(D-82) The Prayer

(Ephesians 6:18-20)

Paul does not stop after the sword of the Spirit in describing the armor of God. He continues in verse 18 as follows:

"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 saints." (6:18)

In this verse, Paul is referring to the general characteristics of a believer's prayer life: 1) "in the Spirit" focuses on submission as we line up with the will of God, 2) "all occasions" focuses on circumstances, 3) "all kinds of prayers and requests" focuses on the variety of prayer, 4) "be alert" focuses on the manner, 5) "always" focuses on the frequency, 6) "keep on praying" focuses on persistence, and 7) "for all saints" focuses on the objects.

No matter how good our armor of God is and how well we have put it on, we cannot win the spiritual battle without the spiritual power that comes from the prayer. So it is an essential piece of armor that needs to be put on over and above the whoe armor of God.

In verses 19-20, Paul is asking for intercessory prayer for himself as he realizes the desperate need for the prayeral support in his ministry. Likewise, we need these prayer partners.

That concludes the study on the armor of God. We need to put on the whole armor of God to be prepared for the spiritual battle. How essential it is!

Please pray that:

* we always remember the essentiality of the prayer;

* we go to the Lord on our knees whenever we are under the Satan's attack; and

* the Lord will send us many prayer warriors to help us in our ministry in Rwanda

Praise God for His thoughtful guidance on our prayer life! - Jeffrey