I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Ephesians 6:10-18
10 Finally, be strong
in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that
you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not
against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against
the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the
heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the
day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have
done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled
around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with
your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In
addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can
extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of
salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 And pray in the
Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in
mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
-- as we open this morning, let me share with you a story
from a book by Ben Patterson
-- several years ago, the East Indian evangelist K.P.
Yohannan came to the United States for a visit -- he really wanted to meet some
of the spiritual leaders of our nation, especially one man who was known in
India for his powerful sermons and uncompromising commitment to the truth
-- On the Sunday that Yohannan visited his church, there
were over 3000 people there for the worship service -- the choirs were
outstanding and the preaching was everything he hoped it would be -- then the
pastor made an announcement about a special emphasis at the midweek prayer
meeting -- he said that there were some things laying heavy on his heart and he
asked the people to come and pray -- the pastor said the service would be held
at a certain chapel on the church campus and invited everyone to come and join
in -- excited, Yohannan determined that he would attend this special service
-- when he showed up at the chapel later that week, he
brought with him some definite assumptions about prayer meetings based on his
life and experiences in India -- Yohannan knew that prayer meetings were
essential -- they were of primary importance in the life of a church -- in
fact, without them, the church would be powerless in the face of evil and persecution
and harassment
--
Where he came from in India, and in many other parts of the world where
Christians are persecuted and harassed for their faith, the prayer meeting is
the centerpiece of the church's life -- Everyone comes, the meetings often last
long into the night, and it is not unusual for believers to arise daily before
sunrise to pray together for the work of the church.
--
fearing a huge crowd, Yohannan came early to get a seat -- But when he arrived
at the chapel, it was empty -- and not only was it empty, but it couldn't hold
but around 500 people -- Yohannan thought he must have heard the pastor wrong
and had come to the wrong place -- He was worried, so he went outside to
double-check the name of the chapel, but he was in the right place
--
at about 7:30, a few people came into the room,
but there was no leader, no songs or worship -- just chitchat about
news, weather, and sports -- Forty-five minutes later an elderly man, the
leader, but not the pastor, walked into the chapel to offer a few devotional
thoughts from the Bible and give a brief prayer.
--
The meeting was over, and as the seven attendees filed out of the chapel, K. P.
Yohannan sat in stunned silence, his mind filled with questions: Was this it?
Weren't they going to stay and wait upon God? Where was the worship? The tears?
The cries for guidance and direction? Where was the list of the sick, and the
poor, and those in need? What about that burden that the pastor said was heavy
on his heart? Weren't we going to intercede for a miracle? And where was the
pastor?
--
That meeting became a paradigm for his experience of prayer meetings in the
American church -- In all his travels here, he saw the same pattern repeated
over and over again in hundreds of midweek prayer meetings -- Almost anything
happens but prayer -- There are announcements, singing, homilies, and a few
prayers offered, but usually only by the leader-and that's in the churches that
actually have prayer meetings in their schedules -- Many more make no pretense
even to have a church prayer meeting
--
There seems to be time for everything else -- to study, to fellowship, to
preach, but not to pray. -- Church leaders who think nothing of spending two or
three days to plan programs or of spending thousands of dollars to hire
consultants to help them do it, blanch at the thought of spending even one
night to wait on the Lord to show them what to do. -- How can this be?
-- Yohannan
remembered the words of the Apostle Paul from Ephesians 6:12 in this passage we
just read -- this verse says that "our struggle is not against flesh and
blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of
this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly
realms" -- he wondered, “if this is true, then the first thing any church
should do is pray, isn't it? -- Can
there be any other way to reach a lost world?
-- Do we really think our plans and programs alone can bring down dark
strongholds of spiritual evil in the heavenly realms?”
--
for the last couple of weeks, we’ve been talking about spiritual deserts and
about how to get out of them -- last week, we spent some time talking about how
a Christian should live and move and act in this world today -- how our lives
should be informed and empowered through spiritual practices to make us alive
-- to bring us into the times of refreshing promised through the Spirit
--
in that message, I made the observation that the one area in the church and in
the life of most Christians in America today that is lacking is prayer -- we
simply do not understand prayer -- we don’t know what it means to pray -- we
don’t know how to pray -- and we certainly don’t put enough importance on
prayer in our lives
-- the
experience of K.P. Yohannan illustrates that well enough -- prayer is simply
not an emphasis in most churches in America today -- and because of that, we
find ourselves relying on our own strength and our own power rather than on the
power of God to do His will and to minister to others in His name
-- going
back to the desert analogy, everyone knows that you have to be careful of
following mirages when you are wandering in the desert -- these false images
seem to promise refreshing water and oases with trees and plants and teeming
life in that dry and desolate place -- but when you get there, there is nothing
there but more sand
--
without prayer, the church is living in the middle of such a mirage -- as Paul
put it to Timothy, we have a form of Godliness, but in practice, denying its
power -- without prayer -- without earnest, heart-felt prayer that reaches to
the throne of God -- we cannot do anything of value in God’s kingdom
--
so, we’re going to spend some time talking about prayer this morning -- in this
familiar passage in Ephesians 6, Paul counsels us to put on the full armor of
God so that we may take our stand against the devil’s schemes -- he reminds us
that we are in a battle -- and we need to protect ourselves against the rulers
and the authorities and the powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces
of evil in the heavenly realm
--
he goes on to list all of the armor we need to put on -- the belt of truth --
the breastplate of righteousness -- our feet fitted with the readiness that
comes from the gospel of peace -- the shield of faith -- and the helmet of
salvation -- you’ve heard all of that before -- but the thing you need to remember
is that all of this armor is to protect you from the devil’s schemes -- to
protect you from his attacks
--
but standing there taking blows from the devil -- even wearing armor -- is not
going to win the war, much less the battle -- if a boxer stands in the ring and
blocks every punch his opponent throws, that’s great -- but he’s not going to
win the fight until he goes on the offensive -- wars are not won by simply protecting
yourself from the enemy -- you must defeat the enemy by attacking and
overpowering them in some way
--
it’s not enough to put on the armor of God to win the battle -- that’s why Paul
goes on in this passage to mention our offense weapons -- he tells us in verse
17 to take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God -- and most people
quit right there -- they think that is all we need -- but Paul’s instructions
don’t end at verse 17 -- they continue on in verse 18 with our most important
weapon of all -- that’s why Paul uses the conjunction “and” here at the end of
verse 18 -- it’s the sword of the Spirit “and” something else
--
look back at verse 18
18 And pray in the
Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in
mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
-- our
secret weapon in the war against the devil’s schemes? -- prayer -- with the
sword of the Spirit -- with the word of God, we hear God’s voice -- He speaks to
us through His word -- in the Bible, we are given direction -- we are told what
is expected -- we are told what to do -- we are given our mission and reminded
of our calling -- but the word of God is passive in the sense that it leads us
to action, but doesn’t act on its own
--
we have to employ what we read in Scripture -- we have to put it into action --
to do what God’s word says to do -- to do what God tells us to do -- that’s why
I say that Bible study alone is not enough -- knowledge about God is of little value
if you don’t do something with that knowledge -- you actually need to apply
what you learn in order for there to be any value in your life or any effect in
God’s kingdom
--
and that’s where prayer comes in -- it is through prayer that we are empowered
with God’s presence and actively engage the enemy and live out God’s mission in
our lives
--
the sword of the Spirit -- the word of God -- is a powerful weapon -- but it
must be joined with prayer to be effective against the devil’s schemes -- that’s
why the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 10:4, “The weapons we fight with are not
the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish
strongholds.” -- weapons, plural -- more than one -- our weapons include more
than the sword of the Spirit -- it includes prayer -- as James said, the
prayers of a righteous person are powerful and effective
-- so,
in the time we have remaining, I want us to drill down into verse 18 and see
what we can learn about the importance of prayer in our lives today
-- look back at verse 18 -- it says “and
pray in the Spirit”
-- so, the first thing about powerful
and effective prayer, it must be prayed in the Spirit
-- what does it mean to pray in the
Spirit? -- praying in the Spirit means the Holy Spirit within you empowers your
prayer and adds to it -- it’s like when you pray with other people -- the
people join in your prayer by lifting up to God the words that you are praying
together -- they affirm what you are saying -- they pray with you -- and
together your prayers are amplified and magnified and are carried to the throne
of God
-- it’s like that when you pray in the
Spirit, except you’re using God’s megaphone -- the very Spirit of God joins in
your prayer -- He guides you in what to pray -- He directs you to what is really
needed -- to what needs to be asked for -- and His voice joins with yours on
the spiritual plane to carry your prayers before the Father in Heaven
-- to pray in the Spirit means that
you are praying in one accord with God Himself -- that you are praying for His
will to be done -- you are praying for His presence and His power in this situation
-- you are praying for Him to get involved and to meet your need in accordance
with His will
-- if we are going to defeat the devil
and his schemes, we must pray in the Spirit -- we must pray like this -- one
way to do this is to pray Scripture -- to pray back God’s word to Him -- to
lift up the promises of God to us in His word and wield the sword of the Spirit
in battle against the devil
-- when you pray in the Spirit, you
should sense power in your prayer -- you should sense the presence of God in
your prayer -- you should feel God’s hand upon you -- leading you in your
prayer
-- too many of us, though, have failed
to pray in the Spirit -- instead, we pray in the opposite way -- we pray in the
flesh -- we pray selfish prayers that don’t seem to reach past the ceiling --
we pray prayers that are obviously not in accordance with God’s will -- we pray
prayers that are either just rote recitations or long, wandering dissertations
that mean little
-- as Jesus said, God doesn’t hear you
because of the length of your prayer or because you pray in public on the
street corners with lifted hands -- God hears your prayer when it comes from
the heart -- when it comes from your spirit -- and when it is joined with the Holy
Spirit
-- verse 18 again -- “And pray in the
Spirit on all occasions”
-- on all occasions -- that tells us
that our prayers must be without ceasing -- our prayers must be constant -- we
have to learn to adopt an attitude of prayer in our daily lives
-- too often, we relegate prayer to
just certain places and certain times -- before a meal -- maybe first thing in
the morning or right before we go to bed -- at church or during Bible study --
but Paul says we must learn to pray on all occasions
-- the devil’s schemes occur throughout
our day -- the devil is more likely to attack you at work or during your trip
to the store or Wild Adventures or wherever you are during the week than he is
right at bedtime or in church
-- I rarely feel a spiritual attack
when I sit down to pray before a meal -- I think gluttony is probably more of a
fleshly problem than a scheme of the devil
-- remember to pray throughout your
day -- remember to lift up the Lord and seek His wisdom throughout your day --
seek His presence before you go to a meeting or you go to a public place or you
meet with a friend -- surround your life in prayer and keep God’s presence
always before you
-- verse 18 -- “And pray in the Spirit
on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests”
-- all kinds of prayers and requests
-- our prayers must be varied -- there is not just one kind of prayer to prayer
-- our prayers should be shaped by our needs and our purposes
-- if you look in the Bible, you will
see many different types of prayers given to us as examples for us -- prayers
of worship, adoration, and praise -- prayers of thanksgiving as we come before
God and thank Him for all that He has done
-- prayers of confession and
repentance -- prayers for healing of our spirits and our bodies -- intercessory
prayers, where we pray for other people -- and prayers of supplication, where
we lift up our needs to God -- where we pour our hearts to God -- where we give
God all our emotions and tell Him what is going on and ask for His help
-- what does this tell us when Paul
says to lift up all kinds of prayers and requests? -- there is no one way to
pray -- there is no right way to pray --
the only wrong way to pray is by not praying at all
-- people tell me, “I don’t know how
to pray” -- yes, you do -- you pray from your heart -- you just talk to God and
tell Him what is going on and what you need -- you don’t worry about form or fashion
-- you don’t worry about your words -- when you don’t know what to say, the
Bible says the Spirit will intercede for us with groanings and words we cannot
hear -- the important thing is that we pray
-- here’s something to note --
remember that this command to pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all
kinds of prayers and requests comes as part of a discourse on spiritual warfare
-- why do people feel like they can’t pray? -- why do people feel like they don’t
know how to pray? -- it’s because this is one of the devil’s schemes -- if he
can keep us from praying, he has eliminated our most powerful weapon against
him
-- don’t let the devil do that -- just
pray
-- verse 18 -- “And pray in the Spirit
on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert…”
-- be alert -- remember, we are in a
battle -- we are being confronted by our enemy -- we are in hostile territory
when we’re walking in this world
-- be alert -- keep your eyes open for
opportunities to use the sword of the Spirit and to pray for God’s presence and
power
-- ask God to open your eyes to see the
need around you -- Jesus said that the fields were ripe for the harvest -- look
for opportunities to pray God’s presence into this world
-- think about when you drive
somewhere -- every day we see distracted drivers -- we see people in a hurry --
we see unsafe situations -- don’t get angry -- don’t judge -- pray for them
-- if you see an ambulance or a fire
truck or a policeman coming past with their lights on, pray for that situation
-- even if you don’t know what it is, the Spirit does and He will join in your
prayer
-- when you’re at the store and you
see someone in a tense situation -- a screaming child -- a crying baby -- a
frazzled mom -- pray for them
-- pray for the guy holding the sign
at the street corner -- even if he’s not really homeless, pray for God to become
real in his life -- pray for him to come to know God in a real and personal way
-- pray
-- pray with the waiter or waitress at
the restaurant -- ask them if you can pray for them -- ask them if they have a
need -- and include them in your prayer before the meal
-- the message here is to be alert --
look for ways to pray God’s power and presence in this world around you,
wherever you are
-- back to verse 18 -- “And pray in
the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep
on praying…”
-- always keep on praying -- persevere
in prayer -- be persistent in your prayers -- keep praying -- don’t quit
-- even if you don’t see anything
happening, continue to pray -- you never know how your prayers are affecting
someone else’s life
-- when I first started at Moody, I
had a coworker who was just rough -- he was rough and gruff and used foul
language and didn’t do his share of work -- he was not a pleasant guy, and people
in the office would avoid him
-- when he found out I was a
Christian, his behavior got worse -- he made a point out of using foul language
around me and harassing me when he could -- so, I started praying for him --
and nothing happened -- everyday, I would pray for him -- when I got to work, I
would pray that God would do something in his life -- that God would change him
-- nothing -- nada -- no visible change at all
-- but I kept at it -- and over time,
I realized that he had changed -- he still cussed, but not as much -- and he
didn’t cuss around me any more -- he still wasn’t a great person to be around,
but he got better -- and people started to notice it and started to say something
about it -- I’d hear people say, “he’s getting better in his old age” -- God
was working on him -- it was slow -- it took time -- but it happened because I
was persistent in prayer -- I didn’t give up
-- you’ve got to remember, a lot of
the times we are praying against someone that the devil has in his grasp -- you
are praying against a situation that the devil has set up -- that means you are
engaging in warfare -- the devil isn’t just going to let go -- you’re going to
need to pray and keep on praying and chipping away at the devil’s defenses with
God’s power and presence
-- always keep on praying
-- finally, the end of verse 18 -- “and
always keep on praying for all the saints”
-- do not neglect your prayers for the
saints -- for those who are engaged in God’s work -- for our brothers and
sisters in Christ
-- we are the ones who are constantly
under attack from the devil’s schemes -- we are the ones the devil wants to
weaken in the faith and in our spiritual lives -- if he can keep us from
praying -- if he can keep us from doing what God says to do -- if he can keep
us from reaching out to others with the life-changing and life-transforming gospel
message -- if he can keep us living in a mirage of plans and programs and Bible
study without application -- then he has defeated us
-- pray for the saints -- pray for
your leaders -- pray for the churches in our area -- pray God’s presence and
power on all of them
-- pray for their families -- pray for
their protection from physical and spiritual harm -- pray for God’s grace and
mercy to be with them
-- when you pray, don’t forget to pray
for all the saints -- those here in this church -- those in our community --
and our brothers and sisters in far-flung places, like Cuba and the Middle East
and Asia and other areas hostile to the gospel
-- pray for them and for God’s kingdom
to be made manifest in them and through them
-- we’re going to close now -- but I
want you to really spend some time this week thinking about this verse -- think
about what it means -- think about the importance of prayer -- and honestly ask
yourself if you are praying as you should -- consider how you can make prayer
more focused and more important in your life
-- Paul’s message to us here comes in
the context of spiritual warfare -- and it is informed through his experience
and his lifetime of walking with God -- remember that he wrote these words from
a Roman prison -- it was prayer that sustained his faith in those dark days of
imprisonment -- it was prayer that fed his soul while in that prison
-- prayer is something we must regain
in our lives and in our churches if we are going to be successful in defeating
the enemy and expanding God’s kingdom on earth
-- let us pray
No comments:
Post a Comment