PRAY AT ALL TIMES!

EPHESIANS 6:18-24

Adapted from a Jim Black sermonhttp://www.sermoncentral.com/

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Ephesians 6:18 NET With every prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and to this end be alert, with all perseverance and requests for all the saints. 19 Pray for me

also, that I may be given the message when I begin to speak — that I may confidently

make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains.

Pray that I may be able to speak boldly as I ought to speak. 21 Tychicus, my dear

brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will make everything known to you, so that you

too may know about my circumstances, how I am doing. 22 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know

our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts.

23 Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all of those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with

an undying love.Paul calls Christians to utilize the most

powerful ‘weapon’ they possess: PRAYER, AT ALL TIMES!

Christians are encouraged to re-discover the power of prayer in their lives.

The WarEphesians 6:12 NET For our struggle is not

against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the

world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. 13 For this reason, take up the full armor of

God so that you may be able to stand your ground on the evil day, and having done

everything, to stand.

14 Stand firm therefore, by fastening the belt of truth around your waist, by putting on

the breastplate of righteousness, 15 by fitting your feet with the preparation that comes from the good news of peace, 16

and in all of this, by taking up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of

the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Finally, the ultimate weapon18 With every prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and to this end be

alert, with all perseverance and requests for all the saints.

History records that on August 6, 1945 after four long years of war with the Axis of evil

and after years of research and development, President Harry S. Truman

gave the order.

United States Army Air Forces crew on board the B-29 Superfortress, the Enola

Gay, dropped the Atomic Bomb, nicknamed “Little Boy”, on Hiroshima, Japan. One minute after being dropped, the bomb

exploded into a fireball with a magnitude of which had never been seen before! That

and the bomb dropped on Nagasaki three days later brought a clear and decisive end to years of death and destruction during the

second world war.

Maybe you’ve heard about the M.O.A.B. - the Massive Ordnance Air Burst Bomb. It’s

the most powerful conventional (non-nuclear) bomb ever developed and its being

used by Allied forces.Sometimes in war, the situation calls for the

most powerful weapon at your disposal.

In this battle against the spiritual forces of evil, in this battle for the souls of men and women, the most powerful weapon at our disposal, SADLY, is often the weapon we

pull out last, Prayer.

In today’s text let’s notice Paul’s final prayer requests of the Ephesians.

1. Notice, Paul calls on Christians to PRAY AT ALL TIMES, in EVERY SEASON!

Though Paul saves it for last in this list, I believe he does so because it is the MOST IMPORTANT WEAPON of battle! Not that it should be used as the last resort, or when all else fails! No! He says that Christians

are to pray ON ALL OCCASIONS!

He had told the church at Thessalonica to constantly pray,

1 Thessalonians 5:17 NET

Why?

This is the foundationalweapon of war!

ALWAYS KEEP ONPRAYING!

To use the language I used last week, there’s a war on! It’s a serious war against a

serious enemy, but we have a secret weapon at our disposal! Like Special

Operative troops they aim their sophisticated lasers at specific locales and call down laser-guided missiles from fighter jets overhead to destroy specific targets!

That’s how prayer works. In prayer, we can call down power from on high and focus it in

on a specific target! It makes a difference!

Paul is calling for more than specific prayers, he’s calling for a lifestyle of prayer!

While there are certainly times which we are to go into our prayer closets and spend specific and pointed quiet time with God; (Matt. 6:6) this is a call to see all of life as communion with God. I DO think that we should see prayer as a kind of ‘spiritual breathing’, something we do naturally,

almost without thinking about it.

2. Notice, too, Paul calls on Christians to pray…IN THE SPIRIT.

What does it mean to pray…in the Spirit? Is this different from ‘just praying?’ According

to a survey almost 90% of Americans regularly ‘pray’ in some regard. But just

because one says he is praying, does that really mean that he is truly speaking to

God?

To pray…in the Spirit is to pray ‘under the influence of the Spirit.’ Back in 5:18 Paul had exhorted his readers And do not get drunk with wine, which is debauchery, but

be filled by the Spirit, Ephesians 5:18 NET Christians are to live their lives under the influence of the Spirit, NOT anything or

anyone else!

This is a call for Christians to be guided and led by the Holy Spirit of God in their

prayers! That their prayers & requests are not just some rote prayers memorized since youth or some ‘wish list’; “God, please could you give me this, or that, and by the way,”

NO! Our prayer is directed by the Holy Spirit! How? How does this work? I’m not exactly sure, but I think Romams 8:26,27

helps us out in understanding this.

Romans 8:26 NET In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do

not know how we should pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible

groanings. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit,

because the Spirit intercedes on behalf of the saints according to God's will.

The Spirit intercedes for us in prayer. When we don’t know what to say, the Spirit does.

When we just can’t find the words, the Spirit does. When our souls are hurting and we don’t know why or what to ask, the Spirit

does.

3. Notice WHO Christians are to pray…FOR.

“For all the saints.” Christians are to pray for one another. Christians are to pray for the church. Is this church on your prayer list?

I’ve never been real disciplined about prayer, I always found time to pray, but

didn’t discipline myself like I do these days. I’ve started a list of prayer needs to help me

remember what and who I need to pray about.

Have you done this? We need to be reminded that the church should be high up

there on our list! We need to be in prayer over our Elders, Deacons & preachers. We

need to be in prayer over our members, especially those hurting or unable to be with

us. We need to be in prayer over the ministry of this church; what we’re trying to

do for God.

4. Finally, Paul calls on the Christians there at Ephesus to pray for him.

I can understand that! Paul’s in quite a circumstance! Remember back in 3:1 he’s told us, For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles

— Ephesians 3:1 NET

While he is in Roman custody, he doesn’t consider himself a prisoner of Rome or of Caesar, but of Christ! It is for the sake of Christ and spreading the good news of

Christ that he’s been thrown in jail! But, he doesn’t pray for what I’d expect him to pray.

I know that if I was in that circumstance I’d be praying for release! I’d be praying for

rescue! I’d be praying for protection! I think its worth noting that the prayers he requested were for NONE of those things.

19 Pray for me also, that I may be given the message when I begin to speak — that I

may confidently make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an

ambassador in chains. Pray that I may be able to speak boldly as I ought to speak.

Paul’s request was for courage so that he might fearlessly continue preaching the

gospel! Isn’t that amazing? Paul is a Roman prisoner as a direct result of his preaching

the gospel and all he can think about is preaching the gospel. He doesn’t ask for

prayers of protection or prayers of comfort or prayers for release, but prayers for the

courage to stand firm and continue preaching the good news!

That’s encouraging! How committed are WE to that task? What if we found

ourselves imprisoned for our beliefs? Would we still proclaim the good news? What if we

found ourselves at the wrong end of a revolver? Would we still proclaim the good

news? What if we found ourselves beaten & tortured for the sake of Christ? Would we

still proclaim the good news?

Well, we catch a glimpse of the 1st century world in which Paul lived in his final

greetings.21 Tychicus, my dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will make everything known to you, so that you too may know

about my circumstances, how I am doing. 22 I have sent him to you for this very

purpose, that you may know our circumstances and that he may encourage

your hearts.

23 Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all of those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with

an undying love.Even the Apostle Paul needed friends. Tychicus is mentioned first in Acts as a

friend of Paul’s and then shows up again in four of Paul’s letters.

Perhaps he is the courier for this letter, hand-delivering it to the church at Ephesus.

Paul wants him to convey personally to them how he is doing and to encourage

them. Again, even in prison, Paul’s concern isn’t for himself, but how he might

encourage others.It’s a typical final greeting for Paul. Paul wishes them the fullest blessings of life.

Peace… & Grace be with all of those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying

love.

How would you describe your prayer life? flourishing or floundering? always or almost

never? Constant or erratic?

Your car is hurtling on the rain slick road sideways toward an oncoming car at 50

mph! What do you do? You pray! But what do you do when the weather is nice and the

drive is peaceful?

The doctor comes into your exam room with the test results and a worried frown on his face. What do you do? You pray! But what

do you do at your work involved in the mundane everyday responsibilities of your

job?

You’re in the delivery room and the doctor looks at you and says, “It’s a boy!” or “It’s a girl!” What do you do? You thank God! But what do you do when the diaper has to be changed or the little booger has woken you

up in the middle of the night?

I believe that so goes your prayer-life, so goes your relationship with God. How’s

yours?

This is a call to pray, to pray powerfully, to pray specifically and to pray constantly! Not just when the chips are down; not just when all else fails; not just when you don’t have anywhere else to turn, but pray always, in every season. God is there listening, He has said that He will never leave us nor

forsake us!

My prayer today is that if you don’t know Christ, you won’t leave here without finding

out more about him.

And if you are in need of prayer, that you’d let that be known so that your brothers &

sisters in Christ can be an encouragement to you through their prayers. Won’t you,

during the singing of this invitation song?

We’re not finished learning from the Church in Ephesus. There is more written to &

about the Church in Ephesus. Did you know there is another letter written to the Church

in Ephesus?Your homework for next week is to find

another letter to the Church in Ephesus & find other passages about problems in

Ephesus. If you know where these passages are located keep it to yourself!

Let others have the experience of searching the Scriptures.