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Ephesians 6:14-18 (NIV)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 Lord’s people.
We have finally made it to the end of the Armor of God series with verse 18. This verse is not always included in armor of God studies because it is not actually associated with the visual of a piece of armor.
However, as we learned in the previous post, the Holy Spirit, as stated by Jesus, (John 16:7-14) is important and necessary. As He provides us understanding and power.
Depending upon which translation you prefer, the verse can read a bit differently. So I would like to highlight a few translations so we can focus on the importance of prayer and how it too can be an offensive weapon when connected with the Spirit.
NIV – 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 Lord’s people.
NKJV 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—
ESV 18 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,
NASB 18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,
CSB 18 Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.
NLT 18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.
Pray in the Spirit
As discussed in verse 17b and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, we learned that the Holy Spirit resides in God’s word and is God’s word. That verse focuses on the use of scripture to fight against evil.
But we also have the Holy Spirit residing in us. He allows us access to God’s power and He speaks for us as an intercessor to God.
Romans 8:26-27 (NIV) 26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
For a more in depth reading on praying in the Spirit, I would highly recommend an article from the C.S. Lewis Institute written by J. Oswald Sanders. The article is taken from Sander’s book Prayer Power Unlimited.
At all times
The different translations above use the terms at all times, in all occasions, and always.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
With all kinds of prayers and requests
Paul reminds us that praying in the Spirit is not just for when we are in need of something. We are to pray in the Spirit continually in all of our types of prayer.
Which leads us to the question, what types of prayer are there?
- Praise – we are giving glory to God for all and everything that He is.
- Blessing – asking for God’s power and protection upon a person, place, or a special event/activity.
- Thanksgiving – thanking God for all of the blessings He has given us.
- Request/petition/supplication – asking God for something for ourselves.
- Intercession – asking God on behalf of others.
- Corporate prayer – people gathering together to pray.
Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV) Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
With this in mind
When we look at the above translations they state this a bit differently –
With this in mind…,
to that end…,
to this end…,
and with this in view….
The meaning is a reference to the previous sentence and connecting it to what Paul’s next statement.
Stay alert with perseverance
Why do we need to stay alert?
Because we need to be ever vigilant on Satan’s schemes, (John 10:10 NIV) The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;
Pray for all the Saints
Paul uses this one statement to remind us that the armor of God is not just for us individually. It is for the protection of all of God’s people.
And what is the purpose of armor? To fight a war.
We are each a part of God’s army, fighting against evil. Fighting for each other. And fighting for the kingdom of God.
In the military, the members are viewed as brothers. They have a camaraderie (friendships and loyalty) that binds them together to the point that they are willing to die for each other, if necessary.
As followers of Christ, this is to be our connection with other Christians as well. With the benefit that we have the Holy Spirit alive and active within us to guide us here on Earth and to speak on behalf of us to God!
I pray that you found this series as enjoyable to read as I did to write. It is such a blessing to get to dig deep into God’s word and see all of the ways that He provides for us.
Tangible reminder of the Armor of God
While writing this series, I stumbled across a jewelry company that I want to share with you. It was created by two sisters who used the armor of God as their inspiration for all of the designs.
The company is called Grace Wear Collection. (I don’t receive any commission for this recommendation.) I just love their story and passion for providing a tangible reminder to physically put on the armor of God.
And their jewelry is beautiful. (I bought two pieces already!)
The Armor of God
- Part One: The Belt of Truth
- Part Two: The Breastplate of Righteousness
- Part Three: The Boots of Peace
- Part Four: The Shield of Faith
- Part Five: The Helmet of Salvation
- Part Six: The Sword of the Spirit
- Part Seven: Pray in the Spirit
God bless!
Melissa
p.s. Checkout all of the beautiful sites I linkup with.
Great study, Melissa! Thank you for the reminder that there are all kinds of prayers—sometimes we get in the habit of forgetting to incorporate all of them in our daily lives.
Thank you, Anita! Yes, I think we forget that we are able and supposed to seek God in all ways. Thank you for stopping by and God bless!
Great post, Melissa. Love this, “…the Holy Spirit resides in God’s word and is God’s word.” We often not only forget the power of prayer, that it’s a weapon against the enemy, we also fail to remember all the functions of the Holy Spirit. He is key to our spiritual victory. Thanks for the reminder.
Thank you, Karen! I agree we do often forget the importance of the Holy Spirit. He is not discussed or sought out nearly enough. Thank you for stopping by Karen and God bless!
I always think of the verse about worshipping in Spirit and in gruth. Everything we do can be an act of worship and of spiritual warfare if we are doing it in Spirit and in truth.
Yes, I think we can restrict ourselves in believing we need to be praying or worshiping in a specific way. God doesn’t care about where we are or the words we use. He just wants us. Thank you for sharing your insights, Alice. God bless!
I need the reminder to pray more. I love praying, but I almost always use “Nehemiah” prayers and don’t make dedicated time each day to pray the way I need to.
Don’t discount Nehemiah prayers though either! The fact that you seek God in times of distress and/or need is amazing! We each have areas that we can continue to grow in. Thank you for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. God bless!
This is an awesome article. Very practical too. Thank you!
Thank you so much Rosemarie for you kind words! God bless!