In Ephesians 6:18, the Apostle Paul tells to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” Later in the passage in verse 19, he requests, “Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.” Paul recognizes that a “pray(er) in the Spirit” by the Ephesians Christians would have an impact and empowerment enabling him to preach effectively to others. This is super significant stuff!
Let’s take a closer look at this verse. He states that we pray in the Spirit “on all occasions.” This is not a one and done type request. Some of us get up the morning and fulfill our obligation to pray. That’s not what this says. He says to pray on all occasions…ALL. Paul declares that we pray “with all kinds of prayers and requests”…ALL. Before I retired, I was in sales. I tried to always call my wife before I went into any strategic, customer facing sales opportunity. We took a few minutes to pray together. It was amazing how that impacted my career. More than praying for success, we prayed for His presence and His will be done. I had some pretty amazing years watching God honor this. There was freedom and strength and an ease in these meetings that I had never experienced before. Pray “on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests”…ALL! Pray for your day…pray for and with your kids about their day, about a big exam, about a hurtful relationship, about a big game, about attitudes, etc. Pray with your spouse about finances, about an argument, about a seemingly impossible situation, pray for you neighbors, etc.
But, Paul does qualify these prayers. Paul said to “pray in the Spirit.” If you go back up to earlier verses in Ephesians 6, you will discover that Paul proclaims, “10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For 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. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” Paul takes our battle outside of the realm of flesh and blood and tells us clearly where the battle must be fought. “Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, authorities, power of this dark world and spiritual forces of evil.” Our battle is in the spiritual world. Thus, Paul says for us to recognize this and pray “in the Spirit” with this in mind. Then he says for us to “Stand firm” reminding us of our spiritual armor stating that we “put on the full armor of God” and keep it on. The battle is fought all day long “with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
“Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” AMEN!
Barnabas Man 