Ephesians 6:13–18 (ESV)

13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 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

We have examined each individual piece of armor, so that we can fight the battles that lie ahead and win.

We saw that we are to live in readiness of evil days when the devil, the evil one, will attack us. That readiness requires that we understand that we live in a war zone. If you were a soldier on the front line of the battle, would you get up one morning and put on a shirt, jeans and sneakers and go for a stroll through the trees?  No, of course not. You would put all your armor on take your rifle with you and head out watching closely for the enemy to attack.  And you would have close communication with your commander to be sure you knew how to function that day.

Yet, if we are honest, most of us get up many mornings and head out without even thinking about the spiritual war zone we are in. We seemed shocked when the devil attacks. We haven’t taken the time to stay in closer communication with our Commander, Jesus, and we are clueless how to fight our battle that has just confronted us.  This is no way to live.

We want to come to the end of this life and be able to say what Paul said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”  (2 Timothy 4:7)

I remind you that prayer is to be the atmosphere in which the soldier must live and breathe. The battle is won, not by the armor alone, but by the prayerful life of the one who wears the armor.

In light of this, next week we begin to look at prayer.

We will discuss such topics as…

     To whom do we pray?

     Who is the God we pray to?

     What do you want from God?

     A formula for prayer.

     And much more.

I am doing this for a very selfish reason. My own prayer life is waning. I know it is not at all what it should be and I want to return to a closer relationship with God. I hope you will walk with me through this adventure.