Ephesians 6: 18 – 20 NLT
18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.”
19 And pray for me, too. Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike. 20 I am in chains now, still preaching this message as God’s ambassador. So pray that I will keep on speaking boldly for him, as I should.
Final Greetings
21 To bring you up to date, Tychicus will give you a full report about what I am doing and how I am getting along. He is a beloved brother and faithful helper in the Lord’s work. 22 I have sent him to you for this very purpose—to let you know how we are doing and to encourage you.
23 Peace be with you, dear brothers and sisters, and may God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you love with faithfulness. 24 May God’s grace be eternally upon all who love our Lord Jesus Christ.
Finally, Paul ends his armour illustrations with the statement – “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.” Prayer is powerful both in protecting us, and in helping us share the Good News. Prayer keeps the communication between God and ourselves open. He listens to us, and we are able to listen to him. That communication with God is what gives us the strength to face each day.
There are so many verses in the Bible that help us undestand the importance of prayer. In the Garden of Gethsemane, just before Jesus was crucified, he prayed asking for help to face the cross. Remember how his disciples kept falling asleep even though Jesus asked them to pray. When Jesus realized the disciples were struggling, he gave them this advice. “Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give into temptation. For the spirit is willing , but the body is weak”. (Matthew 26: 14) When things are difficult – pray. God understands our weakness.
In Romans 8: 26 – 27, the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit helps us as we pray. “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.” That is so reassuring. The Holy Spirit actually helps me pray. If you are a bit like me, some of your prayers might be a plea for help, because we are not sure what God wants. We are asking God to fix some situation, help some health crisis … but in our minds, we wonder if our request is in God’s will. The Holy Spirit helps us in that situation. In Romans 12, we get further advice: “Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.” (v. 12)
Paul gives us more advice in Philippians 4; 6 – 7: “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
I looked up the word “pray” on the website biblegateway.com. It says that word occurs 436 times in the Bible. That’s not counting many other phrases that use the word pray in them. Prayer is a major theme in our Bible. Prayer is one of the most important things we can do in our lives. If we’re honest, we likely would admit that we should pray more. It’s so easy to get busy the moment we wake up. Our day is full of work and plans. At night, we’re tired. Over my life, I’ve made time to pray at different times of the day. Sometimes life was so crazy busy, I hardly prayed at all. I regret those times. They were often filled with anxiety and stress. Sometimes it’s helpful if we just pray frequently through our day as thoughts come to mind.
Stop for a few moments as you finish reading this devotion and pray.
“As soon as I pray, you answer me; you encourage me by giving me strength”.
Psalm 138: 3
Our song for today is Counting My Blessings by Seph Schlueter