The Battlefield - Prayer
Ephesians 6:18
Message #14
Last week we looked at the sixth and final piece of the armor, the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And we tried to make it clear that the Word of God is the offensive foundation for every defensive article of the armor. All of those articles of armor are empowered by the offensive weapon of the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And we stand firm in the victory that Jesus Christ has won for us by first using the offensive Word of God to put on every defensive article of armor. And then we use the Word of God directly on the enemy, enabling us to stand firm against his attacks. That was what we did last week.
So, after thirteen weeks of pretty intense study, we’re understanding our enemy more. We’re understanding God’s armor more, and we’re understanding the spiritual battle more. So, the question is: Where do we go? No, really, where do we go from here? We go to the battlefield!!
From here, we learn how to actually get on the battlefield and take part in the spiritual battle, and guys, that battlefield is prayer. When you are ready to actually take part, to have a productive role in the spiritual battle, your battlefield is PRAYER. Prayer is where you are allowed to have a role in the spiritual battle. And that is where we’re going today.
You may remember we started this Spiritual Battle Series in the book of Daniel. Daniel chapters 9 and 10 launched us into this little “side series,” which has now become fourteen messages. Well, finally, today’s message reconnects us to the chapters in Daniel that got us started down this road.
It was in prayer that Daniel was able to see into the reality of the spiritual battle, and it was in prayer that Daniel realized he had a very real role to play in the spiritual battle. Daniel entered the realm of the spiritual battle in prayer, and Daniel’s role in the spiritual battle was prayer. Here’s how I see it. Prayer is like a wormhole that takes us out of the physical realm and into the spiritual realm. Prayer takes us there, and prayer is our role there.
Prayer is the battlefield.
So, let’s go back and do a quick review of some of Daniel 9 and 10.
Daniel 9:2–3 (NLT)
2 During the first year of his reign (Darius The Mede), I, Daniel, learned from reading the word of the Lord (notice), as revealed to Jeremiah the prophet, that Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years.
3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting (no casual prayer). I also wore rough burlap and sprinkled myself with ashes.
Here, Daniel was moved by the Word of God (sword of the Spirit) into a time of intense prayer and supplication for the people of God. I want you to see the connection between the Word of God and being moved to intense prayer. (It’s the same in Ephesians 6.)
Daniel 9:4 (NLT)
4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: “O Lord, you are a great and awesome God! . . .
And then what follows is an incredible prayer perfectly aligned with God’s Word. This is praying “in” (in accordance with) God’s Spirit, which is also key in the spiritual battle text of Ephesians 6. And then, we see Daniel’s entrance into the spiritual realm through his prayer in verses 21-23.
Daniel 9:21–23 (NLT)
21 As I was praying, Gabriel, whom I had seen in the earlier vision, came swiftly to me at the time of the evening sacrifice.
22 He explained to me, “Daniel, I have come here to give you insight and understanding.
23 The moment you began praying, a command was given. And now I am here to tell you what it was . . .
Our only point here today is to see that:
1). Daniel was PRAYING – using the Word of God
2). He was praying ACCORDING to God’s Spirit
3). He was praying in INTENSE SUPPLICATION for God’s people
4). God RESPONDED to him in the SPIRITUAL REALM
And God’s response was to usher him onto the spiritual battlefield and allow him to see the angelic warriors working on his behalf. And we see all three of these things in our Ephesians 6 text to usher us onto the spiritual battlefield where the angelic warriors are working on our behalf as well. We are brought into the spiritual realm in prayer. When we are praying according to God’s Word in intense supplication, we can expect a response in the spiritual realm on our behalf. That’s a pretty big lesson. PRAYER is a really big deal.
Let’s continue. Then, in Chapter 10, Daniel is again brought onto the spiritual battlefield after praying and mourning, and fasting for twenty-one days straight.
Daniel 10:2-14 (NLT)
2 . . . I, Daniel, had been in mourning (and fasting and praying) for three whole weeks.
. . .
4 . . . as I was standing on the bank of the great Tigris River,
5 I looked up and saw a man dressed in linen clothing, with a belt of pure gold around his waist.
. . . (skip to verse 11)
11 And the man said to me, “Daniel, you are very precious to God, so listen carefully to what I have to say to you. Stand up, for I have been sent to you.” . . .
(Again, Daniel enters the spiritual realm through prayer, and in his prayer according to God’s Word, and in his intense supplication, God responds. And again, this messenger comes and responds and says, “I have been sent to you.”)
12 Then he said, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer.
(Notice – in answer to your prayer. Prayer takes us out of the physical into the spiritual, and then our prayer in the spiritual, if prayed correctly according to God’s Word in the Spirit, creates a response in the spiritual realm.)
13 But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way (the spiritual enemy). Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia.
14 Now I am here to explain what will happen to your people in the future . . .
Catch this one truth very clearly. Daniel is brought onto the spiritual battlefield through prayer, and Daniel’s role in the spiritual battle is prayer. In the same way, you and I enter the spiritual battlefield through prayer, and our offensive role in the spiritual battle is prayer. That’s where the battle actually rages. Everything else you see is a symptom of what happens in the spiritual place. It is a manifestation of what is occurring in the spiritual realm; it’s a symptom to what is happening there.
1). Jesus Christ came and has already won the victory wholly and completely in our place.
2). You must put on all the armor to stand in that victory
3). And take up the sword of the Spirit (Word of God)
4). And then we actually enter the battlefield through prayer.
You take up your armor; you put on your sword and then get in the battle. The battlefield is prayer. You get there through prayer, and your role when you’re there is prayer. Do we want to just read about the armor? Do we want to just learn about the fact that there is a spiritual battle going on? Or do we want to get off our pew and go get in the battle? And do something in there!
A strange thing happened for my wife Pam and I. After watching our son train for battle for two solid years, we kind of had a hard time understanding how anxious he was to actually get to the battlefield because of our concern for him physically. When he was like, “Man, when are they going to let me go? I’m ready. I’m more ready. I’ve been ready. I’m teaching other guys how to get ready. I need to get to the battlefield.” He had been putting on the armor for two years. He had been preparing and training for the battle for two years, and he knew that his brother’s-in-arms were out there in the battle. He wanted badly to actually get to the battlefield because he wanted to have a positive impact on the battle. He knew that all the preparation in the world was not actually being in the battle. Only being on the battlefield is being in the battle. And he wanted to be there, putting all his armor and his training to good use. Shouldn’t we be the same way?
Shouldn’t we be the same way? How long have we been learning about the armor? How long have we been training for this battle? And how long are we going to sit on the sideline while our brothers and sisters are actually on the battlefield in genuine need of us to be there with them? Prayer brings us into the realm where the spiritual battle is actually occurring. Prayer is the battlefield.
Are you ready to actually enter the battlefield? Alright. Let’s look at how we do that. I’ve been using the NLT for this study, but I really want to break Ephesians 6, verse 18 down into bite-size pieces, and the NLT “over-simplifies” it a bit for my purpose here. So, from the ESV, I want to read Ephesians 6, verses 16-17 together because I want you to see one cool thing, to start.
Ephesians 6:17–18 (ESV)
17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, (Notice the punctuation mark)
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,
The command to take up the second half of the armor, the shield of faith, helmet of salvation and sword of the Spirit ends with a comma – not a period – which is meant to show a continuation of the same thought. Of the ten primary Bible translations I use for every message, four of them make verse 18 part of the same sentence as verse 17. The NKJV writes Ephesians 6, verses 16-17 this way:
Ephesians 6:17–18 (NKJV)
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God; (notice punctuation) 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit . . .
Do you see the semi-colon after “the Word of God”? The semi-colon is to show a close bond between two statements and to show an expanding (or connecting) of two thoughts.
Now listen to what the translation notes say in one of the best translated Bible versions available today, the NET Bible.
NET Translation Note:
Both “praying” and “being alert” . . . are connected with all of the preceding instructions. As such, they are not additional commands to do but instead are the means through which the prior instructions are accomplished.
Praying and being alert are the means through which the prior instructions are accomplished.
Prayer is where these instructions about the spiritual battle are accomplished. Prayer is where we take part in the spiritual battle. Prayer is the battlefield.
Now, don’t let me lose you. We’ve been studying this for fourteen weeks. We need to see this is all a “singular training” for our victory in the spiritual battle. It is just that we are now down to the HOW and the where do we take part in this battle. The answer is in prayer.
So let me sum up your spiritual battle training. To be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might, you have to stand firm in the victory Jesus Christ has won for you, you have to live in truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation, and then you take up the sword of the spirit… and then go get on the battlefield to start resisting the enemy so he will flee from you, to start standing your ground – get to the battlefield of prayer. When you are actually ready to join the battle, you do so on the battlefield of prayer.
Let’s go through Ephesians 6, verse 18, in more detail.
Ephesians 6:18 (ESV)
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,
There is actually a ton of instruction in this one verse.
Praying at all times
There are two words translated “time” in the New Testament, CHRONOS and KAIROS. CHRONOS means “the passing of time, like on a clock.” If this were that word, it would mean we’re to pray all the time, which we are encouraged to do in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (pray without ceasing.) But this word is not CHRONOS. This word is KAIROS. KAIROS refers to “a specific point of time, or a specific season of time.” A good paraphrase could be “Praying at all of these times.”
All of what times? All of these times of spiritual battle. All of these times when the attack is on, at all of these times, you better get on the battlefield of prayer. And how are you to pray at all of these times?
You are to pray in the Spirit
This does not automatically mean praying in tongues, although if you have that gift, it may include that. This means primarily praying in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Jude 20 (NLT)
20 . . . pray in the power of the Holy Spirit,
And the number one way for you to pray in the power of the Holy Spirit is to pray God’s Word. God’s Word is the sword of the Spirit, and prayer is the battlefield. What better place is there to use God’s sword? The sword is made for the battlefield of prayer. We’ve got to learn to use the sword of the Spirit on the battlefield of prayer.
If I could teach a Christian one thing about the spiritual battle, it would be how to use the sword of the Spirit on the battlefield of prayer. Prayer is the battlefield where our spiritual life is won or lost. We’ve got to go out on that battlefield with the sword of the Spirit, and we’ve got to know how to use that sword so we can start routing the enemy with it.
How else does Ephesians 6, verse 18 call us to do battle in prayer?
Pray with all prayer and supplication
The word means all kinds (types) of prayer. Deliberate prayer, spontaneous prayer. Prayer of confession, praise, adoration, thanksgiving, etc. This is “all kinds of prayer.” It’s like unloading all the guns on the enemy at once. It’s prayer with supplication. Supplication is an intensity of prayer, purposefulness. It is beseeching, imploring, and petitioning God with earnestness and intensity. This is not child’s play. This is not “now I lay me down to sleep” prayers.
What else does Ephesians 6, verse 18 say?
“To that end” keep alert
“To that end” means “for this purpose.” In order to do some good in this spiritual battle. We must keep alert, stay focused and not become distracted. If we are going to stand in victory on this battlefield, we have got to stay alert.
1 Peter 5:8 (NLT)
8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour
We have got to be on alert, on guard
Ready at all times to stand firm in all the armor
Ready at all times to draw the sword of the spirit
Ready at all times to do battle in prayer
How else does this verse call us to pray?
With all perseverance
It means “with persistent determination or intense effort.” Are you fighting the spiritual battle on the battlefield of prayer with persistent determination and intense effort? Victory on the battlefield of prayer takes persistent, dedicated, disciplined determination – OR we can just give in to the enemy and be another notch on his belt.
And finally, in Ephesians 6, verse 18, we are to be:
Making supplication for all the saints
We are to be doing battle with one another and for one another. The Body of Christ is all for one and one for all. We’ve got to be taking part in this battle of prayer for each other. Praying for each other, holding each other up. We’re in the battle together – we’ve got to be fighting in prayer – together.
Does that give you an idea of what the battlefield of prayer, the spiritual battle, actually looks like? Does it give you an idea of why we are so easily taken out by the enemy over and over again when we are not on this battlefield with this intensity?
The problem is, now I don’t have any time left to teach you HOW to pray. So, instead, I’ve put together a bit of a library on prayer for you. If you seriously want to start doing battle on the battlefield of prayer, then I want to give you ten messages to listen to and study. I’m just going to put them on the screen and read them; that way, you can pause the video or rewind the audio. OR, you can just ask us for these ten messages and begin to learn how to enter the battlefield in prayer. All of these messages are available by downloading the wordbymail phone app.
Ten Messages on Prayer:
Meet God Daily
Abide in Prayer
Quiet Time
Meditating on God’s Word
Praying According to God’s Word
How Do We Pray?
Are You Praying?
Four Marks of True Revival
A Prayer of Restoration
Jesus Prays for His Disciples
All of those messages will help you understand the importance of and also HOW to pray.
Okay, please pay close attention. I’m going to give you three steps of what to do in order to fight the spiritual battle victoriously.
1). Discern the area of attack
2). Strengthen that part of the armor
3). Do battle in prayer
I had to actually do this myself while I was preparing this message. In this series, I feel like I’m uncovering the enemy’s tactics and revealing how we can actually beat him. And in response, he is definitely unloading some extra special attacks on me. He is continuing to come at me with cannons of doubt and discouragement, and depression. On Friday, he kept bringing up to me the attacks that people have leveled against me over the years until I was feeling physically sick from it.
And this is exactly what I did…
1). I stopped preparing the message
2). I got clear in my mind in what area I was being attacked
3). I got out the offensive weapon of God’s Word, and I strengthened that area of my armor. I meditated on the Word, I prayed the Word, and I spoke the Word to myself and back to God.
4). And then I battled the enemy’s attack – in prayer – using the Word of God the entire time until the enemy backed off.
And that is what I want you to do, too – when your attacks come.
DISCERN the area you are being attacked in
STRENGTHEN that part of the armor
Then GO TO BATTLE in prayer
Keep doing it with persistent determination until the enemy flees!
James 4:7 (NLT)
7… Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
But that resistance is an aggressive, purposeful battle in the battlefield of prayer.
So, after thirteen weeks of pretty intense study, we’re understanding our enemy more. We’re understanding God’s armor more, and we’re understanding the spiritual battle more. So, the question is: Where do we go? No, really, where do we go from here? We go to the battlefield!!
From here, we learn how to actually get on the battlefield and take part in the spiritual battle, and guys, that battlefield is prayer. When you are ready to actually take part, to have a productive role in the spiritual battle, your battlefield is PRAYER. Prayer is where you are allowed to have a role in the spiritual battle. And that is where we’re going today.
You may remember we started this Spiritual Battle Series in the book of Daniel. Daniel chapters 9 and 10 launched us into this little “side series,” which has now become fourteen messages. Well, finally, today’s message reconnects us to the chapters in Daniel that got us started down this road.
It was in prayer that Daniel was able to see into the reality of the spiritual battle, and it was in prayer that Daniel realized he had a very real role to play in the spiritual battle. Daniel entered the realm of the spiritual battle in prayer, and Daniel’s role in the spiritual battle was prayer. Here’s how I see it. Prayer is like a wormhole that takes us out of the physical realm and into the spiritual realm. Prayer takes us there, and prayer is our role there.
Prayer is the battlefield.
So, let’s go back and do a quick review of some of Daniel 9 and 10.
Daniel 9:2–3 (NLT)
2 During the first year of his reign (Darius The Mede), I, Daniel, learned from reading the word of the Lord (notice), as revealed to Jeremiah the prophet, that Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years.
3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting (no casual prayer). I also wore rough burlap and sprinkled myself with ashes.
Here, Daniel was moved by the Word of God (sword of the Spirit) into a time of intense prayer and supplication for the people of God. I want you to see the connection between the Word of God and being moved to intense prayer. (It’s the same in Ephesians 6.)
Daniel 9:4 (NLT)
4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: “O Lord, you are a great and awesome God! . . .
And then what follows is an incredible prayer perfectly aligned with God’s Word. This is praying “in” (in accordance with) God’s Spirit, which is also key in the spiritual battle text of Ephesians 6. And then, we see Daniel’s entrance into the spiritual realm through his prayer in verses 21-23.
Daniel 9:21–23 (NLT)
21 As I was praying, Gabriel, whom I had seen in the earlier vision, came swiftly to me at the time of the evening sacrifice.
22 He explained to me, “Daniel, I have come here to give you insight and understanding.
23 The moment you began praying, a command was given. And now I am here to tell you what it was . . .
Our only point here today is to see that:
1). Daniel was PRAYING – using the Word of God
2). He was praying ACCORDING to God’s Spirit
3). He was praying in INTENSE SUPPLICATION for God’s people
4). God RESPONDED to him in the SPIRITUAL REALM
And God’s response was to usher him onto the spiritual battlefield and allow him to see the angelic warriors working on his behalf. And we see all three of these things in our Ephesians 6 text to usher us onto the spiritual battlefield where the angelic warriors are working on our behalf as well. We are brought into the spiritual realm in prayer. When we are praying according to God’s Word in intense supplication, we can expect a response in the spiritual realm on our behalf. That’s a pretty big lesson. PRAYER is a really big deal.
Let’s continue. Then, in Chapter 10, Daniel is again brought onto the spiritual battlefield after praying and mourning, and fasting for twenty-one days straight.
Daniel 10:2-14 (NLT)
2 . . . I, Daniel, had been in mourning (and fasting and praying) for three whole weeks.
. . .
4 . . . as I was standing on the bank of the great Tigris River,
5 I looked up and saw a man dressed in linen clothing, with a belt of pure gold around his waist.
. . . (skip to verse 11)
11 And the man said to me, “Daniel, you are very precious to God, so listen carefully to what I have to say to you. Stand up, for I have been sent to you.” . . .
(Again, Daniel enters the spiritual realm through prayer, and in his prayer according to God’s Word, and in his intense supplication, God responds. And again, this messenger comes and responds and says, “I have been sent to you.”)
12 Then he said, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer.
(Notice – in answer to your prayer. Prayer takes us out of the physical into the spiritual, and then our prayer in the spiritual, if prayed correctly according to God’s Word in the Spirit, creates a response in the spiritual realm.)
13 But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way (the spiritual enemy). Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia.
14 Now I am here to explain what will happen to your people in the future . . .
Catch this one truth very clearly. Daniel is brought onto the spiritual battlefield through prayer, and Daniel’s role in the spiritual battle is prayer. In the same way, you and I enter the spiritual battlefield through prayer, and our offensive role in the spiritual battle is prayer. That’s where the battle actually rages. Everything else you see is a symptom of what happens in the spiritual place. It is a manifestation of what is occurring in the spiritual realm; it’s a symptom to what is happening there.
1). Jesus Christ came and has already won the victory wholly and completely in our place.
2). You must put on all the armor to stand in that victory
3). And take up the sword of the Spirit (Word of God)
4). And then we actually enter the battlefield through prayer.
You take up your armor; you put on your sword and then get in the battle. The battlefield is prayer. You get there through prayer, and your role when you’re there is prayer. Do we want to just read about the armor? Do we want to just learn about the fact that there is a spiritual battle going on? Or do we want to get off our pew and go get in the battle? And do something in there!
A strange thing happened for my wife Pam and I. After watching our son train for battle for two solid years, we kind of had a hard time understanding how anxious he was to actually get to the battlefield because of our concern for him physically. When he was like, “Man, when are they going to let me go? I’m ready. I’m more ready. I’ve been ready. I’m teaching other guys how to get ready. I need to get to the battlefield.” He had been putting on the armor for two years. He had been preparing and training for the battle for two years, and he knew that his brother’s-in-arms were out there in the battle. He wanted badly to actually get to the battlefield because he wanted to have a positive impact on the battle. He knew that all the preparation in the world was not actually being in the battle. Only being on the battlefield is being in the battle. And he wanted to be there, putting all his armor and his training to good use. Shouldn’t we be the same way?
Shouldn’t we be the same way? How long have we been learning about the armor? How long have we been training for this battle? And how long are we going to sit on the sideline while our brothers and sisters are actually on the battlefield in genuine need of us to be there with them? Prayer brings us into the realm where the spiritual battle is actually occurring. Prayer is the battlefield.
Are you ready to actually enter the battlefield? Alright. Let’s look at how we do that. I’ve been using the NLT for this study, but I really want to break Ephesians 6, verse 18 down into bite-size pieces, and the NLT “over-simplifies” it a bit for my purpose here. So, from the ESV, I want to read Ephesians 6, verses 16-17 together because I want you to see one cool thing, to start.
Ephesians 6:17–18 (ESV)
17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, (Notice the punctuation mark)
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,
The command to take up the second half of the armor, the shield of faith, helmet of salvation and sword of the Spirit ends with a comma – not a period – which is meant to show a continuation of the same thought. Of the ten primary Bible translations I use for every message, four of them make verse 18 part of the same sentence as verse 17. The NKJV writes Ephesians 6, verses 16-17 this way:
Ephesians 6:17–18 (NKJV)
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God; (notice punctuation) 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit . . .
Do you see the semi-colon after “the Word of God”? The semi-colon is to show a close bond between two statements and to show an expanding (or connecting) of two thoughts.
Now listen to what the translation notes say in one of the best translated Bible versions available today, the NET Bible.
NET Translation Note:
Both “praying” and “being alert” . . . are connected with all of the preceding instructions. As such, they are not additional commands to do but instead are the means through which the prior instructions are accomplished.
Praying and being alert are the means through which the prior instructions are accomplished.
Prayer is where these instructions about the spiritual battle are accomplished. Prayer is where we take part in the spiritual battle. Prayer is the battlefield.
Now, don’t let me lose you. We’ve been studying this for fourteen weeks. We need to see this is all a “singular training” for our victory in the spiritual battle. It is just that we are now down to the HOW and the where do we take part in this battle. The answer is in prayer.
So let me sum up your spiritual battle training. To be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might, you have to stand firm in the victory Jesus Christ has won for you, you have to live in truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation, and then you take up the sword of the spirit… and then go get on the battlefield to start resisting the enemy so he will flee from you, to start standing your ground – get to the battlefield of prayer. When you are actually ready to join the battle, you do so on the battlefield of prayer.
Let’s go through Ephesians 6, verse 18, in more detail.
Ephesians 6:18 (ESV)
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,
There is actually a ton of instruction in this one verse.
Praying at all times
There are two words translated “time” in the New Testament, CHRONOS and KAIROS. CHRONOS means “the passing of time, like on a clock.” If this were that word, it would mean we’re to pray all the time, which we are encouraged to do in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (pray without ceasing.) But this word is not CHRONOS. This word is KAIROS. KAIROS refers to “a specific point of time, or a specific season of time.” A good paraphrase could be “Praying at all of these times.”
All of what times? All of these times of spiritual battle. All of these times when the attack is on, at all of these times, you better get on the battlefield of prayer. And how are you to pray at all of these times?
You are to pray in the Spirit
This does not automatically mean praying in tongues, although if you have that gift, it may include that. This means primarily praying in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Jude 20 (NLT)
20 . . . pray in the power of the Holy Spirit,
And the number one way for you to pray in the power of the Holy Spirit is to pray God’s Word. God’s Word is the sword of the Spirit, and prayer is the battlefield. What better place is there to use God’s sword? The sword is made for the battlefield of prayer. We’ve got to learn to use the sword of the Spirit on the battlefield of prayer.
If I could teach a Christian one thing about the spiritual battle, it would be how to use the sword of the Spirit on the battlefield of prayer. Prayer is the battlefield where our spiritual life is won or lost. We’ve got to go out on that battlefield with the sword of the Spirit, and we’ve got to know how to use that sword so we can start routing the enemy with it.
How else does Ephesians 6, verse 18 call us to do battle in prayer?
Pray with all prayer and supplication
The word means all kinds (types) of prayer. Deliberate prayer, spontaneous prayer. Prayer of confession, praise, adoration, thanksgiving, etc. This is “all kinds of prayer.” It’s like unloading all the guns on the enemy at once. It’s prayer with supplication. Supplication is an intensity of prayer, purposefulness. It is beseeching, imploring, and petitioning God with earnestness and intensity. This is not child’s play. This is not “now I lay me down to sleep” prayers.
What else does Ephesians 6, verse 18 say?
“To that end” keep alert
“To that end” means “for this purpose.” In order to do some good in this spiritual battle. We must keep alert, stay focused and not become distracted. If we are going to stand in victory on this battlefield, we have got to stay alert.
1 Peter 5:8 (NLT)
8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour
We have got to be on alert, on guard
Ready at all times to stand firm in all the armor
Ready at all times to draw the sword of the spirit
Ready at all times to do battle in prayer
How else does this verse call us to pray?
With all perseverance
It means “with persistent determination or intense effort.” Are you fighting the spiritual battle on the battlefield of prayer with persistent determination and intense effort? Victory on the battlefield of prayer takes persistent, dedicated, disciplined determination – OR we can just give in to the enemy and be another notch on his belt.
And finally, in Ephesians 6, verse 18, we are to be:
Making supplication for all the saints
We are to be doing battle with one another and for one another. The Body of Christ is all for one and one for all. We’ve got to be taking part in this battle of prayer for each other. Praying for each other, holding each other up. We’re in the battle together – we’ve got to be fighting in prayer – together.
Does that give you an idea of what the battlefield of prayer, the spiritual battle, actually looks like? Does it give you an idea of why we are so easily taken out by the enemy over and over again when we are not on this battlefield with this intensity?
The problem is, now I don’t have any time left to teach you HOW to pray. So, instead, I’ve put together a bit of a library on prayer for you. If you seriously want to start doing battle on the battlefield of prayer, then I want to give you ten messages to listen to and study. I’m just going to put them on the screen and read them; that way, you can pause the video or rewind the audio. OR, you can just ask us for these ten messages and begin to learn how to enter the battlefield in prayer. All of these messages are available by downloading the wordbymail phone app.
Ten Messages on Prayer:
Meet God Daily
Abide in Prayer
Quiet Time
Meditating on God’s Word
Praying According to God’s Word
How Do We Pray?
Are You Praying?
Four Marks of True Revival
A Prayer of Restoration
Jesus Prays for His Disciples
All of those messages will help you understand the importance of and also HOW to pray.
Okay, please pay close attention. I’m going to give you three steps of what to do in order to fight the spiritual battle victoriously.
1). Discern the area of attack
2). Strengthen that part of the armor
3). Do battle in prayer
I had to actually do this myself while I was preparing this message. In this series, I feel like I’m uncovering the enemy’s tactics and revealing how we can actually beat him. And in response, he is definitely unloading some extra special attacks on me. He is continuing to come at me with cannons of doubt and discouragement, and depression. On Friday, he kept bringing up to me the attacks that people have leveled against me over the years until I was feeling physically sick from it.
And this is exactly what I did…
1). I stopped preparing the message
2). I got clear in my mind in what area I was being attacked
3). I got out the offensive weapon of God’s Word, and I strengthened that area of my armor. I meditated on the Word, I prayed the Word, and I spoke the Word to myself and back to God.
4). And then I battled the enemy’s attack – in prayer – using the Word of God the entire time until the enemy backed off.
And that is what I want you to do, too – when your attacks come.
DISCERN the area you are being attacked in
STRENGTHEN that part of the armor
Then GO TO BATTLE in prayer
Keep doing it with persistent determination until the enemy flees!
James 4:7 (NLT)
7… Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
But that resistance is an aggressive, purposeful battle in the battlefield of prayer.