Prayer

The last weapon is prayer: “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.” Ephesians 6:18 Volumes of books have been written on prayer. They can give us insights, but the best way to learn about prayer is to do it. Prayer is simply talking to God. It can be commanding the devil to leave, also, but that is a relatively small part of prayer. God is right here, waiting for us to request what is His will. The sooner we can break through all the hindrances to asking His will in a certain situation, the sooner the answer will come. He has promised to always give us what we ask for when we ask His will:
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him.”  1 John 5:14-15

It may take a long time (in our way of thinking) for something to be done which we know is His will, but His will will be done at the right time in the right way if we ask:
“Oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!” Romans 11:33

We do not know His exact will. For instance we can say, “Why isn’t everyone accepted into His family, since we know this is His desire?”: “…He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 1 Peter 3:9
Because it is not His will to go against the will of man. He will not violate anyone’s free choice.

However, when we seriously seek to bring someone to salvation, God will give us the prayers to pray and the actions to do that will most likely lead them to Himself. We must not give up. We should pray until we feel God has answered. Than we should thank Him!

What a small but important part we play in a person’s salvation! Maybe we don’t realize what it is. It may be that some small act of kindness has a part. Sometimes when we pray for someone we have contact with them. For example, one day I prayed for two people I seldom see and seldom pray for. That very day when we were taking our daughter Jill to the airport I saw both those people. Probably God had laid it on my heart to pray for them.
 

Why is it such a struggle then to pray? Because the devil knows how important prayer is and tries to hinder it in every way. We need to be constantly reminded of the importance of prayer. Reading the Bible and memorizing Bible verses and being exposed to the situations needing prayer helps me the most in keeping communication with God. Even remembering and finding time to memorize Scripture is a battle. We can ask God to help us.

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests" or as Paul puts it in his letter to the Thessalonians:
"pray continually" 1 Thessalonians 5
Praying "in the Spirit” is simply knowing we are talking to God and He is hearing us, not as the Pharisees did:
“And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.” Matthew 6:7

“With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints”. Of primary importance is praying and caring for other believers. Jesus said:
“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:35

Peter said that we should be “clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray”:
 “The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:7-8 How can we better “love each other deeply” then to pray for them?

Paul’s request for prayer at the end of the Ephesians passage on spiritual warfare (“Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”  Ephesians 6:19-20) is coming back to “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power”. We all need to proclaim the gospel with boldness. In explaining to us our spiritual weapons Paul has just shown to us why we can and should be bold in proclaiming the gospel. He asks prayer for boldness, giving us an example of how we all need to pray.

These, then, are the weapons of God: knowing truth and speaking truth, putting on His righteousness by obeying Him, being ready to proclaim His gospel and to show love and forgiveness, faith in Jesus, controlling our minds and seeking the wisdom of God, and learning and correctly using the Word of God and prayer to God in Jesus’ Name.  If we apply those weapons and keep applying them, we will win every time:
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28