman soldier’s weaponry, and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, likened it to spiritual armor any Christian can put on to stand firm and resist the tricks and trickery (schemes/wiles of the devil), each new day!(See Ephesians 6:10-17).
However, Paul doesn’t conclude his masterpiece on the armor with verse seventeen, he continues with what would often be the most neglected piece of spiritual armor for the Christian—PRAYER.
In our Scripture for today, Paul not only commands the Christian warrior to pray on every occasion (every time you get the opportunity to pray), but to realize and apply to his mind and heart to Whom he is praying when he prays. The idea behind the original word Paul uses translated prayer and pray is: Come face to face with God, and surrender your life in exchange for His, consecrating your life on an ongoing basis. And be sure to give Him thanks in the advance for moving in your life.
The original word translated “petition” (supplication) represents a petition (cry) for God’s help that exposes a person’s insufficiency to meet his or her own needs; one that is drawn from a heart and spirit born of godly humility. Just imagine what our seasons of prayer would be like with Lord if we humbly desired to be with Him more than anything else! Then, we would come together as the Body of Christ, more watchful and persistent in our prayers for all the saints. In this manner, we would truly form a true prayer chain!
Lord, teach us to pray!
Pastor Louie