Opening Hearts to God
Prayer, Armor, and Spiritual Warfare – Ephesians 6:10-20
What is the nature of spiritual warfare? What is the armor of God? Where does prayer fit in? Bereans carefully studied the Scriptures before believing that something taught was true (Acts 17:11). Let’s be good Bereans and look at Eph 6:10-20 to answer these important questions. There are too many people shadowboxing with Satan these days. Let’s focus our efforts where they belong.
A reader responded to my previous post asking: Isn’t prayer a weapon against the evil one, who we are battling?
That’s a good question. We can determine the answer by studying the New Testament verses containing the word “pray.” The word is used 151 times. D.A. Carson’s book “Praying with Paul: A Call to Spiritual Reformation,” for example, in particular discusses the following passages: Rom 15:14-33, Eph 1:15-23; 3:14-21; Phil 1:9-11; Col 1:9-14; 1 Thess 3:9-13; 2 Thess 1:3-12. The focus of prayer in the New Testament was predominately on knowing God better, being more like Christ, God providing for the needs of others, being filled with the Holy Spirit, and for success in ministry.
A Facebook post about prayer as a weapon grabbed my attention this week. It led me to listen to the corresponding radio interview. It was a good interview and much of what was discussed effectively encouraged Christians to pray. I liked it. However, identifying prayer as a “weapon,” while well-intentioned, could give people the impression that prayer was about God doing our will, instead of us doing His. The verses mentioned in the interview rightly encouraged prayer, but they did not support the point of prayer as a weapon. Such a point is logical, not biblical. We need to discern the difference.