WALK IN PRAYER and ENCOURAGEMENT

Pastor Jason

Ephesians - We are the Church • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago

Ephesians 6:16–24

Prayer

Ephesians

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Prayer is essential for the Christian walk

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Introduction

Did you know that

A single lightning bolt produces 5 times more heat than the sun.

and hits the earth with up to 300 million volts of Electricity-

in comparison our outlets in our homes have 120 volts of electricity.

Did you know that If we could harness 60 minutes of the Suns energy - it would be enough to power the entire earth for 1 year.

Did you know that a tornado can spin at over 240 miles an hour. and can totally wipe out a path1 miles wide and 50 miles long.

Did you know that in 2004 a Tsunami wave from the Indian Ocean hit 14 countries from Thailand to Africa and killed 250k people.

Did you know that Hail can be the size of softballs and it can fall from the sky at over 100 mph.

In fact in 2019 over 7 million properties in the US filed insurance claims because of hail . and between 2008- 2014 Us insurance companies estimate that there was over 7 Billion dollars in hail damage to vehicles.

TRANSITION: Today we are going to talk about Power. And the source of Power we are going to look at has more energy than any lightning bolt. its greater than any tornado, its mightier than any Tsunami, and it is more powerful than any Hail producing storm.

This morning Paul is concluding his letter to the Ephesians with one more Biblical exhortation to the church..

He has just given us the charge to put on the Whole armor of God so that we will be ready to stand firm against the attacks of the devil on our lives.

Satan and temptation will come into our lives and will try to destroy our faith.

and now Pau gives the church the glue that holds it all together. The source of the power we possess in Christ Jesus. The common bond that makes our armor effective against the attacks.

Text : Eph. 6:18-20 “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, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.”

Did you catch what we need in our lives to be victorious in or spiritual battles?

ITS PRAYER!@!

and Paul’s final charge to the church is don’t neglect the power of prayer in your life.

BIG IDEA: IF we are going to walk worthy of our calling than we MUST WALK IN PRAYER

Paul gives us 5 ways a believer Walks in Prayer

TEXT: “Praying at all times in the Spirit

PRAY AT ALL TIMES IN THE SPIRIT

Paul is not telling us that we should always have our heads bowed and eyes closed and talking to God at all times. - that would be crazy. If that was the case I think most of us would be coming to church with band-aides all over our bodies from the things we ran into while praying.

Instead, Paul is saying that our lives as believers should always be in communion with God.

Notice what Paul says “ Pray always IN THE SPIRIT”

The Bible tells us that our prayers are directed TO God the father- Through Jesus the Son, IN the Holy Spirit,

Romans 8:26-27 tells us why we need to pray in the Spirit.

“26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how we should pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings. 8:27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes on behalf of the saints according to God’s will.”

If we are going to Pray for God’s will in our lives to be done than we must pray in the Spirit because it is the H.S. who intercedes for us at the throne of God.

Paul’s point is not necessarily to teach on the H.S. but to tell believers that if we are going to have a powerful prayer life than......

Our conversation with God through Prayer should never be over.

“Pray at ALL times in the Spirt.- Pray constantly for God’s will to be done in your life.

Illustration: (Phone calls for ever)

When I was a sophomore in Collage I met a girl who I fell head over heels for - I mean I was smitten for life.

I couldn’t wait to see her and I couldn’t wait to continue our conversation together.

In fact, at night after i would drop her off at her dorm room- I would run back to my room- pick up the phone and string the 20ft. cord all the way back into my bedroom climb on my bed and call her as quick as I could-

why? Because I never wanted our conversation to end.

We would talk about everything.

and even when I was doing homework, I loved to just have the phone still connected and sitting on the desk just to know she was there.

This is what it means to always be in prayer-

Be in a life long conversation that never ends and never needs to catch up from where you left off because it is a constant in our lives.

The question we should ask ourselves is .....Why should we always be in a conversation with God?

Because just like I was in love with Amy and couldn’t bear being away from her- as the redeemed in Christ, we should be in love with our God and want to know more and more about him. and we should have a yearning desire to be close to him always.

I Believe There’s another reason that Paul has just given believers this command to always be in prayer,

because there is an enemy that is trying to destroy our relationship with God- He wants us to feel distant from Him and He wants us to run to other things instead of Him when we are in need.

and when temptations come (and they will) and the fiery darts of Satan start flying in our direction 9and they will come) there is no time to try and find Gods phone number in the book - and to see if He will answer. There is no time to try and catchup with our relationship..... We need that communication line off the hook at all times so that when we are attacked we are ready to stand firm in God’s armor.

and we need God’s supernatural power to win the supernatural battle we are in and this requires us to Always be in prayer.

TRANSITION; Paul goes on in our text to say that the we should Pray with All prayer and Supplication.

PRAY WITH ALL PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION

The 2nd quality of an effective prayer life is to pray with all prayer

What this means is that we shouldn’t just focus on one aspect of prayer but on all of it.

We tend to focus on the intercession of Prayer- don’t we? We are quick to ask for help when we are in need.

“.... Lord I need you to do this now

....Lord if you would help me here I will be a better person

But an effective prayer life is so much deeper than just asking for Gods help when we are i n need.

if we are going to pray with All prayer and supplication than we need to pray in a manner that incudes all prayer and supplication.

The 4 aspects of a godly prayer - (ACTS)

Adoration- Giving God Praise and honor for who He is

Psalm 104:1-2 “ Praise the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, you are magnificent. You are robed in splendor and majesty.104:2 He covers himself with light as if it were a garment.He stretches out the skies like a tent curtain,” NET

Have you ever just sat back and Adored God?

Confession- Dealing with the sin in your life. Admitting your sin and asking for God’s forgiveness.

Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!Deliver Me, O Lord, from Evil Men ESV

When is the last time you confessed your sins to God?

Thanksgiving - Thanking God for all the wonderful things He has done and given you

Psalm 86:12-13 “I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever. 13 For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.” esv

When is the last time you just spent time thanking God for all he has done in your life?

Supplication- or intercession - Bringing request for yourself and others to God

psalm 143:2-9 “Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. ...deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love. ....6 I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. 7 My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes. 8 Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. 9 The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayers. ESV

God has given us a wonderful gift and that is prayer- a direct line of communication to God the Father.

Prayer is how we praise the glory of God , it’s how we confess our sins against God, It’s how we show thankfulness for God’s provisions, and it’s how we cry out for help from God.

WHEN IS THE LAST IME THAT YOU PRAYED WITH ALL PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION?

Trans: Paul goes on in our text to that end, Keep alert with ALL perseverance.

This is the third ALL Paul has used to describe our prayer life.

He tells believers to PRAY WITH ALL WATCHFUL PERSEVERANCE.

PRAY WITH ALL WATCHFUL PERSEVERANCE

Be on Guard!!!!!

Illustration: night watchman at Holiday INN

In College, I worked at the Holiday Inn-

My job was to walk the halls and the parking lot all night and make sure nothing bad happened.

I was the watchman- armed with a flashlight and a walkie talkie.

My job was to be alert. pay attention, and to be ready for when something Bag happened.

and as soon as something Bad Happened my responsibility was to call for help.

In the same way-we need to stay alert and watch out for bad things to happen in our Christian lives.

We need to watch out for the devils attacks against us

We need to watch out for sin trying to creep into your heart and start to control us.

The Bible tells us that God has given us everything we need to live righteously in this world. and that includes our prayer life.

We must pray for the Spirit of God to lead us so that we can see Satan’s attacks in our lives, and the temptations of sin that are trying to destroy our walk with Jesus.

Basically Paul is saying that if we want to have an effective prayer life than we need to stand alert ready to call for help when the enemy attacks.

Transition: Moving on in our text in Ephesians we see the 4th way that we should pray.

TEXT “ 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,”

PRAY FOR ALL BELIEVERS

vs 18b “To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,”

Again Paul uses the word ALL - We must pray for ALL believers not just ourselves, not just our friends but ALL believers.

When is the last time that you prayed for ALL Christians around the world?

Why Should we be praying for all the other believers?

I believe the answer is clear in verse 12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

The Battle over sin is not just a battle in your life - Every Believer is in the same fight and every believer needs the power of Prayer to overcome. .

Satan wants to destroy all believers testimonies. He wants the church to fail.

The apostle james said that all believers are tempted to sin.

“each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. 1:15 Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death.” James 1:14-15

Understand this morning -Church- The battle for righteousness Its not just you, its not just a few But it is all believers. Every one of us is in this battle and this is why we need each others prayer.

it takes the church to stand together- to lift each other up so that we can stand firm when we re attacked.

We pray for all believers because Satan wants to destroy their faith and their gospel testimony in their communities too.

Remember -Satan’s greatest desire is to take as many lost people to hell with him as possible.

and He will do everything in is power to stop Christians around the world from proclaim Salvation in Jesus Chris to the lost.

And this is the reason Paul says to pray for all believers because everyone of us is called to be a gospel light in this dark world.

Transition: and this brings us to Pauls final point on how we should pray

Text: Eph. 6:19-20 “and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.”

Paul is telling the church to.....

PRAY FOR GOSPEL BOLDNESS

Illustration: Ukraine:

2008: My Cousin Laura(who is a missionary in Ukraine) called in June and asked me to pray with them because the group coming from US in 2 weeks to help them put on an English Sports camp just called & cancelled. and there were 100 people signed up to attend this camp.

I prayed that God would lead someone there to help.

God answered my prayer and He put it on my heart that I was suppose to Go. in a week and a half I bought plane tickets, packed my bags and I went with 4 other Americans to help run this camp.

I prayed that God would use me to help their ministry

God blew me away - He used me more than I could have ever imagined.

I prayed that I could make one redemptive connection with someone while I was there.

God blew me away- and God gave me many redemptive opportunities to share His gospel with people who needed a savior.

I prayed that God would allow me to lead one person to Christ

God blew me away and I had the privilege to lead 7 people to Christ that week.

On Friday evening two of the men who accepted Christ came and found me and said would you come eat with us tonight. I came into the tent and they had a table set up with a whole lot of food that didn’t look like the camp food we had been eating all week.

The pastor explained to me that One thing that they do in Ukraine is when someone comes to Jesus they have a banquet for the new believer to celebrate their new life in Christ.

Its basically a birthday feast.

and the new believers asked me to sit at the head of their table and enjoy their birthday feast with them.

I didn’t stop praying for these new believes when I came home and God has not stopped using them for his glory.

Andrew & Olya- now serve Christ with FCA Ukraine- in fact Andrew oversees all of western Ukraine. and he has led dozens if not hundreds of people to Christ over the past 13 years.

vs 19 “19 and also pray for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.”

Paul’ s prayer is for boldness to proclaims the gospel of Jesus Christ without fear of what man might do to him.

One of my life verses is Phil 1:20- “ My confident hope is that I will in no way be ashamed but that with complete boldness, even now as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, whether I live or die”

Paul is not just asking for confidence as he preaches but he is asking for a divine infusion of strength and courage to make the gospel of Jesus clear as he preaches.

Paul is living out What he just taught in chapter 3: he understood that his identity was now in Christ as an adopted Redeemed Sons of God. and this new identity brings with it the same power that raised Jesus from the grave. The power That God uses to save lost souls from hell.

Our prayer as believers in Christ needs to include gospel boldness.

We need Divine infusion of strength and Courage in our lives as we proclaim the gospel of jesus to the lost in this world.

We as a church should be praying for one another- that God will give us gospel boldness as we share Jesus with our community.

Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ , for it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes.”

If we are going to proclaim jesus Christ to this world than we need to pray for Gospel boldness. because on our own we will fail at having boldness fort the gospel.

When is the last time you prayed for gospel boldness in your life.

It ought to be our daily prayer - God give me gospel boldness in my relationships today- give me your words to speak, so that others see Jesus in me.!

Bring It Home

Our mission as a church is to make and Equip Followers of Jesus Christ in our community.

the only way that we can make and Equip disciples of Jesus is to bath our gospel ministries in Prayer.

Do you see the common word Paul uses to describe a life of Prayer?

ALL

pray at ALL times in the spirit for the lost

pray with ALL Prayer for ourselves and the lost: Adoring God, Confessing sin, Thanking God, and Supplication for others .

pray with all watchful perseverance- We cannot let Satan find a foothold in our lives or in this church.

pray for all believers in our church , in other churches in our community and around the world that they can stand firm against the attacks of Satan and the temptations of sin in their lives.

pray for gospel boldness as we proclaim Jesus to our families our neighbors our community and the world with ALL of our Lives..

TO Put it simply- We cannot make and equip followers of Jesus if we are not all in with Prayer.

and we cannot stand up against the attacks of Satan and temptations in our lives if we are not ALL In with Prayer.

This morning I ask you to join me in committing g to having a life that is bathed in prayer?

And if we as a church commit to faithfully praying for ourselves and one another than God will change this community through our church.

.CLOSING

I ask each of you to stand with me in prayer

Pray

God you are an amazing God- Your righteousness is far beyond my comprehension, and your love that you have shown us is more than I can fathom. God you are so Good. God we know that when we have unconfessed in our hearts that it drives a wedge in our relationship with You. God I ask that you forgive us our trespasses against you. and God I ask that you restore any broken relationships that you have with each of us here. God I pray that we start alert in our walk as Christians. God keep us from Sin, Keep us faithful to Jesus and to each other.

God I want to say thank you for all that you have done for us in this church. You saved us , You redeemed , you adopted us as your sons. God thank you for all the work you have done in our church, for the lives that have turned from sin and to Jesus, and for the relationships that have been restored, and for all of the blessings you have poured out on us. Thank You God for being our God.

God I pray for for believers around the world. God I pray that even today in their own places of worship that broken relationships are being restored that sin is being confessed, and that your church is standing firm against the attacks of Satan.

God I pray for gospel boldness in my life. God give me tour words to speak as I proclaim Jesus in our community. God give each of your followers her this morning gospel boldness as they proclaim salvation to their families their coworkers and their neighbors this week.

As Paul said In Ephesians 3 “ Now to You who is able to do exceeding abundantly more than we could ever ask or imagine to you be ALL THE GLORY.

God I ask you to do more than we could ever ask or imaging in this church and through this church for your glory alone.

And God I pray all of these things in the powerful precious name of Your son Jesus!