Pray At all times! Ephesians 6:18-24 Adapted from a Jim Black sermon http://www.sermoncentral.com/print_friendly.asp?ContributorID=&SermonID=56797

1. Adapted from a Jim Black sermon
http://www.sermoncentral.com/print_frien
dly.asp?ContributorID=&SermonID=56797

2. Ephesians 6:18 NET With every prayer and
petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and to
this end be alert, with all perseverance and
requests for all the saints. 19 Pray for me
also, that I may be given the message when
I begin to speak — that I may confidently
make known the mystery of the gospel, 20
for which I am an ambassador in chains.

3. Pray that I may be able to speak boldly as I
ought to speak. 21 Tychicus, my dear
brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will
make everything known to you, so that you
too may know about my
circumstances, how I am doing. 22 I have
sent him to you for this very purpose, that
you may know our circumstances and that
he may encourage your hearts.

4. 23 Peace to the brothers and sisters, and
love with faith, from God the Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all of
those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with
an undying love.
Paul calls Christians to utilize the most
powerful „weapon‟ they possess:
PRAYER, AT ALL TIMES!
Christians are encouraged to re-discover
the power of prayer in their lives.

5. Ephesians 6:12 NET For our struggle is not
against flesh and blood, but against the
rulers, against the powers, against the
world rulers of this darkness, against the
spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. 13
For this reason, take up the full armor of
God so that you may be able to stand your
ground on the evil day, and having done
everything, to stand.

6. 14 Stand firm therefore, by fastening the
belt of truth around your waist, by putting on
the breastplate of righteousness, 15 by
fitting your feet with the preparation that
comes from the good news of peace, 16
and in all of this, by taking up the shield of
faith with which you can extinguish all the
flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take
the helmet of salvation and the sword of
the Spirit, which is the word of God.

7. 18 With every prayer and petition, pray at
all times in the Spirit, and to this end be
alert, with all perseverance and requests for
all the saints.
History records that on August 6, 1945 after
four long years of war with the Axis of evil
and after years of research and
development, President Harry S. Truman
gave the order.

8. United States Army Air Forces crew on
board the B-29 Superfortress, the Enola
Gay, dropped the Atomic Bomb, nicknamed
“Little Boy”, on Hiroshima, Japan. One
minute after being dropped, the bomb
exploded into a fireball with a magnitude of
which had never been seen before! That
and the bomb dropped on Nagasaki three
days later brought a clear and decisive end
to years of death and destruction during the
second world war.

9. Maybe you‟ve heard about the M.O.A.B. -
the Massive Ordnance Air Burst Bomb. It‟s
the most powerful conventional (non-
nuclear) bomb ever developed and its being
used by Allied forces.
Sometimes in war, the situation calls for the
most powerful weapon at your disposal.

10. In this battle against the spiritual forces of
evil, in this battle for the souls of men and
women, the most powerful weapon at our
disposal, SADLY, is often the weapon we
pull out last, Prayer.
In today‟s text let‟s notice Paul‟s final prayer
requests of the Ephesians.

11. 1. Notice, Paul calls on Christians to PRAY
AT ALL TIMES, in EVERY SEASON!
Though Paul saves it for last in this list, I
believe he does so because it is the MOST
IMPORTANT WEAPON of battle! Not that it
should be used as the last resort, or when
all else fails! No! He says that Christians
are to pray ON ALL OCCASIONS!

12. He had told the church at Thessalonica to
constantly pray,
1 Thessalonians 5:17 NET
Why?
This is the foundational
weapon of war!

13. To use the language I used last
week, there‟s a war on! It‟s a serious war
against a serious enemy, but we have a
secret weapon at our disposal! Like Special
Operative troops they aim their
sophisticated lasers at specific locales and
call down laser-guided missiles from fighter
jets overhead to destroy specific targets!

14. That‟s how prayer works. In prayer, we can
call down power from on high and focus it in
on a specific target!
It makes a difference!
Paul is calling for more than specific
prayers, he‟s calling for a lifestyle of prayer!

15. While there are certainly times which we
are to go into our prayer closets and spend
specific and pointed quiet time with God;
(Matt. 6:6) this is a call to see all of life as
communion with God. I DO think that we
should see prayer as a kind of „spiritual
breathing‟, something we do
naturally, almost without thinking about it.

16. 2. Notice, too, Paul calls on Christians to
pray…IN THE SPIRIT.
What does it mean to pray…in the Spirit? Is
this different from „just praying?‟ According
to a survey almost 90% of Americans
regularly „pray‟ in some regard. But just
because one says he is praying, does that
really mean that he is truly speaking to
God?

17. To pray…in the Spirit is to pray „under the
influence of the Spirit.‟ Back in 5:18 Paul
had exhorted his readers And do not get
drunk with wine, which is debauchery, but
be filled by the Spirit, Ephesians 5:18 NET
Christians are to live their lives under the
influence of the Spirit, NOT anything or
anyone else!

18. This is a call for Christians to be guided and
led by the Holy Spirit of God in their
prayers! That their prayers & requests are
not just some rote prayers memorized since
youth or some „wish list‟; “God, please could
you give me this, or that, and by the way,”
NO! Our prayer is directed by the Holy
Spirit! How? How does this work? I‟m not
exactly sure, but I think Romams 8:26,27
helps us out in understanding this.

19. Romans 8:26 NET 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. 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.

20. The Spirit intercedes for us in prayer. When
we don‟t know what to say, the Spirit does.
When we just can‟t find the words, the Spirit
does. When our souls are hurting and we
don‟t know why or what to ask, the Spirit
does.

21. 3. Notice WHO Christians are to
pray…FOR.
“For all the saints.” Christians are to pray for
one another. Christians are to pray for the
church. Is this church on your prayer list?
I‟ve never been real disciplined about
prayer, I always found time to pray, but
didn‟t discipline myself like I do these days.
I‟ve started a list of prayer needs to help me
remember what and who I need to pray
about.

22. Have you done this? We need to be
reminded that the church should be high up
there on our list! We need to be in prayer
over our Elders, Deacons & preachers. We
need to be in prayer over our
members, especially those hurting or
unable to be with us. We need to be in
prayer over the ministry of this church; what
we‟re trying to do for God.

23. 4. Finally, Paul calls on the Christians there
at Ephesus to pray for him.
I can understand that! Paul‟s in quite a
circumstance! Remember back in 3:1 he‟s
told us, For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner
of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles
— Ephesians 3:1 NET

24. While he is in Roman custody, he doesn‟t
consider himself a prisoner of Rome or of
Caesar, but of Christ! It is for the sake of
Christ and spreading the good news of
Christ that he‟s been thrown in jail! But, he
doesn‟t pray for what I‟d expect him to pray.

25. I know that if I was in that circumstance I‟d
be praying for release! I‟d be praying for
rescue! I‟d be praying for protection!
I think its worth noting that the prayers he
requested were for NONE of those things.

26. 19 Pray for me also, that I may be given the
message when I begin to speak — that I
may confidently make known the mystery of
the gospel, 20 for which I am an
ambassador in chains. Pray that I may be
able to speak boldly as I ought to speak.

27. Paul‟s request was for courage so that he
might fearlessly continue preaching the
gospel! Isn‟t that amazing? Paul is a Roman
prisoner as a direct result of his preaching
the gospel and all he can think about is
preaching the gospel. He doesn‟t ask for
prayers of protection or prayers of comfort
or prayers for release, but prayers for the
courage to stand firm and continue
preaching the good news!

28. That‟s encouraging! How committed are WE
to that task? What if we found ourselves
imprisoned for our beliefs? Would we still
proclaim the good news? What if we found
ourselves at the wrong end of a revolver?
Would we still proclaim the good news?
What if we found ourselves beaten &
tortured for the sake of Christ? Would we
still proclaim the good news?

29. Well, we catch a glimpse of the 1st century
world in which Paul lived in his final
greetings.
21 Tychicus, my dear brother and faithful
servant in the Lord, will make everything
known to you, so that you too may know
about my circumstances, how I am doing.
22 I have sent him to you for this very
purpose, that you may know our
circumstances and that he may encourage
your hearts.

30. 23 Peace to the brothers and sisters, and
love with faith, from God the Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all of
those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with
an undying love.
Even the Apostle Paul needed friends.
Tychicus is mentioned first in Acts as a
friend of Paul‟s and then shows up again in
four of Paul‟s letters.

31. Perhaps he is the courier for this
letter, hand-delivering it to the church at
Ephesus. Paul wants him to convey
personally to them how he is doing and to
encourage them. Again, even in
prison, Paul‟s concern isn‟t for himself, but
how he might encourage others.
It‟s a typical final greeting for Paul. Paul
wishes them the fullest blessings of life.
Peace… & Grace be with all of those who
love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying
love.

32. How would you describe your prayer life?
flourishing or floundering? always or almost
never? Constant or erratic?
Your car is hurtling on the rain slick road
sideways toward an oncoming car at 50
mph! What do you do? You pray! But what
do you do when the weather is nice and the
drive is peaceful?

33. The doctor comes into your exam room with
the test results and a worried frown on his
face. What do you do? You pray! But what
do you do at your work involved in the
mundane everyday responsibilities of your
job?

34. You‟re in the delivery room and the doctor
looks at you and says, “It‟s a boy!” or “It‟s a
girl!” What do you do? You thank God! But
what do you do when the diaper has to be
changed or the little booger has woken you
up in the middle of the night?
I believe that so goes your prayer-life, so
goes your relationship with God. How‟s
yours?

35. This is a call to pray, to pray powerfully, to
pray specifically and to pray constantly! Not
just when the chips are down; not just when
all else fails; not just when you don‟t have
anywhere else to turn, but pray always, in
every season. God is there listening, He
has said that He will never leave us nor
forsake us!

36. My prayer today is that if you don‟t know
Christ, you won‟t leave here without finding
out more about him.
And if you are in need of prayer, that you‟d
let that be known so that your brothers &
sisters in Christ can be an encouragement
to you through their prayers. Won‟t
you, during the singing of this invitation
song?

37. We‟re not finished learning from the Church in
Ephesus. There is more written to & about the
Church in Ephesus. Did you know there is
another letter written to the Church in
Ephesus?
Your homework for next week is to find another
letter to the Church in Ephesus & find other
passages about problems in Ephesus. If you
know where these passages are located keep
it to yourself! Let others have the experience of
searching the Scriptures.