No Compromise "No Empty Words, No White Lies, No Token Prayers…"

Militant Prayer

The following post is a manuscript is from a recent Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting at Heritage Baptist Church:

Ephesians 6:18-20

^“18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,  ¹⁹ and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,  ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”

This evening we will seek to answer three questions from our passage:

1)   How must we pray?

2)   For whom must we pray?

3)   For what must we pray?

How Must We Pray

We must pray continually in the Spirit.

“With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit…”

The first thing that we must see is that: WE MUST PRAY. In the vss. 10-17, Paul has given an extensive listed of armor for the Christian’s battle against the ruler of darkness. Though the list is wonderfully crafted and important, it is all vain without prayer. The grammatical structure of this paragraph suggests that while putting on the “whole armor of God” is certainly important, it cannot be done apart from pray.

The second thing that we must see is that: We must pray CONTINUALLY. Just as the armor must be worn at all time, so should pray be continually offered to God. It is continuous prayer or as Paul would put it elsewhere, “Pray without ceasing.”

The third thing that we must see is that: We must pray continually IN THE SPIRIT. This idea of praying in the Spirit is not intended to be mystical or to refer to “speaking in tongues”, but rather it is used to refer to the Spirit’s prompting and directing of our prayers according to God’s will. And how is that we know God’s will? We know it and understand it from God’s Word. When we plead the promises of God’s word, God is pleased to answer us because it is His will to do what we ask of Him.

For example, Scriptures teaches us that “God desires all peoples to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.” Upon reading this, we ought to see that we now have Biblical warrant to plead with God to save all peoples, from every kindred, tongue, tribe and nation.

Do not let a misunderstanding of the doctrines of grace stifle your prayers for the lost. Instead, allow the doctrines of grace to be a wonderful encouragement for you to boldly ask God to save all types of people. Whether someone is elect or not is not your concern when praying for their salvation. God will never be angry with the child who indiscriminately prays with faith for the salvation of the lost. The moment that "belief" in the doctrines of grace causes one to feel as though they cannot pray with faith for the salvation of the lost, is the moment at which one becomes a hyper-calvinist.

It is not presumptuous to have faith that God will move and save the people that we are praying for, rather it is obedient and it glorifies God.

For Whom Must We Pray

We must pray for Christians and Ministers.

“And with this in view, be on alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints…”

Paul takes care to draw his readers’ attention to the urgent situation that the church is facing. The participle that is translated in vs. 18 as “be on alert” has the same “continuous” aspect as the Paul’s command to “pray at all times.” Paul wants his readers to be “on alert” continually for others within the body of Christ.

This idea of being “on alert” is an allusion to the wartime motif from the earlier verses. Paul is calling for His reader to keep their eyes open for their fellow Christians by continually praying for them.

But it is not only the brethren, but also the ministers of the Gospel. Look at vs. 19 which says, “and pray on my behalf.” Paul wants the church in Ephesus to not only pray for each other, but to also pray for him. But what for? What is the request that must be made for Paul? Well this takes us to our third and final point…

For What Must We Pray

We must pray for the advancement of the kingdom of God through the preaching of the Gospel.

“That utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,  ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”

Paul request is not a new car, job, or home. His concern is much more eternal. Paul is asking for prayer that the Gospel might be boldly proclaimed and sinners brought to faith in Jesus Christ.

This brings us to the last group of people for whom we must be praying: THE LOST.

For Paul, the Gospel was the power of the God unto Salvation. He knew that God’s mission for the church was the universal advancement of the Gospel to all peoples. For Paul to ask for the gospel to go forth was essentially Paul asking for the church to prayer for people to come to know and love Jesus Christ. This was and is the divine strategy through out all generations for the advancement of the kingdom of God.

Paul was calling for Militant Prayer. Prayer that would shake the kingdom of darkness as the gospel of the glory of the blessed God went forth with power and boldness. And so it is, as Paul commanded the church at Ephesus to pray for the advancement of the gospel, he is also commanding Heritage Baptist Church to pray for the advancement of the Gospel.

Application

So this evening, I challenge you to take up the shield of faith and make bold request of your God for souls to be saved as the gospel is proclaimed. Do not concern yourself with God’s hidden council regarding election, but rather take comfort in knowing that Jesus has said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; Seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

If you persist in asking God according to His will, then He has promised He will give it. But you must ask in faith and persist in faith and refuse to let go until He blesses you.

“When the church ceases to be militant (in prayer) it also ceases to be a church of Jesus Christ.” (R.B. Kuiper)