|
Introduction:
According to myth, Achilles was the greatest warrior among
the Greeks. His ferocity in battle was due to his invincibility.
Some stories claim that since it was prophesied Achilles would die
young, his mother dipped him in the river Styx as an infant to
protect him. The waters made him invincible except for the portion
of his heel where his mother’s hand held him. Other tales claim
he simply had invincible armor with an open spot at his heel.
Whichever story you prefer, Achilles had a gap in his armor.
Amazingly enough, Paris took aim and fired his poisoned arrow,
striking Achilles in the heel. A well-aimed shot killed the
greatest warrior in Greece all because he had a gap in his
invincible armor.
Regrettably, that is where many of us are today. First, we
must recognize why this is so frightening. We are at war. Do not
be misled by the seeming peace and prosperity in our land. We are
walking through a battlefield. Paul said in Ephesians
6:12, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but
against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the
heavenly places.” We are in a battle and it is against powers
too strong for us. We
may not see the ruin wreaked by this war as easily as a physical
war, but it is there. We do not see advancing tanks and infantry.
But we see the advance of humanism, hedonism and individualism. We
do not see bombed and burned out buildings, but we see broken
homes. We do not see prisoners of war caught in torture camps. But
we see seekers trapped in cults and false teaching churches. We do
not see hospitals full of bleeding, crippled and paralyzed
wounded. But we see masses of spiritually beaten, exhausted and
lost sheep in need of a shepherd. We need to look past what we can
see to see the battle and its ravages, to witness the walking
wounded, to smell the stench of spiritual death that plagues this
world. We are beginning a month long devotion to prayer and this
battle is why. In this battle, we must not have any gaps in our
armor (Ephesians 6:13). Discussion: I.
Prayer completes our armor (Ephesians
6:14-18). A.
We are well aware that our waist must be girded with truth.
Our heart must be protected by the breastplate of righteousness.
We must have our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of
peace that we may be mobile and stable on any terrain of battle.
We must carry our shield of faith to protect us from the devil’s
fiery darts. Our head must be covered with the helm of salvation.
And we must have in our hand the sword of the Spirit, the Word of
God. We know this. We have heard sermons on this. We have had
classes on this. We focus on this armor. But if we stop here the
armor is incomplete. We enter the battle relying on our own
attempts at invincibility and the devil will capitalize on our
weakness. B.
Paul does not stop his explanation of the armor with the
sword of the Spirit. He says we must put on this armor “praying
always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit…” We are
not fully suited for battle until we are praying. We might just as
well go into battle without our sword or without our breastplate
as to go into battle without prayer. Yet, regrettably, if we were
to take a poll of brethren in general, I fear we would find that
we Christians do not pray very much. For one reason or another,
too many of us allow our prayer lives to slip. We are too busy. We
have questions about prayer. We are not sure how it works. We
cannot see it working. We plan to get to it later today. It just
slipped our mind. Whatever the case, too many of us are walking
away from the battlefield each night wounded and dying because we
are entering the daily battle without complete armor, we are
entering without prayer. C.
Take a minute and honestly assess your life. Do you find
you often end the day beaten and battered by the world,
discouraged because Satan overcame you again and again throughout
the day? How is your armor? Is it complete? What is your prayer
life like? For the next month, we will be devoting ourselves to
prayer. My sincere hope is that each one who participates in this
series will become a stronger prayer. No matter where we are in
the prayer spectrum, we all have room to grow. The purpose of this
lesson is simply to motivate us to suit up for battle, remembering
to pray. II.
Prayer plugs us in to the only Power who can defeat our
enemy. A.
Look again at Ephesians
6:12. If all we were dealing with was our next door neighbor
who does not want to serve God or our co-worker who blasphemes, we
would not need prayer. We could exercise a little bit and take
care of those people. But that is not the case. We are fighting
against principalities, powers, rulers of darkness and spiritual
hosts. We are fighting against Satan himself (Ephesians 6:11). Here is the reality—we cannot win. No matter how
strong our armor is, if we are fighting on our own we will be
pierced through by the devil’s darts. B.
Allow me to share with you one of the great mistakes I have
made and I hear often made regarding prayer. This mistake has
become so much a part of our Christian culture that I will
probably slip and say it myself as we study through this series.
How many times have we heard people talk about the power of
prayer? That is a mistake. Prayer has absolutely no power. Too
often we have treated prayer as if it were some kind of magic
spell that, if worded properly or chanted correctly, will shine
forth power. That is not prayer. Prayer is not powerful. God is
powerful. Prayer is not useful in our battle because of some
inherit power within it. Prayer is useful because it plugs us in
to the real power—it plugs us in to God. Prayer is the means by
which our will aligns with God and we invite Him to work through
us. When we are in God, we cannot lose (Romans
8:31-39). We must not believe in the power of prayer. Rather,
we must believe in the power of God and, therefore, pray. C.
Consider Ephesians
3:20. “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly
above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works
in us…” Look at what God can do. He can not only do all that
we ask or think. He can not only do above all that we ask or
think. He can not only do abundantly above all that we ask or
think. He can do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or
think. But He will accomplish this through us. However, we have to
ask. D.
Sometimes we miss the great importance of the Old Testament
stories. They are written for our learning, that we might learn to
have faith in God’s power. Remember David before Goliath. Saul
wanted David to wear his armor (I Samuel 17:38-39). However, it would not work because David was not
used to it. Amazingly, David went into battle without armor. But
he was armed with God’s power (I
Samuel 17:45-47). David had no power. David’s prayer had no
power. But the God to whom David prayed has all power. In I
Samuel 17:50-51, David slew Goliath and cut off his head. If
God could win that battle through David, He can win our battles
through us. E.
Let’s cut to the chase here. Until we believe we are in a
battle and until we believe the only way we can win is to be
connected to God, we will never pray like we ought. But when we
believe, then prayer will follow. It will be our natural response
and we will become fully armed. III.
Prayer will provide boldness A.
A soldier may have great armor, but if he is too afraid to
engage in battle, he will lose by default. Prayer, by completing
our armor and connecting us to God, provides the boldness we need
to face the battle. Here is another amazing aspect of prayer. So
often we treat prayer as the means by which God will be bent to
our will. That is why we spend so much time wondering how
supplication and petition works and complaining when we did not
get what we asked for. Prayer is not about bending God to our
will, it is about bending us to God’s. As we connect to God,
growing in prayer, we gain the courage to do God’s work in
God’s way and face the battle. Be honest? How many times do you
stay out of the battle because you are afraid? You know you should
restore a brother, but you are afraid to ruffle feathers. You know
you should rebuke a sister for sin, but you are afraid to rock the
boat. You know you should defend the faith, but you are afraid to
be rejected. Prayer, our connection to God, increases our courage. B.
In Ephesians 6:19-20,
Paul asked the brethren to pray on his behalf that he might have
boldness to proclaim the Gospel. In Acts
4:29-31, the disciples prayed for boldness in the face of
persecution and God granted it to them. Only when we have the
boldness and courage that comes through connection to God will we
face our fears and stride into battle and win. Through prayer, as
our will aligns with God’s, we can say along with the Psalmist
in Psalm 118:5-9,
“The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to
me?” C.
Look at Paul’s courage in the face of any circumstance.
In Philippians 4:13, he said, “I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me.” How could he have this confidence? Because in Philippians
4:6-7, he showed that he made his requests known to God with
thanksgiving. IV.
Prayer maintains our vigilance. A.
In time of war, when the army is gathered together,
sentries are always posted. Someone has to pay attention and watch
out for the enemy’s attack. The sentry can arouse and warn the
army, protecting them from the enemy’s surprises. B.
According to Ephesians
6:18, prayer is the means by which we maintain that
watchfulness. Prayer, by its very nature of focusing us on the
will of God, alerts us to the dangers that oppose God’s will.
The term translated “watchful” (NKJV) literally means
“without sleep.” Prayer, along with Bible study, is what keeps
us alert and prepared. C.
However, we must persevere in our prayer. Prayer will never
be effective if it is a flash in the pan experience. We must
“continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it” (Colossians
4:2). This is why we are beginning this focus today. Because,
we like the apostles in the Garden will have times when we must be
spiritually and physically strengthened enough to watch and pray (Matthew
26:40-41). The disciples could not pray as they should while
Jesus was in agony, because they were not trained. Though they
were willing, they were weak. If we are weak, if our armor has
gaps, Satan will exploit them. We must commit ourselves now to
grow in prayer, completing our armor, connecting to God, empowered
and emboldened by Him, maintaining a vigilant watch against Satan.
The only way to accomplish this is through training and practice. Conclusion: The fight is on. We must not sit on the sidelines. If we do, we have already lost. We are the warriors God has chosen to fight these battles. We must gird up our armor, completing it with prayer. We cannot fight the good fight or keep the faith unless we are empowered by God through prayer. Victory can be ours, but not if we overlook this most important part of our armor—PRAYER! Commit to memory I Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
|
||||||||||
