When Paul describes the armor and weaponry of God in our battle against the enemy, he saves the most powerful weapon for last. He describes the armor including a helmet, breastplate, belt, shoes, and a shield. The armor is defensive. Then he goes on to describe two offensive weapons, both directly related to the work of the Spirit in our lives. The first is the sword of the Spirit which is the rhema words of God. The second is prayer in the Spirit. We have already talked much about rhema, so let’s take a look at what it means to pray in the Spirit.
Ephesians 6:18 says…
“With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints…”
The starting place for praying in the Spirit to be on the alert. The word literally means to be sleepless, to stay awake. It carries the idea of keeping watch, constantly looking for an opportunity to pray about something.
Whenever I am hiking and I see the fresh footprints of a mountain lion, I am suddenly on the alert. Instead of strolling along looking forward, I start looking to the left or to the right for any signs I am being stalked. I look up into the trees to make sure I am not walking into a trap set for me. I am on the alert.
As those who are filled with the Spirit, we are to be on the alert, looking for every opportunity we might have to pray. The Spirit alerts us to any potential danger in our lives and in the lives of others. The Spirit alerts us to every opportunity that might call us to prayer.
Our state of alert is never meant to wane. We are told to be alert “…with all perseverance.” This word was used four times in the book of Acts to describe the church and the fact that they were continually devoting themselves to prayer. The verse might be better translated as “all devotion.”
As those walking in the Spirit, we were never meant to have devotions or do devotions, we were meant to be devoted. Devotion was never meant to be something we do, it was meant to be something we live. It is about our character not our activities.
All perseverance takes the concept of devotion and multiplies it. It is every kind of devotion you could ever imagine. If you think you understand what it means to be devoted to prayer, then think again. You will find other ways to devote yourself to prayer. If you pray in the mornings, the Spirit may guide you to pray in the evenings too. If you pray before meals, it is not too much to pray after meals as well. If you pray six times a day, why not pray eight times a day.
In fact, this verse says that we are to pray “…at all times.” The word “times” here means “appointed times, opportune times” or “the perfect moments in time for what needs to be done.” When we are watchful and alert, we are looking for the appointed times, the times when it just makes sense to pray.
When there is a break in our day, we can pray. When we sense that we are facing something bigger than ourselves, we pray. When temptation hits, we pray. When we recognize the need for wisdom, we can pray. When we remember someone going through a struggle, we pray. These are all appointed times.
Praying at all appointed times, means that we pray whenever we sense a little nudge from the Spirt. We just do it. Whenever there is the slightest urge, we pray. Think about our transitions. When we are about to enter a meeting, it is time to pray. When we drive up our driveway after being away, it is time to pray. When we are on our way to church, it is time to pray. When we are about to make a phone call or send an email, it is time to pray.
A couple years ago God give me a little assignment to start finding more “appointed times.” In my abiding time, He told me to end every email I write with the word “blessings” as the salutation. Then He instructed me to pray for God’s blessing for the recipients of the email whenever I send it. What a great way to take the mundane action of sending emails every day and turn it into a spiritual activity.
With all these opportunities to pray, what are we supposed to pray? Paul says we are to pray “…with all kinds of prayers and petitions.” The beautiful thing about this guidance from God is that it opens us up to a universe of prayer. We are free to pray in any way we would like.
We can pray out loud or to ourselves. We can pray for someone specific or for groups of people. We can thank God for something He has done. We can thank God for who He is. We can ask for wisdom. We can ask for strength. We can pray one word or ten or a hundred. We can pray a verse of Scripture. We can claim a promise. There is almost nothing we cannot do in the way of prayer when that appointed time comes.
But there is one thing that we must do. When we pray, we must pray for “…all the saints.” The saints are the believers, the Christ-followers. We are to pray for all of them. Just imagine how the kingdom of God would come if all believers were praying for other believers all the time. The enemy would be entirely defeated.
So, why all the “all’s”, all perseverance, all times, all kinds of prayer and petition, for all the saints? What is the point? The point is that it is humanly impossible to pray the way God designed us to pray.
This is precisely why Paul also says that we are to pray “…in the Spirit.” It is impossible to establish this kind of conversational relationship with God apart from the Spirit of God in us. To help us understand what it means to pray in the Spirit, there is a principle for conversational prayer in each of the analogies Paul used to describe our relationship with the Spirit.
First, Paul talks about walking in the Spirit in Galatians 5:16…
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”
We can learn to think about praying with every step we take, or why not schedule a prayer walk or a prayer hike, a time when you just simply walk and pray.
Second, Paul talks about being led by the Spirit in Galatians 5:18…
"But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law."
Prayer was never meant to be something we do on our own. To be led by the Spirit in prayer, we must always stop and check in to see what we should be praying about. When we learn to listen, we can follow the Spirit in prayer instead of venturing off on our own.
Third, Paul talks about living in the Spirit and keeping in step with the Spirit in Galatians 5:25…
“If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”
The core of life is breath. So we have an opportunity to learn to pray with every breath we take, recognizing our dependence on the Spirit. To walk in step with the Spirit, we can learn to listen for streams of thought as the Spirit guides us through different places of prayer.
Think about how this might change our prayer gatherings. Aren’t we usually half listening and half thinking about what we might pray next? What if we changed things up just a little bit? Instead of half listening and gathering our own thoughts, we could listen to see what the Spirit was up to in the prayer gathering. Because the Spirit of God is in all who believe, He may be leading us to streams of thought or streams of prayer.
Finally, Paul talks about being filled with the Spirit in Ephesians 5:18…
“And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit…”
When we are filled with the Spirit, prayer spills out of us. The Spirit overflows with songs and hymns and spiritual songs. Thanksgiving pours out of us. Prayer happens and never stops.
How beautiful that the Spirit of God in us turns us into people of prayer. There is nothing that will unleash the full power of the kingdom of God more than prayer. There is nothing that will defeat the enemy and send him running more than prayer. When the people of God pray, the world is shaken. When the people of God pray, we are victorious. Nothing can stand against us.
Walking in the Spirit leads us to pray with every step we take.
Being led by the Spirit causes us to pause and check in with God before we pray.
Living in the Spirit leads us to pray with every breath we take.
Walking in step with the Spirit leads us to listen for the cadence of the Holy Spirit and stay in unison with Him.
Being filled with the Spirit, leads us to pray out of the overflow of the fullness of God in us.
WORSHIP: God loves to be in conversation with His children. He loves dialogue. He speaks and loves for us to hear Him. He loves when we speak to Him. Spend time worshiping the God who loves conversation.
PRACTICE: Everyone has an individual style of prayer. The Spirit knows that and will guide us to a practice of prayer that fits the way God made us. Instead of trying to do everything that is covered today, go back and read through the teaching. In your journal, write down the things that seem to resonate with you and begin with those few ideas.
MEDITATION: Like yesterday, your starting place for being led by the Spirit is not in the mind. This concept is easy to understand. Your battle ground in in your heart. Do you believe it? It is okay if you do not fully believe it at this point. As you meditate on praying in the Spirit, ask God to help your unbelief, to give you a gift of faith to get this forever settled. You may or may not resolve this today, but this is a good starting place. Continue to work this through until you believe in the power of the Spirit to produce amazing fruit in you. You will know, because you will experience the fruit, all of it.
ABIDING: By this time, it is very possible that the Father, your Spiritual Director, has led you to a place in Scripture where He wants you to abide. As you go back and read through this teaching one more time, ask the Father if there is anything in these passages specifically for you. Look for the things that reinforce what God is teaching you at this time. Write down anything you hear from Him. Spend some extra time listening to see if the Spirit has anything more to say to you or if there is a deeper teaching for you today. Write down whatever you hear. Ask the Father if there is someone, He wants you to share this with and follow through with His assignment.