Fifth in our series of reasons to pray is that prayer is a major weapon in fighting the spiritual battle. Ephesians six, verses ten to twenty, outlines some of the armaments in the arsenal of God. We are reminded that ultimately our struggles are not against humans, but against powerful spiritual beings and forces in the “heavenly places” (the spiritual realm which directly influences the natural, material realm).
The picture here is that of a war. Life as a Christian is not a playground; it’s a battlefield. While there is much beauty and love in the world, it is often bent and twisted by our Fall and Satan’s machinations. Thus, the war for souls between God and Satan is fought with Christian co-combatants with Him.
We are instructed by Paul, an experienced soldier in this combat, to be appropriately clad and armed for our struggle. In this passage, he uses some of the most vivid imagery in the New Testament. Modeling a Roman Legionnaire, we put on the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, loins girded with truth, feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel, shield of faith, sword of the Spirit (the Word of God).
Now, it seems we have a complete set of armor and weaponry. And if I were writing this passage, I would say, “Now get out there and fight the battle!”
But interestingly, Paul does not say that. In fact, he waits until verse eighteen to get to the heavy artillery of this arsenal of God -persistent prayer. Notice what he says: “With all prayer and petition pray... with all perseverance and prayer... and pray...”
In two verses, we are commanded to pray five different times. Do you think he (and God) are trying to make a point? He is attempting to seize our attention concerning prayer’s power in the defeat of Satan and his minions. Parallel to this text is II Corinthians 10:3,4: “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.”
The weapon of prayer softens up Satan’s fortress. Hell’s gates cannot prevail. It is the cannon, reducing the wall to rubble so that the troops can go through. Too often, the gospel moves slowly because the softening-up process of prayer has been neglected. When practiced, however, prayer “puts the wind at the back” of Christ’s soldiers.
A few years ago, at a prestigious American University, one powerful administrator was blocking the placement of additional full-time Christian workers on campus because of his own disbelief in the gospel. The Christian students on campus resorted first to prayer. Feeling that no one had the right to keep students from hearing about Christ, they prayed that God would either change this man’s heart or remove him from his position. For six months they prayed faithfully.
Suddenly, for no “apparent” reason, he was transferred to a powerless position and a replacement named. Among the first questions the replacement asked was this: “Why aren’t there more Christian workers?” The workers came, and the gospel flourished. Prayer is key to fighting this spiritual battle.
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