Prayer, Our Greatest Weapon

The Greatest Weapon: Prayer (Ephesians 6:18-20)

“Prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart or soul to God, through Christ, in the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit, for such things as God has promised, or according to the Word of God, for the good of the church, with submission in faith to the will of God.” – John Bunyan

Sermon Outline

1. Prayer is the greatest weapon

   

   1. Today we are going to discuss
      1. Why we should pray.
      2. When we should pray.
      3. How we should pray.
      4. For what we should pray.
2. Why should we pray?
   1. “Keep” being alert – there are threats all around (Eph 6:18, Mk 14:38)
   2. Prayer is our communication with God – tie to the Lord
3. When should we pray?
   1. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions (Eph 6:18, Lk 21:36)
      1. Times of thanks or need
      2. Times of joy or sadness
      3. In times of attack, and times of delivery
   2. Constantly (1Th 5:17, Eph 1:15-16)
      1. Brother Lawrence – Practicing the Presence
4. How should we pray?
   1. In the Spirit
      1. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions (Eph 6:18)
      2. What it is Not
         1. Not in tongues – no hint of this in Ephesian Letter
         2. Praying in the flesh – which is praying for the things you want, fallen nature want
      3. What it is!
         1. Praying for the things of God, Led from temptation and delivered, and with assurance of answer
         2. Praying for the things of God (Mt 6:10)
            1. His thoughts, his Word to be fulfilled, his plans, his glory, his rule!
            2. Praying the Word of God – His word is his desire (Eph 3:16-19)
         3. Praying to be led out of temptation, and delivered from evil (Mt 6:13, Rom 8:26-27)
         4. With an assurance of an answer (Eph 2:18)
   2. Persevering Prayer – Always keep on praying (Eph 6:18)
      1. Perseverance is about God developing us into a praying people, him shaping us, directing us to the things that matter most and asking us to keep pressing into these things at the expense of lesser things!
      2. John Alexander and praying for pastors[1]
      3. Piper notes that the reason most Christians don’t have a persevering prayer life because we don’t plan it into our schedule and life.[2]
5. For what should we pray?
   1. Everything with all kinds of prayers and requests (Eph 6:18)
   2. Saints near and far (Eph 3:14-21)
   3. Those persecuted for their faith, (Eph 6:20)
   4. Evangelism (Eph 6:19)
      1. Boldness
      2. Clarity
      3. Harvest workers
      4. Receptivity
   5. Healing James 5:13-15
6. Paul valued prayer and asked others to pray for him (Eph 6:19, 20)
7. Conclusion – Prayer is our Greatest Weapon in the Spiritual Battle!

[1] R. Kent Hughes, p.256.

[2] John Piper, Desiring God (Portland, OR: Multnomah, 1986), pp. 150, 151.