When Christians put on the armor of God ALMOST nothing is impossible. With the armor on we are ABLE to live and experience the ABUNDANT LIFE that Jesus died and rose from the grave for us to experience. But the armor alone not enough!

I think most Christians, if they were honest, would confess that they are dissatisfied with their prayer life. They feel it is inadequate and perhaps infrequent. We pray but we don’t see answers. We don’t feel spiritual power. WHY? This was the topic of my last sermon in the book of Ephesians last Sunday. View part one is HERE. Part two is HERE.

Pray in Order

What’s interesting about Ephesians 6, the Armor of God passage, is that Paul instructs Christians to FIRST put on the armor. Then to pray. The order is vitally important.

In Ephesians 6:10-17 the Apostle Paul lays out the first part…

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.

Then in verses 18-20 he lays out the second and equally important part…

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. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

He does not say, first pray and then put on the armor of God. This is what we try to do, and this is why our prayer life is so feeble, so impotent!

Pray?

Prayer is conversation with God. It is friendly, intimate, frank, unrestricted talking with God, and it is into this close and intimate relationship that every individual is brought by faith in Jesus.

But requests is asking some specific request. The half brother of Jesus, James, says,

You have not because you ask not (James 4:2).

In our conversation with God it is appropriate to ask. We are children and He is a father.

What the apostle Paul is saying in Ephesians 6:17-20 is,

After you have put on the armor of God, after you have thought through the implications of your faith in the ways which have been suggested previously, then talk to God about it. Tell him your reactions, tell him how you feel, describe your relationship to life around you and your reactions to them, and ask him for what you need.

Prayer is often considered to be so high and holy that it has to be carried on in some artificial language or tone of voice. You hear this so frequently from pulpits. Pastors adopt what has well been called a “stained glass voice,” and pray in some artificial manner as though God were far off in some distant corner of the universe.

When we pray we recognize three truths

1. An invisible kingdom exists.

Although we can’t see God we know He hears our prayers.

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. (1 John 5:14-15)

2.  The kingdom of God is highly significant.

It affects our lives directly. The visible things happening in our world are a direct result of something happening in the realm of invisibility.

Therefore,

3. God answers when we pray.

Our prayers play a direct and essential part in bringing God’s invisible power to bear on visible life.

Finally, we need one another

We are not alone in this battle. Whether we struggle with doubt, fear, anxiety, confusion, or uncertainty. There are others around us who are weaker and younger Christians than we are. There are others who are stronger, and we all are fighting this battle together.

We cannot put on the armor of God for another person, but we can pray for that other person. We can call in reinforcements when we find them engaged in a struggle greater than they can handle.

I heard a quote the other day that fits here:

[Tweet “Telling a hard truth and telling it lovingly is always the right thing to do.” @ericaarielfox]

We need each other, not just to say how good we look, or just to ask how we’re doing and say okay. We need others to speak hard truth, but to do it out of genuine care. We need others to know what’s really going on and to be praying for us specifically in our battles.

QUESTION: how has prayer effected your ability to fight the daily spiritual warfare you face?