Pray in the Spirit

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE EPHESIANS

PRAY IN THE SPIRIT

Eph 6:10-18

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. 14 Stand firm then, 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. 18 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.

NIV

Alright, we are completely dressed in the full armor of God and we are as strong in the Lord and his mighty power as we can be. We are standing firm, standing our ground against all the powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. We are aware the devil has as many schemes as Heinz has pickles. But there is one more element of armor of God which is the final and completing piece, praying in the Spirit. How can we live in the dark world and stand firm against all the forces of evil unless we are in constant prayer? Sure, we do not go around praying out loud, we would never be able to do our jobs, working as onto the Lord. We would never be able to carry on any conversation with another person if all we did was pray, pray and keep praying. But the fact is that within our mind, within our spirit we should be in constant communication with God. If we are out of communication with him than we are simply all alone in this world and would be somewhat out of the loop. We have seen every piece of armor that Paul describes is, in fact, Jesus. So we are clothed in Christ, with Christ, and we have the Spirit dwelling within us. So we are covered both inside and outside, and now we are also always in touch with the Father. The devil doesn’t stand a chance. He cannot compare to the mighty power of God. The devil cannot hold a candle to the Light of the world. The devil is already on the losing side and so why would we ever listen to anything he has to say, or tempt us with? We have enough trouble dealing with that old nature, which seems to want to be resurrected. That is that war that wages within us. Paul understood that war within when he stated the things he wishes he did not do, he does, and the things he wishes he did do, he doesn’t. Surely he clothed himself in the armor of God, and certainly, he was a man of prayer, yet it seems he still dealt with the old self. We just have to be aware, or alert, and keep on praying for all of us believers. Again, it is not that we spent all day on our knees at the altar, but we do need to always be in contact with God, always being alert of his presence in our lives. We remember those words of Daryl Scott, talking about the conscience presence of God and the constant presence of God. He said that although we may not be conscious of his presence all the time, he is constantly present. However good that may sound, the fact is, having the full armor of God in place and having the Spirit dwelling within us, and always being in communication with the Father, we should also always be conscious of his presence. How could we not be conscious of his presence? He is always with us, he will never forsake us. So we live in communication, prayer, with God.