Young People's Group

THE CHALLENGE TO PRAY IN SPIRITUAL WARFARE

by Pastor Mitch
October 31, 2004

Having The Strength To Put On The Armour Of God

We have come to our last article on learning what it means to put on the armour of God. It is truly challenging to put on the whole armour. As we know, it is made up of six important parts: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. Each piece of the armour is not easy to take up and master. The need of the hour is for us to have the kind of strength to use these weapons of spiritual warfare well. The Christian soldier cannot enter into battle without strength. It is crucial that we do not take spiritual warfare lightly. It demands much more than we realise. We need to employ prayer in the midst of spiritual warfare.

Engaging Prayer In The Midst Of Spiritual Warfare

We cannot discount the weight prayer has in spiritual conflict. Paul challenged the Ephesian Church to pray in the following manner:

1. Praying Always In The Spirit

“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” 
Ephesians 6:18

Prayer must be made always. We must learn to cover everything in prayer. It is the Spirit of God who will lead us to pray. The Christian must learn to be sensitive to the Spirit of God leading us to pray. Paul challenged the Ephesian Christians to understand that there are different levels of prayer. There were times when they were meant to pray generally. Depending on how the Spirit led, they were to also supplicate for others. Let’s learn to pray always with the Spirit of God leading us to pray as the need arises.

2. Watching And Interceding For Others

“Being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints” 
Ephesians 6:18

Prayer also involves an alert mind that will be watchful. Not only must we pray, we must also watch what happens subsequent to prayer. Does God answer our prayer? Is more prayer needed? There are times when we have to persevere in prayer. There are times when we have to supplicate further in prayer. It is not easy to pray for everyone. Our part is to pray for as many as possible. Let’s seek to watch and intercede for others.

Taking Time To Pray So Much More

As we dwell on prayer, our personal challenge is to get down to praying. There is no point just learning about prayer if we do not get down to praying. Let’s pray because our spiritual strength depends on it. Let’s pray because the evil one is out to get us and we need the Lord even more. Truly, may the Spirit lead us to pray always.

Back to Article Listing