A Praying Person

Ephesians 6:18-20

Introducation:

Since its publication in 2000, the book, "The Prayer of Jabez" has sold close to 6 million copies, making this a phenomenon in the Christian and non-Christian publishing communities. It has been noticed by all major networks, newspapers and talk show hosts. In response to this book, others have written "Prayer of Jesus" and "Praying like Jesus". These books clearly reflect the public's interest in prayer.

If we go to Amazon.com, there are over 8k books on Prayer. There is no lack of advice, opinions and convictions on this topic. To some prayer is a means to get what we want from God. If we say the right words daily, our wishes will be granted. Or prayer is the key to church growth. To others, prayer is a personal communication with God, its more contemplative than asking. It appears that each has their own philosophy and conviction on what prayer is and how one should pray.

As we come to the end of the passage on spiritual warfare, Paul turns his attention to prayer. Paul is saying that if we are to be strong, to stand firm in the midst of the devil's attack, besides putting on the armor God has given us, we must remember to pray. A praying person is one who can stand firm and be strong. In these two verses, the scripture provides us with great insight on what prayer is.

I. A praying person is one who depends on the Holy Spirit.

For us to stand firm and be strong in this spiritual battle, we are to "Pray……in the Spirit". In Chinese it is translated as "????". It reflects our need to pray and be dependent on the Holy Spirit.

1. Spiritual warfare is fought with the help of the Holy Spirit.

In verses 12-17, we are told to put on the armor God has given to us. It is not a mechanical check list: belt of truth, breast plate of righteousness, gospel of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit. More importantly, we are to prayerfully put on each piece of armor, showing how much we are dependent on the Holy Spirit.

You see, just having the right doctrine is not enough. Without the power of the Holy Spirit, doctrine is dead. If we have the correct doctrine, but no spirit, it is mere legalism. We can speak the most accurate truth, without the work of the Holy Spirit, our work or manuscript is just another piece of paper. Spiritual warfare is fought with the help of the Holy Spirit.

2. Prayers are to be guided by the Holy Spirit.

We are dependent on the Holy Spirit because our understanding of prayer is often limited. We need the spirit to help us in our prayers.

When we pray in public, we need the spirit to give us the right words or structure so that others can understand, identify with our prayers and say amen with us. There are times when we don't know how to pray. When we are in trials, adversities and confusion, we can find no words to express our emotions and thoughts. All we can do is to come before God in silence. And you know what? The scriptures tell us that the Holy Spirit is there praying for us.

And there will be times, special moments, when we pray, we may be overwhelmed by His presence leading to an outflow of tears.

We are to let the Holy Spirit direct and guide our prayers.

II. A praying person learns to pray comprehensively.

Prayer is an expression of our dependence on the Spirit. In addition, we also learn to pray holistically. We tend to think of prayer as asking; therefore when we have all we want, our prayer life also seems to cease.

In John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, there is the scene when this traveler "perceived the mouth of hell…..hard by the wayside" in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and saw flame and smoke and heard hideous noises, that 'he was forced to put up his sword and betake himself to another prayer, called All-prayer: so he cried, "O Lord, I beseech you, deliver my soul."

In verse 18, the word, "all" appeared 4 times: at all times, all prayers and supplications, all perseverance and all saints. If we change All to Some times, then we are all fine, right? We pray sometimes, we say some prayers and supplications, sometimes we are persevering, we pray for some believers. Yet God's word raises the bar of prayer just one or two notches higher. Let's take a closer look at some perspectives of prayer.

1. All Times.

It means we are to pray in all circumstances. We have no problem in praying when we are in trouble. When we don't have sufficient preparation for a sermon or to lead a bible study, we pray and we ask others to pray for us. In counseling sessions when I don't know what to say, I silently pray and ask for wisdom. We pray when we find ourselves in times of need.

However, in this passage we are reminded that even in good times, when we are happy, when things are under our control, we need to pray.

Moreover, we not only pray in all situations, but also pray in all places. Prayer is not limited to one location or one particular time. It is anywhere, anytime. It can be at church, in that special room and desk at home, in the car or while we are walking. Having said this, we also need to remember that it is important to regularly pray at a certain time and a certain place. Without this regular and consistent prayer time, it will be difficult to pray at any place and time.

2. All prayers and supplications.

Paul also points to us that the Holy Spirit will guide and help us in all kinds of prayers. When we come before God, we need to confess our sins to him, this is the prayer of confession. We also bring to God all kinds of request we may have. We pray that God will provide us with what we need. Then there is the prayer of thanksgiving. We thank God for what he has done for us, for answering our prayers. Besides request, confession and thanksgiving, there is also the prayer of praise. In the prayer of praise, we thank God for who he is and not for what he has done for us. vWhether in personal of group prayers, it is easy to thank God for what he has done in our lives. We also need to learn to thank and praise God for who he is. We thank him because he is the creator God, he is all loving, he is all powerful and wise. For this reason, we praise and thank him.

3. All alert and persevering.

When we feel the urgency of the situation, it is easy to be alert. Back in the 70's in one particular year there were about 13 hijackings. During that time, the airport security was on high alert. Soon after the hijackings ceased, we forgot about the security, and now, 911.

Throughout Jesus' life, he teaches and sets as an example for us to be alert in our prayers. He wants us to be alert because he is coming soon. He wants us to be alert when we pray because our minds tend to wander off or we fall asleep. Apostle Peter urges us to be alert because our enemy, the devil is like a roaring lion, looking for individuals he can devour.

Isn't it true that as we look at some of our failures, most of them occurred when we were least alert?

Besides being alert, one must also be persevering. Don't give up, keep on praying. In the 5th century, Monica prayed for over 20 years for her son, Augustine, to turn to Christ. This is perseverance. This is our attitude towards prayer. Don't stop, don't give up, and keep on praying.

4. All Saints.

In the letter to the Ephesians, Paul focuses on the new society, the church. When we come to Christ, we become members of this new society, members of God's family. As members of God's family, the church, we are connected to one another. And for this reason, Jesus teaches us to pray, "Our Father…."

We are challenged to see beyond ourselves. I not only pray for my family, and myself but also for those in my small group, fellowship group and other church members. We are to pray for the church elders and deacons, our missionaries in different countries.

How do we pray for others? We pray for individuals' basic needs: food, clothing, shelter, safety and jobs. Then we also need to remember to pray for their spiritual well being. As we look at Paul's prayers for the believers, it consists of: the believers would increase in their love for God and others; they will know God more, seeing the future hope, discern what is right and wrong, honesty, fruit of righteousness and life that is worthy of the gospel.

III. A praying person demonstrates the quality of humility.

Paul instructs the believers to pray for all saints. Then he writes, "Pray also for me." I have noticed in many prayer gathering, it is always easy to pray for others. Many people will volunteer information about another person, about how and what we should pray for. But when we come to, "how can I pray for you?", there often is a long pause.

Here Paul is asking the church at Ephesus to pray for him. We can imagine the believers there would have responded in something like this: what, Paul, the great apostle asks us to pray for him? Paul knows that he is not above others. He too has needs and concerns. He, too, needs others to pray for him. Here we see Paul's wisdom and humility.

Paul not only asks them to pray for him, he is also very specific in telling others how to pray for him. What is Paul's request? At the time of writing this letter, Paul was under house arrest in Rome. If we were in his situation, we probably would be asking others to pray for our early release. How about Paul? Vs19-20, "?????????????????????????????????????????????)???????????????." what was his concern at this time? The gospel ministry. He was concerned about God's kingdom. He asked them to pray so that he may proclaim the gospel of peace. To whom? To the soldiers that kept watch over him and to the visitors that came to his house. In the midst of personal adversity, Paul asked fellow Christians to pray for him so that he could continue to proclaim the gospel. He was concerned about the advancement of the gospel. He was seeking God's kingdom and his righteousness.

He specifically asked that God would give him the Words and Boldness. He asked for clarity of speech, that is, the right content and also for courage that he may speak what is given him. So often we may have good content, but it is diluted because we don't want to offend any of our listeners. There are times when there is plenty of courage, yet the content is confused and confusing.

John Stott writes that when there is clarity but with no courage, it is like a landscape at night, plenty to see but no light to enjoy. When there is plenty of courage but with no content, it is like bright sunshine in the desert with nothing to see.

Paul, in his letter to the Corinthian Christians, admits that he is not eloquent in speech. His stature is not impressive. He is totally dependent on the power of the Holy Spirit. To this end, he asks the believers at Ephesus to pray for him. And what is the result? Acts 28:30-31, "???????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ."

What does this mean to us? As we live in this community of believers, we also need to learn to ask others to pray for us. Not just for our daily basic needs, but also for our struggles and weaknesses. We may ask others to pray that we will have a more consistent devotional life; that we become loving persons doing loving deeds. Some, like Paul, will need to pray for boldness to share the gospel with others. We may know everything about the gospel message, but we lack the courage to tell others. Some of us may be very bold and courageous, but know little about the gospel. We not only ask other to pray for words, but also make an effort to study the word and know how to share the gospel with those God brings into our lives. Conclusion:

As a country, we have been cruising along our prosperous ways for many years. Suddenly it was 911 and this generation woke up and realized that we are in the middle of a war, and our lives are changed forever. We have called this the 911 generation. Our country is at war. We see soldiers at the airports and AWAC's flew by NATO personnel above the US sky. Our economy is in an accelerated downward spiral. Individuals readjust their priorities and value systems.

Isn't this also true with our spiritual life? Having seen evil on 911, having heard the wake-up call, it reinforces what we have learned in our study of the book of Ephesians, that we are in the midst of a spiritual warfare. Our enemy, the devil, is like a lion looking for someone to devour. His primary objective is to pull us away from God, to destroy the harmony that is to be found in his people. So instead of reflecting His glory and beauty, we end up bringing shame to his name. Sometimes the attack is so consistent and relentless; we just want to give up.

However, God's word also encourages us to stand firm and be strong in the midst of devil's ferocious attack. We can stand firm by putting on the armor God has prepared for us. This morning we also learned the importance of praying. Prayer is an expression of how much we need him, how much we need the Holy Spirit to give us the strength and wisdom to fight this spiritual battle. We need the spirit's help to become men and women of prayer. To pray at all times, with all prayers, for all saints and with all perseverance.

In 1995, Bauby, the general editor of a well-known French magazine had a stroke. This left him totally paralyzed except his left eye. With the help of his friends, he devised an alphabetical system with the blinking of his left eye. With this, he completed the book, "Le Scaphandre et le papillon"(??????). This is perseverance. This is the attitude and determination we are to cultivate in our prayer life so that we can stand firm and be strong in the spiritual warfare.

Rev. William Hsueh   Nov.11 , 2001    Houston Chinese Church,  Houston, Texas