Under Siege Part-8

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 "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. (Ephesians 6:18 ESV)

I know technically prayer is not part of the armor, but do you remember in the beginning when I told you the armor of God was encapsuled between truth and prayer? This is why. Paul ends this section with prayer. How appropriate. In reality, in prayer, you activate the armor of God in your life, to protect you from Satan and his host of evil spirits. I don't want to spend a lot of time in this subject, but I considered it was appropriate to end this series talking a little bit about it.

Pretty much Ephesians 6:18 explains itself. Paul wants us to be praying at all times. In which way? In prayer and supplication. Notice supplication is mentioned twice and therefore, it highlights its importance. Paul highlights the fact we all shall be praying for all the saints; we all shall be supplicating for them. Isn't that very unselfish of Paul? Isn't it true, that most of the time, we pray for ourselves first? It seems kind of interesting to me that Paul asks to pray for all the saints first, and then lastly, he asks the saints to pray for him. "And also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel". (Ephesians 6:19 ESV). If you read both verses 18 and 19 together, Paul is asking for the saints to be supplicating for him. What is supplication? The word supplication comes from the Latin word "suplicare" which means "humble plea". Supplication is a form of prayer that always involves a request from God, a favor that we're looking from Him. Paul also encourages us to keep alert and persevere in our prayers and supplications. In other words, don't quit praying! And oh boy! This double edged Sword (The Word) is piercing my heart right now. How many times have I failed God by not praying enough or just not praying at all? I remember the words of Samuel to the Israelites in 1 Samuel 12:23: "Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way". I confess that I've committed the sin of prayerlessness, and I truly want God to help me with that. "Lord, please help me not to cease to pray for others and for myself. The last thing I want to do is to hurt your heart and sin against you. Let me be unselfish like Paul and pray for others first. That would really refresh my soul. Thank you Lord Jesus. Amen!"

Every good soldier of Christ should be a good prayer warrior. Prayer is a very important and vital part in our relationship with God. "I rather teach one man to pray than ten men to preach" Charles Spurgeon once said and that should tell us something. Prayer is how we communicate with God. It's our most intimate form of communication with the God of the universe.

I would like to end this series by quoting part of a song written by Juan Luis Guerra, one of my favorite songwriters and also a fellow believer. The song goes like this:

I am soldier of the Father and the Son 

I am a soldier of His Holy Spirit 

I am a soldier with a voice and a trumpet 

Hallelujah, I'm a war soldier.

I am soldier

I am a soldier of Christ

I'm very well armed and protected 

I bring my double edged sword 

Because His Word, I bring with me 

I am soldier!

I couldn't think of any better way to finish the series on spiritual warfare and the armor of God. The words of this song get me going almost every morning and give me a boost to push through life a day at a time. Do you want to be a good soldier? Get in the Word and get praying! There's no other way!














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