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*Prayer** As* *a Way of Life* \\ \\
Ephesians 6:18
 
February 4, 2007
 
*Opening*
General Stonewall Jackson was one of America's truly great military leaders.
General Jackson earned his nickname "Stonewall" at the first battle of Manassas.
At a moment in the battle when his soldiers were being badly beaten, Jackson's strong words and unyield­ing determination to stand firm and win the battle caused one of his generals to call him a "stonewall."
One of the secrets of his strength was his prayer life.
Stonewall Jackson was a man for whom prayer was a way of life.
In speaking of his prayer habits, Jackson said, "I have so fixed the habit in my mind that I never raise a glass of water to my lips without asking God's blessing, never seal a letter without putting a word of prayer under the seal, never take a letter from the post without a brief sending of my thoughts heavenward, never change classes in the lecture room without a minute's petition for the cadets who co out and for those who come in."
And it is in the context of battle that the apostle Paul urges us to make prayer a way of life.
Having warned us in the sixth chapter of Ephesians that the battle we wage is "against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil" (Eph.
6:12), he then encourages us to "be strong in the Lord" and to "stand firm" (6:10, 14).
Four times between Ephesians 6:10-14 he challenges us to "stand," to be as stonewalls in the face of the devil's schemes.
His challenge is really a challenge to make prayer a way of life.
*Scripture – please turn with me to Ephesians, chapter six.
Verse 18 is our key verse for today’s message.
Let’s look at it together.*
\\ /And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.
With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
Ephesians 6:18/
Constant, many - faceted, wide - ranging prayer in the power of the Holy Spirit is key to spiritual strength and victory.
Before starting my message on Ephesians 6:18, I’d like to share with you some words of wisdom from R. C. Sproul.
I’m quoting from his book :”The Place of Prayer”
“What is the goal of the Christian life?
Godliness born of obedience to Christ.
Obedience unlocks the riches of the Christian experience.
Prayer is what prompts and nurtures obedience, putting the heart into the proper “frame of mind” to desire obedience.
Prayer has a vital place in the life of the Christian.
First, it is an absolute prerequisite for salvation.
Salvation through the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus Christ—will come from one source or another, but in the final analysis, a person must humbly pray to God for salvation.
The prayer of salvation is the one prayer of the non-believer God has said he will hear.
One of the surest marks of the Christian is his prayer life.
One might pray and not be a Christian, but one could not possibly be a Christian and not pray.
Romans 8:15 tells us that the spiritual adoption that has made us sons of God causes us to cry out in verbal expressions: “Abba!
Father.”
Prayer is to the Christian what breath is to life, yet no duty of the Christian is so neglected.
Then Sproul adds, prayer, at least private prayer, is difficult to do out of a false motive.
One might preach out of a false motive, as do the false prophets; one might be involved in Christian activities out of false motives.
Many of the externals of religion might be done from false motives (we call these externals “Christian service”), but it is highly unlikely that anyone would commune with God privately out of some improper motive.
Matthew 7 tells us that in the “last day,” many will stand at the Judgment and tell Christ of their great and noble deeds done in his name, but his response will be that he does not know them.
What Sproul is saying is that private, closet prayer is not practiced by the non-believer.
It is the mark of a true believer.
We are invited, even commanded, to pray.
Prayer is both a privilege and a duty, and any duty can become laborious.
Prayer, like any means of growth for the Christian, requires work.
In a sense, prayer is unnatural to us.
Though we were created for fellowship and communion with God, the effects of the Fall have left most of us lazy and indifferent toward something as important as prayer.
Rebirth quickens a new desire for communion with God, but sin resists the Spirit.
Prayer is the secret of holiness—if holiness, indeed, has anything secretive about it.
If we examine the lives of the great saints of the church, we find that they were great people of prayer.
John Wesley once remarked that he didn’t think much of ministers who didn’t spend at least four hours per day in prayer.
Luther said that he prayed regularly for an hour every day except when he experienced a particularly busy day.
Then he prayed for two hours.
First Thessalonians 5:17 commands us to pray without ceasing.
It means that we are to be in a continual state of communion with our Father.”
* *
Our key verse again is:  /“And pray in the Spirit with all kinds of prayers and requests.
With this in mind be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”/
The first part of our key verse is:
/ /
*Praying "In the Spirit"*
/ /
·          Ephesians 6:18 tells us to pray in the Spirit.
To pray "in the Spirit" means to pray /as enabled /by the Holy Spirit.
-        Remember what Romans 8:26 says, “Since we do not know what to pray for, the Father gives the Holy Spirit to help us in our weakness”
 
-        The Spirit, from his position within our hearts, gives birth to prayers in our hearts.
He teaches us both what to pray and how to pray.
True prayer is always prayer enabled by the Spirit.
If we pray in the Spirit we are praying the will of the Father since He initiated our prayers.
·          Improving our prayer lives is not simply a matter of trying /harder./
-      Better praying does not simply mean better methods, longer lists, or spend­ing more time in prayer.
Rather, it means waiting on the Father to initiate our prayers.
-      God's way of overcoming weakness in prayer is not simply a command; it's an offer of grace.
It's the gift of his Spirit to help us.
* 2.*
The next part of our key verse tells us to *pray on all occasions*.
* *
·          Praying "on all occasions" means bringing /all of life /to God and bringing God /into all of life./
/ /
_   God is always conscious of us, always involved, and always eager to   
     help.
He wants us to be conscious of him no matter what is   
     happening.
-          
God wants to share his life with us, wants us to think his thoughts.
God wants us to share our lives with him.
Praying "on all occasions" means sharing our thoughts, our feelings, and our experiences with God and, more importantly, Him sharing His thoughts with us.
•    There are no times in life when prayer is inappropriate.
Whether we are happy or sad, content or challenged, at work or on vacation, spending time with friends or dealing with enemies, prayer is fitting.
Jesus modeled this for us.
He prayed at every major moment of his life —  at his baptism, when tempted in the wilderness, before and after feeding over five thousand people, when parents brought children to him, before he raised Lazarus, at the Lord' Supper, in Gethsemane, on the cross—and many other times both recorded and not recorded in Scripture (Luke 5:16 says: /“//But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”/
).
* *
The third part of our key verse tells us *to pray with all kinds of prayers and requests.*
* *
·            All the /elements of /prayer are meant to be part /of /our prayer lives.
-      I’ve mentioned before that the acronym /ACTS /is often used to identify the major elements of prayer.
/A /stands for adoration, C for confession, /T /for thanksgiving, and */S /*for suppli­cation.
As we’ve learned supplication for ourselves is usually identified as petition.
Supplica­tion for others is called intercession.
Praying "with all kinds of prayers" means that prayer is multi-faceted.
It includes all the above – adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and asking for needs to be met.
·          "All kinds /of /prayer" makes for a /balanced /relationship with God.
Prayer is essentially a relationship.
I mentioned before that it can be defined as "the conversational part /of /the most important love relationship in our lives."
Good relationships include praise, thanks, confession (admission /of /wrong), and supplication (asking for help).
Relationships that are missing one or more of the above elements are imbalanced and don't work very well.
Try going a week without thanking your wife and you’ll soon find your relationship out of whack!
Right, men? God wants to be adored.
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