Put on the Weaponry of Prayer !

Sermon on Ephesians 6:18-20

Saint Mark's Watertown

Pastor Karl Walther

May 27, 2001

Along with the Apostle Paul: I pray that you may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Amen.

God's Word for our special consideration, on what we are calling Prayer Sunday, is Ephesians chapter six, verses eighteen through twenty:

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

This is God's Spirit-inspired Word of our risen and ruling Savior Jesus Christ.

Introduction: How Is Your Prayer Life?

Dear fellow petitioners of the Proprietor of Paradise, Jesus Christ:

How is your prayer life? -- You know, that's an important issue for a Christian like yourself....

By my count, three hundred thirty-three times the Bible describes or encourages prayer-- in one form of the word or another. And that doesn't include all those times the Bible encourages us to "ask", to "petition", to "praise", or to "give thanks".

No doubt, you know many of the passages: Call upon me in the day of trouble.... Ask and it will be given you.... The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective....

As a Christian, your prayer life is important to you.... So, how is your prayer life? -- Or let me put it to you this way....

...Do you find yourself praying constantly-- or do you find yourself praying irregularly? ...Do you end up praying for things that really matter-- or do you pray for things that, in the end, do not matter? ...Are your prayers pretty much regarding your own interests alone-- or are your prayers for others, as well?

How is your prayer life?

Theme: Put on the Weaponry of Prayer!

Well, if your prayer life can use a little refreshment, you'll want to listen carefully today as the Lord urges us: * PUT ON THE WEAPONRY OF PRAYER! We'll take a look at: (1) WHY? we pray, and we'll consider (2) HOW? we might pray all the better.

Part One: Why Do We Put on the Weaponry of Prayer?

° First of all, brothers and sisters, our prayer life won't improve until we realize better why we want to pray. The Apostle Paul put that well in the verses just before our text. He said: 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.

Now, how often do you and I think about that? In our year two thousand one, hi-fi, multi-digital, fiber-optic world, how often do you and I think about the danger that the devil and his demons pose to us?

But the danger is real! Satan or one of his sinful spirits is hovering by your alarm clock every morning as you wake up. He's crouching around the corner of your house as you walk out the door. He's in your car, at your workplace, in your office. He's tempting you to think like an atheist. He's tempting you to trash-talk like a sinful fool. He's trying to trip you up and embarrass you and your Savior. Often enough, he succeeds in leading you to sin. You see, at one time you belonged to Satan-- and he wants you back again.

° So, no wonder Paul urges us -- God urges us -- to: Stand firm, ...with the breastplate of righteousness in place. You see: Jesus made you right in God's sight! Jesus' forgiveness and Jesus' holiness, which are now yours, protect your heart.

No wonder God urges us to: Take the helmet of salvation. You see: Jesus saved you from the danger posed by the stormy ocean depths of your perversity and the jagged mountain cliffs of your sinful pride! That salvation now protects your head from harm.

No wonder God urges us to: Take up ... the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. You see: it's the Spirit by his Word who enables you to avoid sin sometimes and receive forgiveness for sin always! It's that Word which protects your soul.

° And-- and no wonder God urges us to: Pray.... You see: righteousness, salvation, and the Spirit are ours apart from prayer. They're gifts from God apart from anything we do. But in prayer we access them all the more fully for ourselves. In prayer we access God's gifts all the more fully for others. And in prayer we defeat the devil and his demons all the more fully.

Prayer is like a limitless arsenal of intercontinental ballistic missiles equipped with multiple thermonuclear warheads for us to launch at will against an enemy in whom is no good, in whom is all hatred, who has sworn himself to capture and torture endlessly every citizen in our fair land!

So, I ask you, which of us can fail to pray?

Part Two: How Do We Put on the Weaponry of Prayer?

There then, you have -- I hope! -- reason enough to pray. So, does Scripture offer us any pointers toward prayer? -- Yeah, and this is actually where God's Word to us today begins....

The Apostle Paul writes to the Ephesian Christians, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit: 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. There are a couple very applicable things in those words....

To begin with, Paul writes: Pray in the Spirit.

• Notice, first of all, that there's no command here merely to "pray in your spirit" -- that is: to pray to yourself quietly -- or anything like that. In fact, have you ever tried praying out loud? It works! If you pray out loud, generally it means that you are alone and undistracted-- no TV., no radio, no others, just you and God. And if you pray out loud, your attention is probably less likely to wander, because praying merely in your thoughts tends to be more stream-of-consciousness.

• But getting back to the text, Paul does write: "Pray in the Spirit." And what does that mean? -- Well, it means that the Holy Spirit needs to inform your prayers. And the way he does that is through his Word. You can't be praying to God, unless you are first listening to God.

You see, if you aren't first listening to God, you will probably end up praying to him some dumb stuff against his will. If you're not listening to God, you might pray, "God, I'm greedy; make me rich." You might pray, "God, I'm not happy anymore, forgive me when I irresponsibly walk out on my family." You might pray, "God, I fear my friend is not a Christian, but take him to heaven anyway-- just as he is."

No! You've got to: "Pray in the Spirit"! God's Word and prayer go together. Read the Scriptures first. Then you'll have the motivation and the mindset really to pray rightly.

So: "Pray in the Spirit." Now, the Apostle Paul also writes: Pray ... on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind be alert and always keep on praying.

• So, notice that Paul is saying, as he put it elsewhere: "Pray continually." It means that this is no mere suppertime / bedtime thing. "Pray continually"-- all the time. As Martin Luther put it, "Prayer is a Christian's vital breath." As often as you breathe, pray. It's almost as if we Christians have a headset on and a microphone, and we are in constant voice-relay contact with mission control-- with our Master Christ.

These words -- "Pray continually" -- mean that you and I have to cultivate a continual attitude of prayer. When we wake up and we're happy with the sunshine and our lives, we pray, "Lord, thank you for this sunshine and this life." When we watch the morning news, and we hear about the latest FBI scandal, we pray, "Lord, protect us"-- and when we hear about the government's newest initiative, we pray, "Lord, your will be done." When we head to work and a co-worker mentions a sickness in her family, we pray, "Lord, comfort this individual in Christ, and heal with your heavenly hand."

• The Lord urges us: "Pray continually" like that. Of course, certain set times for prayer will help us regularly to accomplish it. Praying "morning, meals, and moonlight" is good. I myself pray first thing in the morning; I spend maybe fifteen minutes walking up and down those stairs right back there-- and while I do so, I pray. Your Word-and-Prayer time may be at breakfast, or in your car to and from work, or at the supper table, or right before bed. Whatever it is, set a time and a place daily-- and pray!

And finally, Paul gives us some idea for what to pray. He says: Keep on praying for all the saints. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

So, Paul is saying: Pray especially for all the saints, for all your brothers and sisters in Christ. And: Pray also for me, for Paul.

You see: as Paul was writing this letter to the Ephesians (on the west coast of Asia Minor), he was under house arrest in Rome (many hundreds of miles further west). He was waiting for Caesar to listen to his court case. So, Paul needed his people's prayers. He needed them to pray for strength for his own spirit. He needed them to pray for the advance of the gospel. And he needed them to pray that God would be glorified when Paul testified before the Emperor.

All of this probably suggests to us two more things about prayer.

• To begin with, there are some priorities in prayer. Paul doesn't deny that the Ephesians ought to pray about all things, but he does ask especially for their prayers for him and for their fellow Christians. Likewise, we've got some priorities in prayer.

First of all, for every time we ask God something in prayer-- how can we fail to praise him for all he's given us already? Praise is a priority in prayer! Secondly, for every time we ask God for something material-- how can we fail to ask him for something spiritual? Eternal things are priorities in prayer! And thirdly, for every time we pray about ourselves-- how can we fail to pray for others? Other individuals are priorities in prayer, too!

• And all of this leads me, at least, to use prayer lists. When was the last time you prayed for your church to have sufficient resources to do its work? For me that happens every week: because it's on my list. When was the last time you prayed for our missionaries to Central Africa? For me that happens every month: because it's on my list. When was the last time you prayed by name for the firstborn son of the lastborn son of your father's second oldest sister? For me that happens every year on his birthday: because it's on my calendar.

And if you can use an idea of what a prayer list looks like, there's one in your bulletin this morning. Plunk it on your refrigerator with a magnet-- and sometime during the day when you go by it, take a minute to pray.

Conclusion: Between Ascension & Pentecost, It Is Especially Appropriate

to Put on the Weaponry of Prayer!

After all: your Lord, who ascended to rule all things on your behalf (as we celebrated this past week)-- he bids you to pray! Jesus Christ, who is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, in order to intercede for you-- he urges you to pray! Your Savior, who poured into your heart his Holy Spirit (as we will celebrate next week) -- he urges you to pray! So, Christian soldier: put on the full weaponry of prayer! Amen.

Along with the Apostle Paul, we pray: To him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us-- to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.