THE ARMOR OF GOD & PRAYER

Behold Him, robed in majesty, crowned with strength and glory, holy is our

King. Behold Him, though the waters rage, breakers bow before Him, tides rush to obey.

He reigns when oceans roar,

He reigns above the storm, enthroned on high, the

Lord Almighty reigns. Behold Him, stronger than the seas,

God from everlasting, just in His decrees.

Behold Him, worthy of our trust, faithful to His promise, ever dear with us.

He reigns when oceans roar,

He reigns above the storm, enthroned on high, the

Lord Almighty reigns. He reigns amidst the flood,

He reigns with grace and love, enthroned on high, the

Lord Almighty reigns. Winds and waves are stilled in reverence, thunder trembles in Your presence.

You will hold us in the tempest,

You will not be moved, You will not be moved.

He reigns when oceans roar, He reigns above the storm, enthroned on high, the

Lord Almighty reigns. He reigns amidst the flood,

He reigns with grace and love, enthroned on high, the

Lord Almighty reigns. Enthroned on high, the

Lord Almighty reigns. Enthroned on high, the

Lord Almighty reigns. As we worship because of, as we pray to, as we learn about, as we come encouraged by, and as we rest in our

Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You know it's hard to believe, but after today, we only have one more week with Paul in this remarkable letter he wrote to the

Ephesians. And I'm telling you what, I don't know how it's affected y 'all. Well I think I do, because we're with y 'all all the time, but it sure has encouraged me and helped me to grow, as Paul says, in Christ.

Can I get an amen to that? So anyways, it's hard to believe we started

Ephesians in January of 2023. So we've been in this over a year and a half, but it's soon coming to an end.

So you might be wondering, where are we going next? What are we going to be in next?

What book of the Bible? Well, the elders have gotten together, and we've talked to people, and we're going to the book of Acts next.

So we'll be studying what Luke wrote about what happened at the end of Christ's death, after his resurrection, and then into the beginning of the new church.

But, that's a big word, we're going to wait until the first of the year to start

Acts. We have several things that we want to cover, and of course during that season is the Advent season, so that's four weeks there.

But, where we're going to go next, right after this, is we are going to go to the book of John, and we're going to have a seven week series, studying and talking about the seven great

I Am statements that Jesus made in the book of John. And we're hoping one of the main reasons, and we're praying about this, is we want to be able to better answer the question

Jesus asked of the Jews and his disciples, when he said, who do you say that I am?

Who do you say that I am, Jesus asked. And we want to have a better understanding of that from his own statement, from his own claims.

And there's going to be more coming out on the Band App about this series, so if you'll pay attention to that.

And also, if you do not have the Band App, if you're a member of the church and you don't have it, just get with Nathan, and he'll be able to get you set up on that.

Well, if you were here last week, you heard me preach, and you heard me speak about how important it is to abide in Christ.

And when you do abide in Christ, the point I made is you can stand strong in Christ, as Paul exhorts us to do.

But another aspect of abiding in Christ and standing strong in the Lord is it puts you in the best possible position of being alert to the works and manifestations of our adversary.

And that's what we're talking about, the evil one, being able to withstand and stand strong.

Standing speaks of being alert. Standing guard, being on guard, and of course abiding speaks of resting in.

Resting in Christ, being at peace. It's when we're the most busiest in our lives.

Running to and fro, y 'all know what I'm talking about. Trying to cram 30 hours in a 24 -hour day.

Trying to meet a half a dozen deadlines in an 8 -hour period. Getting all the children to several places all at the same time that we become distracted and we lose our focus.

We don't keep the main thing, the main thing. And you know, it's no surprise that the main excuse that we hear for not abiding in, praying to, resting in, reading of, and being discipled in Jesus Christ is because we're busy.

We don't have time. And one of Paul's main points in what we've been covering in Ephesians is if you want all these blessings in your life that he talks about, the armor of God, a

Christian family living for God, it's imperative that you make time to abide in Him.

Being, as Paul has said many times in this letter, in Christ. And that's the goal of our lives, right?

To abide in Him, to be in Him. So, as every week we pray for a local church, today we're going to pray for Christ Redeemer Church in Jonesboro.

So if y 'all would please bow your heads in prayer. Father, we thank you for Christ Redeemer Church.

We ask that you lead them and grow them in your truth and righteousness. We pray that in all they do, they would seek your will and direction, and that it would bring honor and glory to your name.

We trust in you to supply all their needs as they go forward in spreading the gospel and discipling those you have called into your church.

She did not want to be there. We were infuriated.

The cops said, nothing, you can turn 18, and she moved out.

Man, she was terrified then because now she has to do it. She was struggling, wanted to come back home, so you have to be an adult.

To see God transform her into who she's claiming to be today is a father's prayer.

Me and my wife, we pray every night for our kids. If anything else, that they come to know

Christ as Lord. God has worked in her life, and I'm very grateful for an answer to her.

She wants to tell you a little bit about that journey. Let me see this.

I really struggled with what to say today because I'm not very good with my words.

But younger, I wasn't the greatest, and a lot of bad things happened.

When I went to live with my parents when I turned 14, I was very rebellious.

I was angry. I was angry at God. I was angry at my mom.

I felt like the world owed me something, like God owed me something. I just lashed out.

I started wanting to party and doing things that were definitely not good for me.

In 2022, I actually had a close call with some stuff that almost killed me from a party.

After that, that kind of scared me. I was like, okay, I don't want to do this anymore.

This is kind of scary. But I didn't yet feel the pull of Christ.

I just thought that I could do it on my own. I got this on my own. I don't need nobody. It wasn't until I met my husband and after we had our daughter.

November of last year is really when I started thinking more clearly.

I'm not sure where I started feeling that the life

I was living was wrong. I just kind of knew it was wrong. At some point,

I started coming here. When I first started coming, I did not want to come to church.

I felt judged. There was even a time where my dad called me out in front of everybody, telling me not to take the communion.

I did not come back to church for a year. But when I did start coming back this year,

I came back pretty regularly. I started to listen.

I started to kind of open up and just really think about what was being preached, what was being said and taught to me.

I realized that I wanted to be a better person. But still, I was like,

I want to be a better person for my kid, for my husband. I want to be a daughter that my parents are proud of.

Then I realized that it's not about that. It's not even about me, but about what

I'm doing for Christ. To realize that is really something that you really have to,

I don't want to say you really have to think about it. Because really, there's nothing to think about. It just feels right now.

For me to put aside my selfish desires and the desire to want to please everybody around me, it was hard.

But I did it. And well, Christ helped me do it.

And because of Him, I'm here today and I'm saved and I'm going to be baptized.

Amen. What a wonderful picture.

What a blessing. Well, this brings us to our call to worship, which is going to be from Psalm 145, verses 13 through 20.

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. The Lord is faithful in all

His words. The Lord upholds all who are fallen.

The eyes of all look to you. You open your hand.

The Lord is righteous in all His ways. The Lord is near to all who call on Him.

He fulfills the desire of those who fear

Him. The Lord preserves all who love

Him. And everyone said, Amen.

Please bow in a prayer of adoration. Lord God, Heavenly Father, our ways are ever before You.

It is our desire to be knowledgeable and alert in Your ways.

Asking that You show Yourself merciful and shine Your light on us as we live in this dark world.

Your word proves true and You're a shield to all who take refuge and rest in You.

You equip us with Your strength. You set us securely on the heights. You give us a wide place for our steps.

And our feet do not slip from under us. It is You that is to be exalted as Lord of our salvation.

You are the one true God who subdues all who come against us.

Lord Almighty, You will not be moved. For this and the myriads of Your promises and blessings, we praise

Your name. Lifting it above the nations for all to see. Amen.

Today's scripture reading comes from Jude verses 17 through 23. But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our

Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, in the last time there will be scoffers following their own ungodly passions.

It is these who cause divisions. Worldly people devoid of the

Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the

Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God. Waiting for the mercy of our

Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt.

Save others by snatching them out of the fire. To others show mercy with fear, hating, even the garment stained by the flesh.

Bow your heads with me as we go through a prayer of confession and assurance. Father, we confess our sins and transgressions to You.

Confident in the truth of Your promise to forgive our iniquities as we lean on the completed work of Your Son, Jesus Christ.

You declare that You are our hiding place, our strong tower. Quick to preserve us in times of trouble and surrounding us with shouts of deliverance.

We rest in Your steadfast love, taking refuge in the hope You have given us.

Amen. In my salvation, my steadfast hope that won't be shaken.

My soul will wake, my soul will rest.

King of death is born. In my salvation, my steadfast hope that won't be shaken.

My soul will wake, my soul will rest. Perfect Savior.

You will hold me. Awesome blessing.

To have this building, this space, this air conditioner, and just the comfort that we have to come and worship and praise

You, Jesus. Thank You so much. The soul that was saved this morning,

Lord, let us thank You for her, Lord. Be with the

Word as it's preached this morning. Welcome you to Ephesians chapter 6.

As Pastor Keith just said, we're getting close to the end here. We have today and next week.

And then we will be saying our farewells to this amazing, rich, deep, wonderful epistle.

And I, like Pastor Keith, do pray that this has been of great benefit to the body.

I've seen it. I've seen it in my own life. I've seen it in many of your lives. I've seen it in the life of the church as a whole for the unity, the sake that we who have been brought into Christ, that have been sealed with the promise of the

Holy Spirit, have been given that Holy Spirit. And because of the dwelling of the Holy Spirit and the oneness we have with Christ, we are perfectly unified already as a people.

As brothers, as sisters, as sons, as heirs of this inheritance that is most certainly ours, as the

Holy Spirit guarantees, right? That's encouraging, isn't it? And as we get near the end, we begin to see how the

Apostle Paul starts to wrap up this letter. And it's interesting how he does so.

So let us read the whole of this whole section on the armor of God as we're coming to the end of this portion of this study in Ephesians.

So there in Ephesians chapter 6, look at your copy with me, starting in verse 10.

We're going to read the whole of this. Where Paul says, For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day.

And having done all to stand firm, stand therefore having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.

In all circumstances, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the spirit.

With all prayer and supplication, to that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.

And also for me, that words may be given to me, and opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which

I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly as I ought to.

This is the reading of God's holy, perfect, inspired word. Please bow with me once again as we seek the help of the

Holy Spirit to illuminate our hearts and minds to this immensely eternal truth.

We come before you again, and we ask, we ask in our frailty, to be able to see spiritual realities.

I know that we, kind of ourselves, are not able to truly comprehend these wonderful, amazing, loving truths that you've given us.

We're not in full, but we can comprehend what you have set out for us to comprehend.

And we ask that you would give us wisdom, that you would give us discernment, that you would, through the power of the

Holy Spirit that is within us, illuminate our hearts and minds to this truth. Oh, give us the ears to hear, give us the eyes to see, the hearts to love this truth.

We thank you for it. Guard my lips from error, that I may speak of it in a way that is representing you properly.

In Christ's name, we ask all of this. Well, as we've looked at each piece of this armor over the past,

I believe it's seven weeks so far, we have seen the absolute, vital, non -negotiable nature of utilizing each piece of this armor.

Such as the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, the sword of the spirit, all of these pieces, these six pieces of armor.

However, here's the thing, if the Apostle Paul had left out verse 18 that we just read, or if we choose to overlook it, every piece of that armor that we have seen would be as useless as David fighting

Goliath encumbered by King Saul's oversized armor. You remember the story, don't you?

Here's this shepherd boy that comes in and he's willing to fight this Philistine dog, this giant that everybody else is shaking in their boots about.

And David comes in, he says, I'll fight him, and what does Saul do? Saul says, well, okay, well, give the boy my armor.

And he puts on the armor and it's oversized and it's clumsy and there's no way, and so David chooses not to do that.

That armor would have fought against David because it wasn't the armor that was designed for him.

David's armor was not physical. David's armor was spiritual. God was his mighty force.

And so when we avoid or ignore what

Paul has to say here in verse 18, that armor that we think we're putting on, that we've been talking about for weeks, is nothing more than some clumsy armor of our own that will do us no good whatsoever.

It will be of no value to us. Because this armor is not physical.

This armor that we speak of is spiritual, and because it is spiritual, prayer is the key to its functionality.

Prayer is the key. I posted this quote this week.

I thought this is a wonderful insight from Joel Beakey. He said it like this, he said, prayer is like oil.

Just as every part of an engine is useless without oil, so every part of Christian warfare is vain without prayer.

When we try and put on the armor without the prayer, it's like trying to drive your vehicle without oil.

It's not going to work very long, is it? It's going to be a problem. We often read passages like these here in this section, and we say, okay,

Paul says, be strong in the Lord. We've got to stand firm, and what do we do?

We think like Saul did. We think purely physical. In our theological circles, we love theology.

That often means more theology, more books, more apologetics.

That's how you fight the enemy. That's how you do the spiritual armor. You've just got to read more, guys.

You've got to take more classes, go to seminary. You've got to do all the things, and that's how you're going to fight it. Well, you've got less theologically mature, big evangelical circles.

They think more evangelism is going to fix the problem, more programs, more events. That's how we fight this war.

Our charismatic brothers and sisters, they think more emotion, more miracles.

More, more, more. Just more of everything. Thinking that, oh, if we just rebuke the devil, then that's fighting this spiritual war.

You see the distortion. We always try and think in the physical. That's the spiritual war, and that's how we try and answer it, because unfortunately, that's all we can see at times is the physical.

We don't think in the spiritual. However, that is not standing firm. It's not how we combat the enemy.

We combat him with the means that God has prescribed. That's the battle, and with the strength that He has given.

As we read there in verse 10, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might.

How do we do that? How do we stand firm? How do we utilize this armor?

At the beginning of verse 14, look there in your copy of God's Word. He gives us this command.

He says, stand therefore. He tells us, hey, stand therefore.

And then He goes on then to list off these pieces of armor, only to wrap it up here in verse 18.

Look there, He says, praying at all times in the spirit. In the

Greek, these two phrases, stand therefore, and praying at all times in the spirit are connected.

Do you know that? You think, well, they're awfully far away from each other. How are they connected? These two are connected.

Praying at all times in the spirit. For example, stand therefore is a command, right?

It's a specific command, stand therefore. It's like telling your child to go clean the room. Most of you parents know that that's pretty useless to just say, go clean your room.

That's quite vague. And then they stand in the room crying, like, I don't know what to do. I don't know how to do this.

But praying at all times in the spirit is like giving them the specifics of how to clean their room.

Put the Legos into the Lego box. These clothes, put them on hangers and then hang them in that closet.

You have to give those specifics. Some of you aren't parents yet. You don't know what we're talking about, but trust me. You have to give the details.

This is what Paul is doing here for us. How do we stand therefore? Through praying at all times in the spirit.

Those pieces of armor are also specific. That he's telling us to stand therefore.

Leading some to consider prayer actually as the seventh piece of armor in this.

But notice we only listed six because that doesn't coincide with Paul's pattern of armor illustration here.

It doesn't seem to fit that mode that Paul's trying to speak of here. I think what

Paul is doing is grounding all six of those pieces of armor that we just talked about being utilized through the means of praying at all times in the spirit.

That's why this is connected. This saturates and empowers all those pieces of armor.

It's like oil for the armor. Makes them functional. Makes them usable.

Makes them fit for the battle at hand. So I want us to see five things about this praying at all times in the spirit that Paul points out in the text.

I think this will help us better understand and utilize these six points and the prayer that saturates these six pieces of armor.

The first thing I want us to see is the persistence of prayer. The persistence of prayer.

Look there at verse 18 again. What does he say? He says praying at all times.

Praying at all times. What does this mean? Are we supposed to live out our lives in our prayer closet praying 24 hours seven days a week?

That's obviously not the conclusion of this text. Even Jesus himself didn't do that.

Even though Jesus prayed a lot more than any of you and I in this room. He still carried out his ministry day to day thing.

So that's obviously not what Paul is saying. He did tell us though, Jesus himself said that there are times to do this.

In teaching us how to pray. You remember in the Sermon on the Mount he taught us how to pray. He says go into your closet, be alone.

That's only part of prayer. Going and getting on your knees before God and finding a quiet place and praying before God.

That's only one aspect of prayer. We must not neglect that type of prayer.

That type of prayer is absolutely essential. The enemy has been quite successful in our day in the church at making us so busy.

A form of prayer is rarely if ever practiced. Even though that is a massive important element of prayer.

You say but pastor I'm just so busy. I don't have time to sit quietly alone.

And just to pray every single day. So what I do is I actually pray in my truck on my way into work.

I'm glad you do that. That's good. I'm glad you're praying in your truck on your way to work. You should pray.

But that's not enough Saint. That's not enough. I love what

Martin Luther had to say about this. Remember Martin Luther the great reformer. He says

I have so much to do. That I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.

That's a little different than our way of thinking.

We think I have so much to do that I must spend the first 16 hours of my day doing things.

And then if I have any excess time or energy at the end of the day. Then I'll give it to prayer. But he understood the power of prayer.

No wonder God used him so mightily right. He said I have so much to do today. I shall stop and spend the first three hours praying.

You don't think like that. He knew to stand therefore. In the strength of God's might.

He must go be alone with him. He must go to the source. He must spend time with him.

It's like Jesus in Luke 18. The parable of the persistent widow too.

He says he told them a parable. The effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.

Saint why do you seem to not be gaining victory over sin in your life? You ever wonder that sometimes?

Why do I not see the victory over sin in my life that I want to see? Why am

I having trouble picking up the shield of faith to extinguish the flaming darts of the evil?

Why am I not wielding the sword of the spirit efficiently and consistently? You're not praying at all times in the spirit.

You can't use those things without that. They empower that.

Paul said in Romans 12 he says rejoice in hope. Be patient in tribulation. Be consistent in prayer.

Consistent in prayer. You remember what he said over in Philippians 4. Be anxious for nothing.

But with everything in prayer. With prayer and supplication. With thanksgiving let your requests be known to God.

Colossians 4 too. Just continue steadfastly in prayer.

Being watchful in it with thanksgiving. 1 Thessalonians 5 .17.

Commonly misunderstood. It's just like the passage we're dealing with here in Ephesians. Where Paul says pray without ceasing.

This of course is similar to that text. So it can't just mean to only be in your closet praying.

And it can't mean that all you do all day is walk around and pray. And it says pray without ceasing.

It's just an ongoing prayer. I just start praying and I just pray constantly. Is that what this is?

We have jobs to do. We have responsibilities. I hope that if I have to have brain surgery.

That the brain surgeon is focusing on the surgery. And not an intentional prayer at the time.

But I also hope that he saturated the surgery in prayer. You get the point.

You get the difference. This is what Paul is getting at. How are we to never cease from praying?

It's about the persistence of our prayers. Do you remember when

Paul said in Colossians 3. To set your minds on the things above.

And not on the things of this world. You're actually doing that.

If you're setting your mind on the things above. Then you will be persistently communing with him.

They're all connected. It's all consistent. I bring up Joel Beeky again.

In his book Fighting Satan. He speaks of a group of ministers in Scotland.

Who had gathered to discuss what it meant to pray without ceasing. They're in much deliberation.

You've seen it at times here. Where a group of us men are sitting there really talking about a theological question. And we're trying to dive into the depths of it.

This is what these men are doing. And after much discussion and confusion. One of the ministers asked the maid girl that was serving them.

If she knew what it meant. I'm sure some of the men probably smirked.

But what is this maid girl going to know? This is her response. She says yes sir.

I know what praying without ceasing means. As I arose this morning from bed. I prayed that the son of righteousness would arise with healing in his wings for me today.

When I got dressed. I prayed that I might be clothed with Christ righteousness.

As I dusted the furniture in this room before you arrived. I prayed that the Lord would wipe my heart clean through the blood of Jesus.

When I made your refreshments ready. I prayed that Jesus Christ would be my food and drink.

Sir I pray my way through each day. I pray for prayer is my breath.

I was struck to the heart. Oh that I would have my mind set on the things above like that servant.

Where I could pray without ceasing. That I would be praying at all times.

Continually seeking and needing the Lord. Because my mind is set on things above.

Not on this world. We get so distracted don't we? We look at the physical and we think of everything in the physical.

But oh but she was looking at all the physical responsibilities that she had laid before her. And she saw them in a spiritual manner.

Because she had her minds and she knew. If I'm going to achieve this seemingly insignificant physical task.

I need a. Because it has eternal significance. Knowing what she knew.

Which is our second point. The power. The power of prayer.

Look at verse 18 with me again. Praying at all times.

In the spirit. Notice that's capitalized right? What does that mean? It's the

Holy Spirit. Praying in the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we just. We know what to pray right?

Sometimes like a brother or sister is going through something. We know exactly what to pray for. Sometimes we just pray

God's words back to him. Kind of like we sang this morning. We were singing songs that were kind of derived from scripture.

From the Psalms. For words. Y 'all know where I'm going with this don't you?

Look at Romans 8. I want you to get your eyes on it. Romans 8 verse 26. And where we don't know what to.

We don't know what to pray. We don't know what to know that feeling.

You're stuck in this moment and your heart is yearning. But you don't know. To pray.

And you're saying I got a list there. And Romans 8 starting in verse 26.

It says likewise the spirit. The Holy Spirit. Helps us in our weakness.

We don't know what to pray. As we ought. But the spirit himself intercedes for us.

With groanings. Too deep. Things are overwhelming.

I found myself. Sitting quietly. And just weeping. I don't know.

I have nothing to say. You ever felt that Saint? And this is what Paul is talking about.

But remember the power is not in your words. The most feeble of prayers.

The power of God is feeling. Praise God. Because it's not.

In some fancy prayer. We read the Valley of Vision. The Puritan prayers.

And we think man. Why can't I pray like that? Maybe my prayers aren't very efficient. My prayers seem infantile.

Like that's not even a prayer. Thank the Lord that the exact same power. That was in that prayer.

That was being prayed by that Puritan. That same power.

That is in your feeble prayer. Where you can't even get words out. You don't even know what to say.

Because it's not. Just like Paul.

Back in chapter 5 and verse 16. You remember when he told us to be filled with the spirit.

Remember we said to be being filled with the spirit. Means to be dominated by the spirit.

To be led by the spirit. See our prayers must also be dominated.

And led by the spirit. Look at verse 27.

He who searches hearts. Knows what is in your heart.

Is your heart one that is being dominated. Being led by the spirit. Is your desire the things of the

Lord. Or is it things of the earth. And he says. But because the spirit intercedes for the saints.

According to what? According to the will of God. So it doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter that you're frail. And you don't have the words. Right? It's according to the will of God.

We don't always know what the will of God is. But God is in you.

If he is dominating you. If he is leading you. If you are walking in the spirit. If you are being filled with the spirit.

If you are praying at all times. In the spirit. When our hearts are in a posture of desiring.

His will be done. The power of that Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit. Will work in and through us.

We have to pray for that will. It's not your power.

It's like when I was a young boy. And I wanted to drive the car. Any of you ever get a chance to do that?

Your dad would put you on his lap. And he'd get to a back road. And set you on his lap. And he's doing the pedals.

And you're steering. And you think I'm keeping our family alive.

I've got this under control. All the while my dad's hands on the wheel. Taking us exactly where we're supposed to be. And keeping us alive.

It's like an infant sitting on our dad's lap. Thinking we're driving the car. But in reality it is him.

Doing all of the work. Him taking us where we're to go. We're just being led.

We're being taken there. This is what it means to pray at all times.

In the spirit. Back in chapter 3 of Ephesians. In verse 20. He says now to him.

Who is able to do far more abundantly. Than all according to what?

According to the power at work with us. That's good news.

You know prayer often. When things are really bad.

And we're like okay we got to pray now. It's almost like no one wants to say it. But everybody kind of feels has it come to that?

Has it come to prayer? It's a last resort. Yet it is literally the most powerful tool.

It's the thing. That armor. It's the thing that is driving us into the spiritual war.

And giving us victory. You know I can see the look on people's faces.

When they come to me for counsel. Sometimes people will come to me for counsel. Or help. And I can see the look on their face.

When I tell them. You know what? Some of you have experienced that with me.

And I've seen some of the look on your faces. It's as if I've burst their bubble. And they're like.

Pastor. You know I come to you for help. And all you're going to do is pray for me?

I can't help you. I don't have the power.

I can't fix your problems. But I know who can. And I have unfettered access to it.

And so do you. Last resort.

It's an absolute necessity. It's literally the most powerful.

Helpful. And productive thing. That we can do for each other. You realize that right?

I'm not saying that you don't help in need. But I'm saying. That your praying for them is first.

Primary. And your prayers for them. Is what will lead.

Him to utilize those prayers. To work. In fulfilling. And fulfilling the physical needs.

It's always. Prayer. The world makes fun of us.

The world gets mad and says. Oh you Christians. You want to send prayers and good thoughts.

And we're saying well. How about we send prayers your way.

And watch God do something. Prayer is literally the most powerful.

This leads us to the third thing. You want us to see about prayer. Which is. Look at the next part of verse 18.

He says. With all application.

With all prayer and supplication. You say okay pastor. You say that this prayer is so powerful.

So how do we do it? How do we do this prayer thing? How does it work? I've prayed many times.

And I've seen to see nothing happen. Nothing was accomplished until.

I pulled myself up by my bootstraps. And went and accomplished it. That's when it accomplished. Well. Okay.

Maybe that was God's answer to your prayer. That he gave you the strength and the power. To be able to accomplish it.

Paul gives us a pattern here. He uses two separate words. In this pattern.

This is what it would look like. In our lives. Says with all prayer. This word in the

Greek. Is actually referring to. Something more along the lines of. General request.

Like a general prayer. And then supplication. The word that Paul uses here. It really kind of gives the idea of.

Very specific intentional request. You see there is a time and a place.

For prayers. Throughout the day. General in nature.

You know the prayers. Lord help me to live for you today. With my family.

To keep them safe. And these are general prayers. That are not ceasing.

It's being kingdom minded. Nothing wrong with them. As long as they are not being done.

From a selfish intention. And they're being prayed in the spirit. That is the whole of your prayer life.

If that is the pattern. Of our communion with God. We need this resource.

That's why Paul calls us. To supplication. This specific heartfelt.

Intentional plea. Coming to you on behalf of.

This particular. Oh deliver. Give him victory in his life.

Help him to see. The glory of who you are. That he would run to the cross. And lay at the foot of the cross.

And that you would guard him. And protect him. Prayers like Lord forgive me.

For allowing. Conflict and disunity. With my sister in Christ. Help me to die to self.

And to truly forgive. And pursue peace. Even at my own cost. Help me.

Help me not to be divisive. You know those prayers.

You ever notice though. That is literally the hardest thing. To consistently do.

It's easier to read your bible. You ever notice that?

It's very difficult. For supplication. Why is that? It's literally the most.

You know that right? General prayers they're great. You need them. Lord give me wisdom today.

Lord help me to make it through this day at work. Help me not to lose my witness there.

Those are good. Those are great prayers. Pray without ceasing. Constantly kingdom minded.

Thinking on the things above. But this type of prayer. If this is missing in your life.

Then you're not even tapping in. To the pattern of prayer. You're not even tapping into the resource.

And the power that is at your disposal. He wants the pattern of our lives.

To be selfish. To be self absorbed and distracted. And busy. Focused on anything other than intentional supplication.

Anything. That even includes theology. I think

I hit a nerve in some of you. Theology nerves didn't I? I hit a nerve in my own.

To intentional supplication. You're reading that theology.

Peter in 1 Peter 4. The end of all things is at hand.

What does he say about this though?

He says therefore. Be self controlled. Organized.

For the sake of your prayers. He doesn't say be self controlled and sober minded.

For the sake of your study. Self controlled and sober minded.

For the sake of your job. And your witness. No he says for the sake of your prayers. Because he knows that your prayers.

Are going to fuel all of those other. To that end.

Keep alert. With all perseverance. From the

ESV here. I actually like this. New American Standard Bibles. Translation of this portion. I'm going to read it to you.

It says. Be on the alert.

On a readiness and consistency. Seeing how your general request. In prayer. And your specific and intentional request.

In prayer. All being utilized. Heard and answered. The Holy Spirit.

Is the means that God is using. Spiritual battle.

And to utilize the armor. And with all of that in view. This is the reality.

Now be. Your posture.

In prayer. Should be one of readiness. The reason that we don't stand.

Alert and persevere. In our prayer life. Is because we forget that reality guys.

We forget what it is. We get distracted by the physical reality. And think that those things.

Can be resolved. With physical answers. And they can't. And prayer is just a nice little add on.

That's how we perceive prayer. And so our posture. Is one of readiness.

In all the wrong areas guys. We are ready in all the wrong areas.

And then we wonder why we seem to be losing this fight. We here at Twelve Five. We're ready to give an answer.

And a defense for the gospel aren't we? We know our apologetics. We know our theology. We know our

Bibles. And we're ready to give an answer. But are we spending time on our knees. Fighting and preparing for that?

That alertness to go to prayer. Before going to arguments. Our first response should always be prayer.

Always. That's praying without ceasing. That's praying at all times in the spirit. We should be so alert and ready.

Like a sniper. With his trigger finger. On that hair trigger. With the safety off.

That's what a Christian should be like. Ready to take the shot.

Immediately. At a moment's notice. Without hesitation. Prayer.

Spirit filled prayer. Not with some whimsical attitude of readiness.

No. With much perseverance. That sniper takes his weapon very seriously.

Doesn't he? He knows the danger of that weapon. And never takes his focus off of the task at hand.

He's ready. His breathing is patterned specifically for this task.

His posture is ready to go at all times. That should be the posture of prayer.

As we pray at all times. And pray without ceasing. If your posture is set up and ready for anything else.

Other than prayer first. Then you're missing the mark. This leads us to our fifth and final point.

The particulars of prayer. Look at verse 18 again. Look at the end.

What does he say? He says making supplication. For all. Notice he uses that word there.

It's not. It's not just general prayer for all the same. For things that directly relate to us.

If it involved me. If it's directly related to me. I'm ready for prayer. I've been preoccupied with our own struggles.

We spend very little time bearing one another's burdens. That being said.

Jesus himself told us to pray for our needs. Give us this day our daily bread.

There are needs. There are real needs to be prayed for. In our personal lives. But if it stops and starts there.

There's a problem. Even Paul asked for prayers for himself.

Look on. Look at verse 18. What did he do? He asked for prayer. Those prayers.

Those supplications for all the saints. And also for me. So here he is. He's asking for prayer for himself isn't he?

Oh but look at what he asked prayer for. He says pray for me.

And then chains. That I may declare it boldly. As I ought praying in the spirit.

Here's Paul. Chains around his ankles. Probably leaving sores.

No privacy. No dignity. Wrongly imprisoned. No nothing.

Everything is stripped from him. No freedom whatsoever. And he doesn't ask for them to pray for those things.

That's not what he asked for. That's what I'd be asking. In the gospel proclamation.

Guys I'm afraid. I'd be asking you to pray that God would get me out of here. Get me out of this circumstance.

That circumstance. Pray that God would selfishly want relief from my suffering.

While my suffering is what God is using to further his kingdom. And you see when we pray in the spirit.

The particulars of our prayers. Will reflect that Christ exalting.

Holy Spirit empowered. You see that right? This particulars of prayer matter.

They expose our heart. You want to know what someone's heart is? Let them pray out loud.

And when you hear their mind is set. See they're here.

And you can see Paul. Paul asked for prayer for himself. Not the way that we would if we're thinking about the here.

Based off of theological knowledge. Cannot judge their spiritual health.

Based on the liveliness of worship. And the doctrinal foundation of it.

You can't judge it based off of the sweetness of fellowship. You can't base it off of the general demeanor of an individual.

You can't base it off of their willingness to serve. You can't base it off of proper church structure and polity.

You can only see it in their spirit filled prayer. Exposes the heart.

Are you praying at all times in the spirit? Without that they're only pretending.

Are you pretending to put on the spiritual armor this morning? Is 12 -5 church pretending to put on the spiritual armor?

Pretending that we're in this kingdom fight? All the while completely neglecting true spirit filled prayer?

Let us be a people and prepared to pray in the spirit at all times.

We actually have a weekly prayer meeting. Every single Tuesday morning.

Right here in this building from 7 to 8 am. Where we have about anywhere depending on the week.

Between 6 to sometimes 15 people that will come in and pray. We pray for you.

We pray for the church. We pray for the community. We pray for our world. It's a great opportunity for each of you to grow in your prayer life.

And to expectantly wait on the Lord to do His might. You can't because it won't work.

Maybe you don't see it. Maybe you don't see the great value.

Let God's word renew your mind. So you may see. And here's the thing.

All of this. Christ is not condemning us for not praying as God.

Saying I've already paid for even that sin. There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

His loving kindness leads us to pray. And lead us to see

His kingdom come. His will be done. Set upon as we do each week.

We will prepare to go to the table. As we get to see a visual representation.

Of this great ordinance. That God has prescribed. That Jesus set out.

And set there at the table.

So we take together. So what we'll do is. Heath will be over here.

Either myself or Pat. You can take the wine and the bread. Or we come and gather the elements.

In Luke 22 verse 14. It says when the hour came. He reclined at table. And the apostles with him.

And he said to them. I will eat with you before I suffer.

For I tell you I will not eat it. Until it is fulfilled. Dear Heavenly Father.

Leaving us to ourselves. Thank you for not. Allowing.

Us to stay in our sin. And in our enmity with you. But you made a way.

That we may be made right. That we would get the imputed righteousness of Christ.

For we thank you. Christ we thank you. For paying for our sins.

For taking the penalty which is death. On our behalf. And Holy Spirit we thank you.

For sealing us. As a guarantee. For convicting us. Help us to lay sin.

At the foot of the cross. Before we come and partake. If there are any sins in any of our hearts.

That are unrepentant. Unrepentant of sins. If we have anything against a brother or sister.

If there is anything that we would make it right. Before we come to this table. But Lord help us to remember.

This is not penance. For you have paid it all. We come boldly before you.