ADVICE WHEN ATTACKED
Ephesians 6:10-19
"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." (Ephesians 6:10-11) The first defense, he says, is to put on the armor of God. We have looked at that (Ephesians 6:14-17). The second defense is to pray.
Two steps: put on the armor of God, and pray. Look at Ephesians 6:18-20; "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak."
There is a very strong and powerful relationship between putting on the armor of God and praying. These two things belong together; in fact, one grows out of the other. It is not enough to put on the armor of God; you must also pray. It is not enough to pray; you must also have put on the armor of God. It is impossible to divide these two.
Putting on the armor is essentially something that is done in the realm of your thought life. It is an adjustment of the attitude of your heart to reality, to things as they really are. It is thinking through the implications of the fact which revelation discloses. This is always the necessary thing to do in trying to face life.
This is what Paul calls, in the second letter to the Corinthians, "bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ," (2 Corinthians 10:5).
All our doing must and will grow out of thinking. Sometimes we speak of "thoughtless" actions. We say of someone that "he acted thoughtlessly." But this is impossible. You cannot act thoughtlessly. What we really mean is that someone has acted with very superficial, shallow thinking.
But it is actually impossible ever to act without having first thought. Yet it is possible to think without ever acting. That is what the apostle is bringing us to here. To think without doing is inevitably frustrating. It is like cooking and never eating. You can imagine how frustrating that would be. So in putting on the armor of God, the activity which results from it, is to pray. First to think through and then to pray.
First, think through the implications of our faith, and then prayer will follow naturally much more easily. When it comes in that order it will be thoughtful prayer, prayer which has meaning and significance. It will he relevant prayer. This is the problem with much of our praying now, is it not? It is so shallow, so superficial, on a level with that jingle you have all heard of the man who prayed, "Bless me and my wife, my son John and his wife, us four and no more."
Prayer should he an outgrowth of thoughtfulness about the implications of faith. This adds depth, meaning, and significance to it. Prayer should be pointed and purposeful. Now, basically, what is prayer? Paul here recognizes two categories of prayer, which he calls (1) all prayer, and (2) supplication. "All prayer" is the widest classification; "supplication" is the specific request that is made in prayer: Let me state it to you in the simplest terms; "prayer is conversation with God". This is all it is.
But supplication is asking some specific request. James says, "You have not because you ask not," (James 4:2). In our conversation with God it is perfectly proper to ask, because we are children and he is a father. What the apostle is saying 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."
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. Prayer is a simple conversation with the Father.
In Philippians 4:6,7 it says; "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
Paul is saying there are three simple principles involved in prayer: First, worry about nothing. Be anxious for nothing. This is one of the major problems in Christian living today. Worry , we worry about everything.
Someone put it this way:
I've joined the new ‘Don't Worry Club'
And now I hold my breath;
I'm so scared I'm going to worry
That I'm worried half to death.
Second, Pray about everything. Everything! Someone says, "You mean God is interested in little things as well as big things?" Is there anything that is big to God? They are all little things to him. Of course he is interested in them; he says so! The hairs on our head are numbered by him. Jesus was at great pains to show us that God is infinitely involved in the most minute details of our life. Therefore pray about everything.
The third principle: You will be kept through anything. "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
"...which passeth all understanding ...", "which no one can explain, which is there despite the circumstances, and which certainly does not arise out of a change of circumstances -- which is simply inexplicable."
But now we must immediately add that God answers prayer according to his promises. This is so necessary to say today, for there is a concept that God answers any kind of prayer, that no matter what you want or how you ask for it, he commits himself to give it. This results frequently in disappointments and gives rise to the widespread belief that prayer is ineffectual. The truth is, God answers every prayer which is based upon a promise.
Prayer does not start with us; it starts with God. God must say he will do something before we are free to ask him to do it. This is the point. This is how it works with a father and his children. No father commits himself to give his children everything they want. God has given promises and they form the only proper basis for supplication. This is what Paul means by his reminder that we are to pray at all times in the Spirit.
In the Spirit! Here again is a great area of misunderstanding about prayer. Many take this phrase, "in the Spirit," as though it is necessary to be greatly moved before prayer can be effectual. Praying in the Spirit means to pray according to the promises which the Spirit has given, and the character of God which the Spirit has made known. This is praying in the Spirit. God has never promised to answer just any prayer, but he does promise to answer prayer in a way that he has carefully outlined for us.
I do not have time to go into this, for it is a vast subject, and there is much more which could be said about it from other portions of Scripture. But I want to emphasize now that the apostle is saying we must take this matter of prayer seriously and learn what God has promised. In other words, master this subject as you would master any other subject you give yourself to. You scientists have mastered various areas in the realm of science. You teachers have learned to master the art of teaching. you have given time to it. Now learn to master the art of praying.
For though prayer is the simplest thing in the world -- a word of conversation with God -- it also can become the very deepest and most profound thing in the world. As you learn to pray in this way you find there is put at your disposal a tremendous weapon, a mighty power to influence your own life and the lives of others.
One final point: "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;" (Eph. 6:18)
We are to be aware of other people's problems and pray for them, to open their eyes to danger and to help them realize how much is available to them in the armor God has given them, and to obtain specific help and strength for a specific trial.
Notice how Paul asks this for himself in this very passage. "And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,"
Paul has a deep sense of his need for prayer. He says, "Pray that God may grant me boldness that I will be so confident of the truth of which I speak that no fear of man will ever dissuade me or turn me aside."
In Romans 15:30-33; he asks the Christians to pray for three things specifically: (1) Physical safety when he visits Jerusalem; (2) a sensitive, tactful spirit when he speaks to the Christians there; and (3) an ultimate opportunity to visit the city of Rome. Three specific requests -- and the record of Scripture is that each of them was answered exactly as Paul had asked.
I want to close with two passages on prayer. In Second Timothy 2:24-26, the apostle says to his son in the faith: "And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will."
And from the letter of James: "Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins." (James 5:19-20)