Praying For All The Saints — Tim Conway

Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God

Well, this one last time, let's open up to Ephesians chapter 6. This is my last message for now concerning spiritual warfare. We're wrapping up this section. And so maybe we'll pick up in verse 14. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth.

This is Ephesians chapter 6, verse 14. Stand. That's what we're being called to do. Verse 11. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand. That's the idea. Verse 13. That you may be able to withstand in the evil day.

Having done all to stand firm. Stand therefore. So we've got the belt of truth, 14. Breastplate of righteousness, 14. Shoes for your feet, verse 15. The readiness given by the gospel of peace. Verse 16.

Shield of faith, 17. The helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And then we looked at this last week. Praying at all times. That is a participle. It modifies what goes before.

We're to be immersed in this prayer 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 the 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 speak. Now I'm just going to tell you right up front here.

This sermon. The material that we deal with today. It can change your life. And the life of this church radically. If God will get a hold of you. With regards to this. I find it interesting when I listen to Lloyd-Jones preach.

It's almost like anything he's dealing with at the time. He tells you is the most important thing. I understand why he says that. But I really feel like this is an absolutely essential message for the church.

Now. Let's look at verse 18. Because verses 18, 19, and 20. Are where I want us to focus our attention. I believe that in verse 18. You all have the word supplication twice. And I don't think anybody here has a New American Standard.

Anybody have that? So there's an NAS back there. Okay. You've got petition. That's supplication. Let's think about that. Most of our translations is the same thing. Petition. Supplication. Supplication.

It's not a word we use a whole lot. It's not like it's exactly foreign to us. It's just not common. Meaning we don't use it in everyday language. Supplication. Basically, it's asking God for something.

It's making a request. That's what it's all about. We could also translate this plead or entreat. Or petition. Even beg. And it's a strong word. One of my lexicons says this. That which is asked with urgency.

Supplication in the Cosmic Battle

Based on a presumed need. Now brethren. I know we're a needy people. God knows we're a needy people. I mean what are we talking about here? We have to remember the context the whole time. When we're talking about making supplication and we're asking for things.

We need to remember this is the cosmic battle. This is against spiritual powers. This is the atmosphere in which we are making these supplications. And look. The Lord knows we desperately need Him. He knows that we need desperately the strength of His might.

Which is where this whole thing started out with back in verse 10. This is the word that basically tells us to look up. We need to get our eyes on Him. If you find yourself going through some kind of especially difficult.

Especially trying season in your Christian life. You know what the Lord says. You know what He's saying to us here. Make supplication to me. Don't give me any rest. You need to ask me for what you need.

Listen. If you belong to Him. That blood of Christ entitles you access. So look to Him for everything. All your needs. All your necessities. Remember. The strength of His might. He is absolutely limitless in His power.

His resources are infinite. But here's the thing I want to emphasize. Paul doesn't start with supplication in verse 18. And we looked a little bit at this last week. But I want to take this up again. He says all prayer.

Praying at all times in the spirit with all prayer. And supplication. All prayer. All aspects of prayer should characterize your prayer life. Along with this supplication. What's my point here? Christian, if you're not careful.

Your prayer life can just become a laundry list of give me, give me, give me. Where I would say this. Look. When we're talking about spiritual warfare. There's times the devil's upon us. We need help immediately.

And you may need to ask for something on the spot. I recognize that. But if all your prayers are characterized. You can think. You don't have to tell me. But do an inventory of your prayer life. If your prayer life is basically the first words thought in your head.

Or spoken in your mouth when you go to God in prayer. Are requests. Then you're missing a massive part of communion with God by way of prayer. Because all prayer has to do with all these aspects that need to characterize.

Christian, don't run into God's presence all the time. Simply saying, here's what I need. Here's what I want. Like sitting on Santa's lap at Christmas. A little kid. Give me this. Give me this. I want this.

I want this. Brethren, that's bad. There's more to our fellowship with God. Listen. In another letter. The same apostle writes this way. Do not be anxious about anything. But in everything by prayer and supplication.

There's prayer again. And all prayer. And supplication. With thanksgiving. Thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known to God. Or over in Colossians. Another letter. Continue steadfastly in prayer. Being watchful in it with thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving as a Dimension of Prayer

Thanksgiving. Let me tell you something. Ruby and I are going home to San Antonio. And in the U .S. we have a holiday we call Thanksgiving. President Lincoln started that back in the late 1800's. Thanksgiving.

It's the fourth Thursday of November. Well, here's the thing. Thanksgiving always falls on a Thursday. Which means that in the whole history of our church back there in San Antonio. We have a prayer meeting the night before.

Thanksgiving Eve. GCC always has a prayer meeting. That is one of the services in the life of the church there. That I look forward to that service probably as much or more than any other service in the life of the church.

And what we would do is we would get together. And we would just go around and we would ask everybody. What are you thankful for? Basically that was the focus. How has God answered prayers in this last year?

Who's been saved? What children have been born? Who got married? How has God worked in us and through us? And sometimes it's two hours. And you know the more the church has grown. And we have everybody bring pumpkin pie and all sorts of things.

That's a good night of eating. But brethren let me tell you something. We'll not only go around and have testimonies. It varies each year. We do it a little bit different. Sometimes it will just be open testimony.

I'll say just stand up and tell us what you're thankful for. And just let it kind of be a praise and adoration. This is the thing that needs to be in our prayers. Not just asking all the time. But do you know there's been some years where we've actually.

It's just a matter of let's everybody bow our head. We're just going to pass the microphone. And let it go around the room. And I want everybody just to thank God for the things that they're most thankful for.

Don't go on thanking God for a bunch of things you're not thankful for. The things that you're really grateful for. And I've asked the church. No requests. Don't ask the Lord for anything tonight. Only thank Him and praise Him for what He's done.

And you know we have Psalms. Like Psalm 136. That's all it is. Do you know what I have found? It's almost impossible. Inevitably people go to asking the Lord for something. Now I've pondered why that is.

Why when we're really trying to do nothing but thank Him. Why can't we do it? And I do understand we're a needy people. And so I grant that. That may be it. We're just such a ball of needs that we can't hardly not ask God for something.

But then there's also the concern that maybe it's because we don't thank God enough normally. And we're just not... Some people maybe just aren't wired to thank God. Some people aren't wired to offer up thanksgiving.

Now brethren, that's not a good thing. Have you ever caught this? That when it talks about the depravity of man in Romans chapter 1. Do you know what it says? It specifically says that although they knew God, they did not honor Him or give Him thanks.

Confession, the Blood of Christ, and Access to God

Now here's another thing. All prayer. Do you know before you go to God with your needs, a great way to start prayer is confession. You just start thinking about the ways you failed the Lord before you pray.

Because by the... You know, John tells us if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive those sins. Confession. If you start the majority of your prayers exactly that way with confession, that can be massively helpful to your prayer life.

Because you know what happens? When you start reciting your failures, approaching God, it's a reminder that you are a sinner and you're going before a holy God. And you know what? There's constantly a reminder on what basis you can approach Him.

Because that's how you will start thinking. Because as you recite your sins, you're like, wow, even after this long being a Christian, I've got that much dirt in my life? And you begin to recognize how desperately you need the blood of Christ to approach Him.

And you become aware of that. And look, even here, this is devil conquering. Because that's what we're talking about. We're talking about all prayer. Praying in the Spirit with this all prayer and supplication.

And this has to do with our spiritual warfare. Do you remember that it says in the book of Revelation that they conquered Him by the blood of the Lamb? Have you ever thought about what indeed that means?

How do you conquer by the blood of the Lamb? I'll tell you this. We talk about the blood. Nothing but the blood. What can wash away my sins? But do you ever have physically Christ's blood washing you?

No, that's not what happens. How do you conquer by the blood? It's by faith in the blood. And you see what happens when you begin to confess sins? You say, oh, I don't like to go there. That makes me feel bad and makes me feel miserable.

That's okay. Because you know what? When you start thinking, but I have access nevertheless because of the blood of Christ, then all of a sudden there's joy. You see, brethren, this is why we do this every Lord's Day.

Because it brings us back to this recognition that it was our transgressions, it was our iniquities. He was the man of sorrows. Not for any violence or any impurity in Him. And so we defeat Him by the blood of the Lamb.

And one of the things in confession, you will come back to that blood over and over. Or how about praise? Now brethren, praise. Coming to God, not just give me this and that and the other thing, but actually reciting His character, His victories in Scripture, His promises in Scripture.

Praise as Spiritual Warfare

Let me tell you something. You have probably heard me mention John Sytsma. He's one of my fellow elders. He oversees the team in Kathmandu, Nepal. We have what we call our Women's Grace House over there.

A lot of little girls and young ladies from both India and from Nepal. A lot of them from dark pasts. Bad pasts. Some of these girls are being rescued from the sex trade. We have had such demonic problems with these girls that neighbors have actually thought we were torturing the girls and that it must be a brothel and our facility was raided over there.

And the more they inquired with the girls and they looked into it, they actually issued John all the proper permits for a non-profit and some of the guys that actually did the raiding wanted to put their kids there to be schooled.

In the end, it's like God so vindicated us. But let me tell you something. The demonic issues they have over there, John, some of the other guys over there, they have communicated with me and some of the interaction there was recorded.

They'd send them in WhatsApp messages. If you're not accustomed to this kind of thing, it can be alarming. And John has made so many appeals over the years. Let me tell you something. The Hindu festivals there tend to agitate these demonic manifestations as much as anything.

And they've got one coming up. It's right now. They go into a season of prayer and fasting prior to these Hindu festivals because they know what kind of demonic interaction they get. You say, what are you talking about?

Oh, they see things, they hear things. These girls become possessed. And all sorts of hideous screams. Do you know what they have found? In all the ways, all these appeals, all the prayer, all the fasting, do you know what they have found to be one of the most effectual means of defeating the devil in the midst of these crisis times?

They ask. And they should. And they do. But it's when their praying breaks out into praise and singing. That has been as effectual as anything. Look, we're talking about defeating the devil here. And the fact is, when they burst into song and praise and adoration, that seems to shake the foundations of hell as much as anything.

You ever read in the psalm that it says that God is holy and He's enthroned on the praises of Israel? Something to that. God comes. God comes in power. God comes in might. Where the praises of God exist.

We don't want to underestimate that. Don't let your prayers be these stale, constant, just, the world's like that. The world will pray when they're in dire need. But this is all prayer. There's more to it than just the supplication.

Prayerful Watchfulness Against the Enemy

Now, look at verse 18 again. Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication, to that end, keep alert. Or if you've got the King James, New King James, being watchful, I believe is what you have.

Keep alert. Watchful. Now, think with me about this. There's an enemy. Prayerfulness and watchfulness go together. Now, I don't know if you've connected that. Undoubtedly, you've seen it in Scripture.

But have you really connected it in your mind that we have an enemy, we're in a battle, and the way to stay alert is through prayer? Look, I have no confidence that people who regularly miss prayer meetings are even aware there's an enemy.

When I don't see that kind of desperation, when I don't see that kind of watchfulness in people, where it's the kind of thing, you've got professing Christians and they can, you know, take it or leave it mindset with regards to the corporate prayer of the church.

It tells me something about where these people are at in their thinking with regards to an awareness of the enemy. Look, dead and sleepy prayers don't translate into battle-ready soldiers. Christian, I just ask you this.

Are you alert? Are you on the edge of your seat when it comes to this? Are you aware? Is there a watchfulness in your life? That's the idea. The fear is that you have professing Christians that don't live and they don't pray as if there was a war.

The wartime mentality seems to be missing. It's like they're walking around in life as usual. It's like, can you imagine a soldier? He's out on the battlefield and he's sleeping. He's not alert. He's not watchful.

He's out there sleeping. Can you imagine? You ever have one of those bad naps where you felt, you just laid down, you wanted to have like a 20-minute nap, but you ended up sleeping like 20 minutes, and when you woke up, it was bad.

You know what that feels like? You get awakened and I don't know, the phone rings or the doorbell goes off or somebody hollers for you to get up,.

And it's a bad nap. You don't feel refreshed.

Right at the beginning, it's like, am I awake? Am I asleep? Am I in a dream? You can get people out on the battlefield like that. You can imagine a soldier. You shake the guy and you wake him up, and for a moment, he's rubbing the things out of his eyes and he doesn't know, am I in the dream or am I in the battle?

You know what this is saying? We need to be like sentinels who know an enemy's coming. It's not just you're at your post and you're thinking, well, you know, he might come or might not. You know, if you were in World War II and you were on sentry duty, well, he might show up, he might not.

I'm just going to be aware in case he comes. Brethren, you know what Scripture tells us? He is coming. And we're supposed to be like watchmen on the wall that are watching over the city in the dead of night.

And there's an enemy out there. That's the idea. Our hearts need to be alive with prayer. Why? Spiritual enemies. They're near. We need men and women in the church that take this seriously, who day and night are looking out for the attack of the enemy.

The enemy is going to come. And Christian, you don't want to walk around with your head in the clouds because you know what? We've got a lot of Christians. A lot of Christians. And you know what Scripture says?

You're not to be wrapped up in the thorns that choke. Because what happens is you get the cares of this world and the anxieties of this world and the stuff of this world and you can get lost in it. You're trying to make your life secure and safe and you're trying to get money and you're trying to do this and try that.

And I recognize there's a place for money in the Christian life. But you know what can happen? You get so involved in that that you lose sight of the fact that there's even a battle out there. This is success and comfort.

And all the while you're just oblivious to the existence, the presence of all these dark forces that Paul is telling us about here. He's saying there are indeed principalities and powers and rulers and these cosmic forces and you don't want to fall asleep to these realities.

Because they're coming, they're real. And brethren, the thing is, we can just become unaware that demons are even trying to destroy little girls over in Kathmandu. What? I go to my job and I've got money in the bank account and I'm trying to put food on the table and what are you talking about demons over in Kathmandu?

You just get to the place where I'm not even aware there is such a battle. I'm not even really watching. Well, this is what it says. We need to watch and pray like we believe that there is indeed an enemy out there.

Intercession for All the Saints

Now notice, now we're getting to the heart of this thing. Notice at the end of verse 18. Making supplication, or petition if you've got the NAS, but making supplication for all the saints and also for me.

That the words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel for which I am ambassador in chains and I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak. Do you realize what's happening at the end of 18 and 19 and 20?

If we're honest about this, the emphasis of most of these three verses have to do with intercessory prayer. What's that? What's intercessory prayer? It's praying for others. That's the emphasis here. Do you see it?

Making supplication for all the saints. Now don't forget the context. This is spiritual warfare. Why ought I to be praying for other Christians? What's that all about? I mean the apostle's speaking about spiritual battles against these cosmic powers.

With all my armor on, and here I am ready. He says, well you told me, be ready to stand. Doing all to stand. Put on all this armor. Get it on. Now here I am. I've got all my armor on. And I'm not only to pray for me.

The primary emphasis here is we're told to pray for one another. Why? Well the answer is that we're all engaged in the same battle. You see, there needs to be a recognition as I'm staying on the alert.

And I'm like the central. You know what? I'm not just watching out for me. I'm not just watching for the devil coming against me. The principalities and powers working their schemes against me. What he's actually saying is I need to be on the guard for you.

That's what's happening here. We're supposed to be making supplication for all the saints. And the issue is that we're all subject to the same attacks. The same problems. The same difficulties. You are exposed to the same difficulties that I am.

And I am exposed to the same devil you are exposed to. And the same kind of battles. Now listen. This is where this gets really important. You know one of the devil's tactics is to get you to think you're in this all by yourself.

What you're experiencing no one else is experiencing. You've got these difficulties. You know, we can get to thinking like that. These struggles. Now listen. If you're a Christian you've got struggles.

If you're a Christian you've got an enemy. This enemy very specifically in Scripture it says he targets Christians. He's furious and he's made war with the offspring of the woman. Those who keep the commandments bear the testimony of Christ.

That's you. If you're a genuine Christian I know he's after you. And I know that his forces, his henchmen are targeting you. And how do they target you? The same way they target me. And see none of us is on an island by ourselves here.

And that's why we need to make supplication. But the devil can get us thinking very much that this whole thing is entirely personal. And I'm all alone. And you know what if you start listening to him?

You know what happens? You can sit over there in your little corner. And you can feel woe is me. Listen. It's through many tribulations that you're going to enter the kingdom. Tribulations. I know life is going to be difficult.

And you know what happens in the difficulties? We can feel like, oh, how unusually hard it is for me. And you can begin to feel sorry for yourselves. And you can get cast down. And you know what? This is not something that's simply happening to you.

If you've experienced hardships in your life, no full well. So have the rest of us. Now it may be true that I may be given to be tried in areas not exactly like you. But you know what? There's somebody out there that's being tried just like you are.

There's somebody that's lived past generations. They've come and gone. Christians all along. It's the same enemy. And his tactics are the same. They haven't changed. That's why you need to forget about yourself at times.

Your prayers need to be geared towards other people. You can't just sit feeling sorry for yourselves. And Satan's great tactic is just to convince us that we're all by ourselves. But you know what happens the moment we realize I'm not all by myself?

And this is one of the ways that our trials. When we're in a trial that does seem to be pretty unique and then somebody else walks up and says, I've been where you are. That can be extremely helpful. Because suddenly it gives us this encouragement.

I am not all by myself. Other people have walked through this. Other people have survived this. Other people have battled the devil right here. And you see, our trouble is that too often we tend to view our problems in such a personal sense.

You know, I think about my problems and my difficulties and my fears and my disappointments. And the result is that we can become entirely self-centered, introspective, and then you're defeated. Paul says no.

Do you not realize that those other Christians are experiencing the same battles? They're subject to the same discouragements that you are. What does he say? Pray for them. You need to intercede for them.

Supplication for all the saints. That's what's being said here. How we need this. See, we tend to be so individualistic. We just don't often regard or stay tuned in to where other people are at in the spiritual conflict.

You know, this is a personal battle. This is a personal problem. No, it's not. The devil attacks the whole church. And you know what the devil knows? He knows what that truth that's said there in the book of Ecclesiastes.

You've got a three-fold cord. It is not easily broken. And he recognizes when the church is corded together and we're united together and we're praying for one another, that is not an easily broken cord.

He recognizes that. He knows when the church comes together, it's united together, and it's praying for each other. That's bad for him. We can get to where we think of no one else. It's always my problem.

I see this in the church. You get around certain people. They will not ask you how you're doing. They don't act like they even care what's happening in your life. It's their problem. They're always talking about it.

They're always moaning over it. They're always thinking about it. They're always praying about it. And the truth is, people like that, they rarely pray for other people. And Paul says don't do that. Don't be forever looking at yourself and concentrating on yourself.

He says consider others in the church. Consider other churches. Consider missionaries in faraway places. Consider Christians in persecuted places. Listen, Job said, this is how he stuck out to me. Now, he uses this with regards to people that were suffering maybe financial problems or they were hungry.

They needed physical things. But he said this, I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know. That's a good principle. One of the things we want to be finding out in each other's lives is where are the weaknesses, where are the battles, and how can we be praying.

The Whole Church's Responsibility to Pray

And we want to just pray. One of the things I want you to recognize here, look very carefully at verse 18 right at the end. Do you see anything there that says it's the pastor's responsibility to pray for the flock?

I don't see it. Now, me as one of you, I have the same responsibility that you have. But you know one of the things that I see? One of the things I see oftentimes is churches that have an expectation for the pastors to do what actually the Bible tells the whole church they have a responsibility to do.

There are some things in the Bible, like equipping the saints for the work of ministry, that falls pretty uniquely on me. From a teaching standpoint, I need to be equipping you for the ministry. Not me for the ministry, you for the ministry.

That means serving. And one of the ways you can serve, one of the ways you can pour yourselves out for one another, is by not just thinking, oh, you know, the pastor. Should the pastor be praying for everybody in the flock?

Yeah. Should you? Based on this? You better believe it. I'm just one of the flock. I sit in the back row. I'm one of the pew sitters. Don't call on me to do this. No, that's exactly what you're being called upon to do.

We have a responsibility for one another. One responsibility is precisely this. Brethren, do you recognize this is one of the greatest ways? We read in 1 John, true Christians, you love the brethren. One of the greatest ways you can love the brethren is by praying for them.

If you're not praying for the brethren, you can talk about love, but it's pretty sparse if that's not a reality there. Brethren, you're not in this battle alone. You're brother, you're sister. You can look sideways right now, or you can turn your head behind you.

You can look at the brethren. You can see their faces. You know their names. The reality is that we're all in this thing together. By the way, you know, one of the things, some churches, they can really be thinking, you know, a pastor that needs to do that.

Well, let me tell you something. That very pastor that you may think needs to be doing all these different things that actually the Bible says that the whole church needs to be doing, sometimes you need to recognize that that guy that stands up there in the pulpit, he may be the guy that's closest to the edge of going over.

He may be the guy that's ready to crumble. You just never know. Now look, I want to talk straight with you. I'm typically not somebody to beat around the bush. We've had some prayer meetings where we've had some folks that have asked for prayer concerning assurance.

If you've been in the prayer meetings, you know that. There's some people that attend the church that have said, you know, please pray for me. I like assurance. You know what can happen? And I think if all was known and told, it's not just it can happen.

It does happen and it is happening. But you know what can happen? You go to a prayer meeting and you hear that. Well, you may think about praying for it that night. But there you are. And you've got your own problems.

You've got your own life. And so what happens? Well, you forget about the person. You forget about the fact that they lack assurance. Why would you do that? Why would you forget? Well, because I've got my own things in my life.

Or, you know what happens? You're the one that lacks assurance. And you feel attacked. You've got doubts ringing in your ears. And what happens? Everyone's attitude separately is, woe is me. I'm the one that lacks assurance.

Woe is me. Or I'm the one that doesn't lack assurance. They lack assurance. But woe is me because I've got other problems. I mean, that's what happens a lot of times. And so, you know what? We each feel alone in the corner, all by ourselves.

Overcoming Self-Absorption Through Love

You're thinking about your problems. You're groaning over them or fretting over them. And at the end of the day, you can become so consumed that you don't think about anyone else. Listen, listen. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace.

Do you know what I fear can happen with people that struggle with assurance? They don't think about other people. They get lost in that. They get lost in that dark cloud. But you know, and this goes for everybody, that one of the paths to joy and peace in the Christian life is really pouring out your life in love.

That's a fruit that has different colors and shades. Love, joy, peace. And one of the things is when you find miserable people and depressed people, they typically are people that have become introspective and gone in on themselves and they're over in their corner.

They're not really thinking about other people. It can happen. I'm not saying for certain, but brethren, in the self-absorption, people can become so self-centered that you totally forget love and that there's others in the battle too.

And not having that love, the joy and the peace are forfeited. I mean, listen, there's not a child of God that is going to be exempted from this. And he attacks all Christians. The truth is, do you know the struggles I have?

No, we could talk about them. And we should be talking to each other about them. But the reality is you don't really know the struggles that I have because you haven't been in my shoes. And I don't really know exactly the ones that you have because I haven't been in your shoes.

But one thing I can assume, if you're a Christian, you're under attack. And you're going to have seasons when it's going to be dark. It's going to be hard. You're going to fight coldness. You're going to fight.

You're going to fight. There's going to be times when you're groaning. This is part of being a Christian. And I remember hearing a story. I was going to ask my wife who this was because I couldn't remember right off.

And I don't remember if my wife even... She might have been the one that actually told me about this. But I remember hearing a story about two ladies. And I don't know if these are actual sisters from the church at home.

I couldn't place the story, but I think it's well worth telling. You had two sisters, and they're talking to each other. And one of them is expressing her problems to the other sister and how deep her trials are.

And she said, Something like, Sister, I wish I could be like you. It just seems like you don't ever have any struggles. And that other sister just burst into tears. Because the reality is, sometimes we can present ourselves...

Sometimes you have people that on the outside, they look like they've got it all together. But on the inside, they're being tormented. They're going through difficulties that you can't imagine. Or why are they different?

Some people wear things on their shirt sleeve. Some people, not so much. But the fact is, often the guy who sits there seeming to be the most stable and solid, is the guy that all of a sudden just falls out.

He collapses. I can remember the first church that I was a member of down in Texas when I moved down there. I remember the pastor saying, I wish everybody in the church could be like so-and-so. Like their family has it all.

If you look at that family today, it's bad. I'll tell you this, anybody that's been in the ministry, but it's not just limited to men in the ministry. And it's not just limited to missionaries that are out there in the front lines.

It's every single person that bears this testimony of Jesus Christ. The devil is after you. He is going to jump on you. He is going to attack you. Such response. What trials. I know that nobody can know what it is to be a pastor in a church or a pastor's wife unless you've stood in their shoes.

But we're all under attack, one way or another. And He's coming for each of us. And God's the only one that can help us. And that's why the need to cry out on each other's behalf. God, give this church intercessors.

We need people who pray for each other. Listen, if you come across people and you find out that they're struggling to even pray and maintain a prayer life, that's troublesome and problematic. Because you know what?

If somebody is barely figuring out how to go to God and make supplication for themselves, I'll tell you, those who faithfully intercede for God's people, oh, they're desperately needed. Now, pick up reading with me at the end of verse 18.