How to Become a Prayer Warrior
Ephesians 6: 10-20
In reading this passage, we’ll see these three principles:
I. Command to be a Prayer Warrior
II. Condition of a Prayer Warrior
III. Concentration of a Prayer Warrior
3) I. Command to be a Prayer Warrior
“praying always with all prayer and supplications … being watchful to this end with all perseverance…”
First, is this command. This command is found alongside the description of a Christian’s armor and spiritual warfare. The command to stand, repeated 5 times, in chapter 6 is joined with a command to pray. God emphasized the importance of standing strong in His strength and in order to do that He commands us to pray as part of that.
No Christian will ever rise above the level of his/her prayer life. No church will ever rise above the collective strength of the prayer life of its people.
This military analogy is vital for us to understand. We are at war! One reason we have such wimpy Christians today is we do not pray as if we are at war. That is why we are in the mess we are in culturally. The seriousness of praying like a warrior is highlighted in the “all”s contained in the command:
Always
All prayers
All perseverance
“All prayers” is combined with two different greek words for prayer. This is to emphasize using each kind of prayer. Here we use this acrostic to define the basic types of prayer:
P raise
R repentance
A sk
Y ield
We must use them all. Be engaged in them all. They are all necessary and a part of fighting and standing. Where would your Christian life be without any one of these types? Another method for prayer is fasting. We have done this before as a church and we are doing it again as a church this weekend. The reason for fasting is to add intensity and focus through the use of a fast. It is a way to become warrior like in our prayer intensity.
II. Condition of a Prayer Warrior
“in the spirit”
Included in this command is the condition necessary to be a prayer warrior. You cannot just decide to be a warrior, but you must be prepared to do so.
Let’s define what “in the spirit” means. Ephesians speaks often of the Holy Spirit and helps us understand this phrase properly.
A. Saved – 1:1-14 : You must be saved. In chapter 1, we saw last week we are only saved in Jesus. When we are saved, He gives us the Holy Spirit as a seal.(1:14). If you have not trusted Christ as your savior, then the only role the Holy Spirit has in your life is to convict you and tell you of your need to be saved.
B. No unconfessed or harbored sin- 4:17-30 – Sin in the life of a Christian does not cause us to lose our salvation, but it interrupts our relationship with God. Psalm 66:18 – “if I hide sin in my heart, God will not hear my prayer.” John Bunyan said, “prayer will make a man cease from sin, but sin will make a man cease from prayer.”
Spurgeon: For God to accept our devotions while we are delighting in our sin, would be to make Himself the God of hypocrites, which is a fitter name for Satan than for the Holy One of Israel.
See 4: 30, after a list of sins we are to remove, God says, “do not grieve the Holy Spirit.” That is done by willingly sinning in this fashion- not confessing and then removing that sin from our lives. The whole point of putting on the armor of chapter 6 is to stand clean and strong in the Lord. The breastplate of righteousness represents a Christian’s steadfast commitment to obedience.
C. Yielded – 5:8-10 We must be yielded to the Spirit. What good does it do to pray for God’s will if we are not willing to follow it. Would God even reveal His will to you? We want to pray like this: “Lord, show me your will and then I’ll decide if I have the faith or desire to pursue it.” Why would Holy God answer such a prayer and such an offensive spirit? We are to follow God wherever He leads and trust Him to be at work. We do not need to demand a roadmap, but instead should follow His light trusting that wherever He leads will be wonderful because He loves us.
D. Filled – 5:18 Being filled with Holy Spirit. 5:18 means to surrender your mind and heart to the Holy Spirit’s guidance.
This is being “in the spirit.” When you are this focused in your spiritual walk, then you will be conditioned to be a mighty prayer warrior.
Now that we are prepared for spiritual war as a warrior, what do you pray for? Would God make us this strong to just pray for ourselves? NO!!!
III. Concentration of a Prayer Warrior
He makes us strong in Him and leads us to pray, but to pray for His agenda and not ours. He does not make you strong for your own benefit, but to fight for His kingdom! We are so self-centered that we only pray with real earnest when we are in trouble or really need something.
Prayer is the lifeline and strength of a soldier fighting for Jesus and His kingdom. Remember where we find this passage – putting on armor and fighting the schemes of the devil. God tells us where we are to concentrate our efforts as warrior.
A. Strength to fight – Prayer is a part of how we put on our armor. It is how we use our armor. Remember last week – the power of praise to stand strong during struggles from Ephesians 1. That is an example of developing the strength to stand as commanded here in chapter 6.
B. Saints we fight with – look “supplication for all the saints”(18) Paul commands us to pray with all perseverance for the saints. Why? We are in this battle together. This is what we are doing this week together as a church. Pray for one another – for unity, for faith, for clarity in God’s word, pray for each other to hear God’s voice clearly, pray that God will show himself to each one of us.
Let me show you what Paul prayed for when he prayed for the saints. Read Ephesians 3:14 – 21. When was the last time you sat down and prayed for your Sunday school class, as individuals, that they would receive these things?
Read Ephesians 1:15-21. How many of your brothers or sisters have you prayed for to know and understand God’s power in their lives? When was the last time your class gathered around your teacher, laid hands on him or her, and prayed this prayer? We need to become prayer warriors by praying for the saints with whom we fight.
C. Sinners we fight for – finally, see Paul and his request. Verse 19. Remember, Paul is in prison. See verse 21-22. But Paul does not ask them to pray for his release, Ceasar’s demise, or any of the things I would ask you to pray for if I were in prison. He asked for prayer warriors to pray for the bold and effective furtherance of the gospel. Paul knew what was important. Church we need so desperately to remember that people around us are dying and going to hell. I spoke with a pastor friend the other night and we were discussing how slowly we had to do things because of how temperamental church people are. They hate change, like to be comfortable, etc. The thought pounding itself out in my heart was this: is this what Jesus died on the cross for us to be doing? Making the saints comfortable so they won’t fight? Did Jesus say the gates of hell could not prevail against the church He would build or is that a figment of my imagination. I am not saying that we should not be wise and thoughtful in our leadership. But here is my point: Are we really warriors out to rescue the captive from the enemy with a life or eternal death passion? We could be if we prayed for the furtherance of the gospel like warriors!
