STAND STRONG
STAND STRONG
8.20 - Praying at All Times
In the final episode of Season 8, we consider Paul's closing exhortation to pray. How does this connect to our spiritual battles? What does this mean for our hearts and our minds?
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Paul and Noah both preach and teach with the Cedar Park church of Christ in Cedar Park, TX. You can visit our site at: https://www.cedarparkchurchofchrist.org/
Well, hello again and happy Monday. To those who are on the schedule of the release of a Monday podcast. I'm in the studio again today with Noah. We're finishing up. It's hard to believe we're at the end of our journey through Ephesians, mm-hmm. Are calling and our conduct. We've been in chapter six for a while. Last week, Noah. We were just kind of unpacking the armor set in the context of Ephesians chapter six, beginning in about verse 10, where we're exhorted to be strong in the Lord in the strength of his might. Mm-hmm. Put on the whole armor of God and we kind of work through that armor. God's armor our stand. We got to verse 18 and we, we had decided Noah idea, we wanted to have a discussion. We, we needed to have a discussion about verse 18 and why Paul connects that to a discussion about the armor and as you know, being Bible students. We're gonna talk a little bit from Ephesians six in our last podcast today in Ephesians on prayer.
Noah:Yes. Yeah. It's been a good season. I've really enjoyed this study. Looking forward to this conclusion as we work through the end of Paul's letter. You know, last week we talked a lot about, excuse me the reality of, of spiritual warfare and this importance of being equipped that, you know, we, as we talked about, the, the armor of God that we're equipped to handle the attacks of Satan, the temptations that come and acknowledging that that's part of a bigger picture, that we don't completely. Comprehend or understand, but as, as Paul wraps it up, he says he, he concludes this with praying at all times in the spirit with all prayer and supplication, and then he goes on to ask for prayers and we'll get to that. Mm-hmm. But. He, he starts with prayer being the connecting point between this discussion on the armor of God and being equipped for spiritual warfare and closing the letter. It, it's a connecting point here. And he essentially makes it clear in my mind that prayer is an essential part of engaging in the conflict in which we are engaged in which he was engaged. And that's where he is gonna make it personal here in just a minute. But prayer is an essential part of being prepared for the conflict that we face in spiritual warfare.
Paul:Absolutely. Armor alone does not make for an equipped soldier. I mean, he had used battle language, like We wrestle, we struggle. We're fighting against spiritual forces of wick wickedness, obviously against the devil. And in the context of the reality of spiritual warfare, he has been talking about spiritual weapons. Mm-hmm. How God provides his people. For the battle, the strength is the Lord's the stand desires and a part of being battle ready. Or battle equipped is absolutely prayer. So verse 18 again, I've got the new King James. You read from the ESV, I think. Mm-hmm. But the the New King James, with all prayer and petition, pray at all times. Listen to that language at all times in the spirit. With this in view. Be on alert. It with all perseverance and petition for all the sayings. There's, there's a lot there. Just in that one verse,
Noah:there is the ESV says to that end, and, and you said the new King James says for that purpose, with this in view, with this in view, yeah. I love the clarity of that or Paul is saying here is, here's why. Here's the point to, to keep alert. With all perseverance is how it's phrased in, in my version over here. So, Paul, I'm gonna, Paul does this, if you've been listening with us for a while, you know this, Paul likes to spring questions on me without giving me a heads up and just letting me flounder a little bit. So now it's my turn to return the favor. Paul he, he connects the idea of being alert mm-hmm. With the idea of prayer. Why do you think he's making a connection between the idea of praying at all times and remaining alert or keeping alert in this context?
Paul:Mm, I guess I would say my opinion mm-hmm. Is that he's trying to press. And this concept of being battle ready, this idea of be aware that sudden unexpected attack from Satan is one of his most effective weapons.
Noah:Mm-hmm.
Paul:So when we talk about pray at all times, again, I think it's very similar to the concept in the first Thessalonians five 17. Pray Without seizing the Right, the attitude and disposition of heart that. Make someone realize that I need to make prayer a habit in my life. It's not just a mealtime thing.
Noah:Yeah.
Paul:Or, oh, things are going well in my life. I need to be expressing Thanksgiving to God in this area, and so I'm happy to do it. And all things, all those are important, right? But this being discerning on the alert, the vigilance, connecting to that at all times is because bad things are gonna happen. Satan is a real enemy. He's been on our destruction. If we're not alert and tapping into God's power and strength and wisdom through our praying, then we're gonna get blindsided.
Noah:Yeah. Yeah. I think that's a, a great answer. Thank you for taking that question in stride. Yeah. It's interesting what, when I read the word alert, my mind jumps to one Peter five, obviously different biblical author. But in one Peter five he says, be alert and why?
Paul:Mm-hmm.
Noah:Because the devil, your adversary is prowling around like a roaring line.
Paul:Mm-hmm.
Noah:Seeking whom he made of our this alertness is, that is in the same kind of context that we see here, Paul writing about in Ephesians chapter six. We have to be aware that we have an enemy. He is very real and like you said just a moment ago, his attacks will often come. When we are least expecting it, we're in areas where we are least prepared. And that idea of preparedness comes back to the armor of God. If we're praying if we're praying in the spirit then we are in engaged in preparation for this spiritual warfare. I, I think one thing that we can take away from this this is kind of a side note not Paul's main point, but I, and I acknowledge that, but I think sometimes discussions around prayer like most people I talk to. Will admit, and myself included, oh, well, my prayer life is, is not what I want it to be. It's not what it should be. And I know that I should put habits in place. I should create a habit of prayer, a habit of speaking to God and, and strengthening my connection to him through prayer. But then there's also this undercurrent of, we still, we still wanna buy into the idea that we can build that habit. Only through spontaneous prayer.
Paul:Mm.
Noah:Or through, or through our meals, our mealtime prayers. Right. We kind of go to one extreme or the other. It just, it always needs to just burst out of us. Be spontaneous or I can create that habit through. Very narrow windows. And I think one application that we can make from what Paul says here, and again, granted not his main point, but I think it's worth, worth noting, mm-hmm. Is that prayer is something we have to intentionally engage in and it is something that needs to be informed by. Our circumstances and the experiences that we're having, we need to intentionally take those into our conversation with God. And so that's more than just praying at meals. And it's more intentional than just praying whenever we feel, when, whenever we get the urge.'Cause I think for most of us, if we only pray when we get the urge. We're not praying very often. And that has, that's something that has to be trained into us, right? We have to, we have to train that skill. My my point, I, I've gone a little longer on this than I intended and I apologize, but my point overall is that if we're alert to the, to the battle that we're a part of, than we're going to be intentional. And in our prayer and allow this greater spiritual battle to inform what do we bring to God in prayer?
Paul:Right. Right. That, that's a whole nother subject, Noah. And an important one, the, the being informed. The, the understanding of the concept spiritually, that, that this subject on prayer, taking, taking all the old and New Testament, teaches us in principle on praying. That's a big study and a very, very important one. Yeah. Let me, let me say this. Be blunt and then try to give an illustration to support what I'm, what I'm saying. Until we acknowledge that we're in a battle, and that's Ephesians six. Yeah. And we, you see that. But until we acknowledge that we are in a battle, spiritually speaking, and until we believe that the only way that we can stand our ground is by being connected to God, we will never pray as we ought.
Noah:Mm-hmm.
Paul:Now, I know that sounded harsh and I didn't mean it to be, I'm just, I'm trying to be very direct. In that regard.'cause I think that's Paul's point in Ephesians six. Yeah. Not to, not to Oh wow. And alarm us, but to help us appreciate that this is what God is telling us about prayer. And we give so much focus and attention as we should to all the pieces of the armor.
Noah:Mm-hmm.
Paul:We are not battle ready until we understand the importance of prayer. It's our connection to God. The power is not in prayer. The power is in God,
Noah:right? We're standing in the strength of his might.
Paul:Yes. So now here's, here's a real example and, and there are people listening today who could give their own real examples. Noah, I'm sure you could. I remember when my kids were still in school Amy, Amy actually got the text. I was in the office and she called me very alarmed. She said, I just got a text that there is an active shooter. Inside the high school campus. Mm-hmm. And we got kids inside that room on the campus. Yeah. I said, I'm headed home. We headed to the school. There were already cars and parents standing outside on the sidewalks and they had it locked down. Of course, security police officers weren't allow you to cross the street. You couldn't get there. And I understand that there were a lot of people, a lot of people out there worry, fear, panic, understandably so what's going on? Active shooter. I can tell you, you know, a lot of people are out there praying. Mm-hmm. A lot of people are on one knee praying, huddled together in groups of six to 10 bigger. And so I was going around and, and we are praying and, and I remember thinking that day because of the reality of what we could see.
Noah:Right.
Paul:It told us we need to be praying. We can't do anything about this. We need to be praying. What has Paul said? We do not wrestle against flesh and blood. Right. But yet the reality of the unseen is something I think we don't appreciate. Yeah. Like we should.
Noah:Yeah.
Paul:That there is an ongoing, every day in the unseen realm, a battle between right and wrong, good and evil, the spiritual forces of darkness against light. We know who wins, we know who is our captain, we know where our strength comes. But unless I see the reality of this battle. I don't know that I'm gonna be praying first for myself and then for others like I should.
Noah:Yeah.
Paul:And what that does is it's a daily reminder to us that we do not stand in our own strength or wisdom, and we are in need of God every day. Don't wait for the Oh no. Or the Oh wow. Moments. Yeah. To be on your knees. In the vigilance and the alertness. God, what do I need to see?
Noah:Right?
Paul:What am I missing?
Noah:Yeah. You know, that that distinction that even when we can't see it as, as clearly as perhaps, you know, parents, were seeing it on that day in the high school situation even when we can't see it, it's still a reality. Paul was dealing with the reality of spiritual warfare in a very physical way. I mean, he'll say here in just a couple of verses that he's an ambassador in chains, right? He's, he's an ambassador of the gospel, but he's in chains and I, I think that that helps us see that we all know this intellectually, but this is a very good illustration of how prayer is. Always, prayer is always essential. It's not like Paul because he's sitting in chains and is very aware of the spiritual warfare that's going on because of his physical situation goes, well, you know what? In the end, I don't, I don't need prayer. In fact, it's, it's the opposite. Now, he, he's requesting prayers from the readers for brothers and sisters in Christ, but then he says, especially for him, why? Because he needs boldness. Mm, mm-hmm. He needs boldness to continue speaking the truth, to continue sharing the mystery, or as he puts it, proclaiming the mystery of the gospel. Even though he's in chains, I, I love the phrase that I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak. In other words, Paul's, this is, this is Noah's version. Paul's saying the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Right. And I know what I'm supposed to do and I want you to pray for me that I will have strength to do it. That spiritual warfare was, was right in front of Paul. He was very aware of it and was even further driven to prayer because of that.
Paul:Yeah. Similar language in Romans 15 verse 30, Paul says, strive together with me in your prayers to God for me. And then he's very specific in the context of Romans 15. There's two things about Paul. He, he, he is very clear in his request of brethren. Mm-hmm. Pray for me, join with me. And it's a, it's a striving together. It's, it's an agonizing. In prayer.
Noah:Yeah.
Paul:It's interesting that that Greek term that's used to, to help communicate the intensity of what's involved prayer is, is hard work. Mm-hmm. Yeah. There is a struggle there and that's why Paul uses the language and he says, struggle together with me. You know, if, if there was a, if there was a literal. If there was a literal fight that is, there's, there's something right in front of us.
Noah:Yeah.
Paul:That's clearly let, let's say there's an active there, there's somebody that's on the property of the building and they're, they're trying to, to gain entrance in to our building to, to do some really harmful things.
Noah:Yeah.
Paul:How many men do you think would get out of their seat in an organized. Wise sort of way to be proactive, to stand together against what the enemy's trying to do.
Noah:Yeah.
Paul:Now, Paul says, you can struggle with me through your praying, but here's your help. It's not by your presence. You don't even have to be on site and I, I, I don't want us to miss the importance of this while we would be there and show up and our presence would be proof of our concern to help our brethren again in the fight.
Noah:Mm-hmm.
Paul:You do that every day in your quote, prayer closet. Fight for your brethren. Fight for the young families. Fight for the single moms, fight for the age, who are going through things that we can't relate to at our age, but there's something we can talk to God about because they need something that only God can give that we can't give.
Noah:And
Paul:I don't have to understand how God's gonna do it for me to fight in prayer for other people. And that's what Paul says. Join with other preachers of the gospel. That's the low hanging fruit here. People in positions of, of influence by sharing the word. Okay, Noah's about to leave for a meeting. All right. I don't have to be a preacher to fully appreciate what he's dealing with or what his wife is dealing with while he's away from her. But I can, in my prayer clause that say, okay, Lord, here's, he's on the front lines this week, or for the next three days. He's away from his family. All right, Lord, do this. Do this. I'm asking you to provide protection. I'm asking you for clarity. I'm asking all of these kinds of things. That was a real thing.
Noah:Yeah.
Paul:In the first century. And it's just as real in the 21st century.
Noah:Yeah. Emphasizing the, the reality of it, I think is, is worth a little bit of time because I think sometimes we, if we were to, if we were to say something like what Paul says here, I, I need you to labor with me in prayer so that I will, well, I'll have the words to speak and the boldness to speak them. We'd kind of un in the back of our minds go, well, that's a little dramatic, isn't it? You know okay, Paul, that's fine. You know, if, if, for instance, to use your example, before I went for a meeting, I said, Hey, anyone that's willing to, I, I would really appreciate that you would pray for me as I prepare for this meeting, that I will speak as the Oracles of God, which is very scriptural, right? And that, et cetera, et cetera. Some people, I, I, I think generally people would take it the right way, but I also think that. There's kind of this feeling of, well, we can do something other than prayer, right? Like, we can do something more than prayer. Something other than prayer or that really doesn't feel worth praying about. These are all kinds of thoughts that I think many of us have entertained at some point. I recently had a conversation though, where I, I was asking I was asking a young husband, I said, Hey, you know, is there anything that I can do for you right now? And. I don't know how many times I've asked that question, and I've just gotten a, well, I, I guess if you'd pray for me and I, I'll even have the thought. Oh man. I wish that they would say, bring me a casserole or something,
Paul:but,
Noah:but this young husband paused, I mean, probably 30 seconds of silence and he says, I want you to pray for me. About this and he laid it out. It wasn't long, but he was very specific. That is a real thing. This is of real value. Prayer is powerful because God is powerful. We're standing in the strength of his might, not of our might, and sometimes when those thoughts sneak in of, I just wish I could do something other than pray for these people. I wish I could bring a casserole. We are missing. We have the opportunity to labor in a very real way. And I think sometimes that betrays that what I have developed is a, a underdeveloped concept of prayer.
Paul:Yeah. Let me give two passages to, to reinforce what we're saying and the perspective we're trying to, to, to give here. The, the Apostle Paul. In Colossians one, he says this in verse 28, talking about Christ. Colossians 1 28. We, we, we Him, we preach him. We teach warning, teaching, and all wisdom. All right, to what end? Why are we preaching? Why are we warning? Why are we doing the teaching about Christ? To present everyone perfect. Fully mature in Christ Jesus. Mm-hmm. Alright, and then the Colossians. Four is. He's talking about Eris there in verse 12, and he says, he labors always for you in prayer, wrestling, in prayer fervently why that you would stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God. What the Apostle Paul was, was saying can be accomplished through teaching and preaching. That presenting every man perfect in Christ fully mature, the spiritual growth and development. He says, Riss is com accomplishing through prayer.
Noah:Yeah.
Paul:And so not everyone is doing the teaching and the preaching, but all can be involved.
Noah:Mm-hmm.
Paul:On some level, pray regularly and fervently for those who are in positions of teaching and preaching, and it's not just. Noah and myself. It's those in our classes. Mm-hmm. It's those at home. Pray for the parents who are teaching. Yeah. Pray for the teachers and their opportunities.
Noah:Yeah. We as, as in that list, multiple times as, as a preacher, as a bible class teacher and as a father. Especially in that last one. I need the prayers, right? I, we, we need we need strength that we don't have in order to lead our homes the way that we should. And so I, anyone listening, if you, if you want something to pray about, pray for me as a father, as a preacher, yes. I would appreciate it. As a Bible class teacher, yes. But especially as a father.
Paul:Yeah. I know we're coming up on the end. We can, we can talk about prayer. I can talk about prayer. Just. Because I, I, I don't know that it's been emphasized in our churches like it should. Mm-hmm. And some of that's on me in my teaching and preaching. I can do something about it, but while he says it all times and he says, be only alert, there's a reason why he says, with all perseverance.
Noah:Mm-hmm.
Paul:In my estimation, again, acknowledging I'm the old guy in the room, but there are people listening that have more mileage on the odometer of life than I do. That with all perseverance. Cannot be missed.
Noah:Yeah,
Paul:because we can, I can at times be so easily defeated in my praying. We get discouraged. We don't want to discouraged in the area of praying. We've been praying and praying and praying, and we haven't been seeing results. Or we, we never see results. Yeah. We don't see the fruit sometimes, you know, and he's, he's saying, you can't, you can't grow weary in this. It's just that important. Don't let the devil defeat you through discouragement. Yeah. Stay, stay on task here.
Noah:Yeah. Yeah, that's a really good reminder here at the end of Ephesians six. There are a few more verses in Ephesians chapter six. Paul talks about this man named TKI who's going, who he's sending specifically to encourage his readers and, and to inform his readers about some things. And then there's a beautiful, what we normally, normally call like a benediction or a blessing at the very end. Mm-hmm. I, I do think it's worth reading this, even though we don't have a lot of time to discuss it. He says in verse 23, peace be to the brothers and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible, especially that last verse when he says, grace, be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love, incorruptible. It is a powerful reminder. It, it is a, it is a blessing. It's a, a benediction of sorts, you could call it. Mm-hmm. But it's also a statement of truth. Mm-hmm. Grace is for those who love Jesus and the way that he describes the love, a love incorruptible. God's love cannot be corrupted. It cannot be diminished, it cannot be broken. And our love, like his. Is to be incorruptible. I think that's a really good reminder as we come, as we get to the end of Paul's letter and we've looked at our calling and our conduct this, this reminds us that our calling ultimately is to love God and it's to love God with the kind of love that God has shown.
Paul:Mm-hmm. And Apostle Paul knew what this church needed to hear even before the reality of some of their times of testing would be. Would be so, I mean the Church of Emphasis. Mm-hmm. You have left your first love. What is it? What has it always been about a heart of first love, and whether you see that as you mentioned as an incorruptible, undying, unfailing love, or just the sincerity of love where it does not show discrimination or hypocrisy in any form. What is the key here? It's grace that produces love. Mm-hmm. With faith, we don't have love. Without faith, we don't have faith without grace.
Noah:Mm-hmm. Well, it's been a pleasure getting to work through Ephesians and we could have spent much longer on it than we did, but we, we, you know, we had to try to move along to some extent. So thank you for joining us for season eight here on the Stand Strong Podcast. As we've talked about the calling and the conduct from the book of Ephesians I wanted to give you very quickly, those of you who are still listening. That a quick preview of what's coming next week. Since season eight is coming to a close, we're gonna be starting a new season next week and we are going to be jumping into another of Paul's epistles. We're gonna be looking at his letter to the church in Philippi. We're gonna be reading that book together and I think it's gonna be a really encouraging study. Because Philippians is a really encouraging book. In fact, that's part of the reason we're we're going to be looking at it, is because here we have a man like Paul sitting in a place like prison.
Paul:Mm-hmm.
Noah:Talking about a subject like Joy.
Paul:Oh, amen. Yeah.
Noah:So please join us again next week as we begin season nine, and we begin studying the book of Philippians. And until then, we pray as we always do that you will continue to stand strong in the calling that God has called you to and walk in. The conduct that he is has admonished you to walk in and we will try to do the same. Until then, stand strong.
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