JUST PRAY

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Ephesians 6:18-20

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

After finishing the Passion Week series, commemorating the events leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion and subsequent resurrection, we return to the final chapter of Ephesians and the verses following the full armor of God passage. You’ll recall that we studied each piece of the armor in detail and covered the importance of donning it without compromise lest leaving ourselves vulnerable to the attacks of the devil.

So how does the Apostle Paul conclude this discussion regarding spiritual self defense?

As we see in today’s passage, he invokes the power of prayer. Look again at his words here:

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. Ephesians 6:18-20

Note here that Paul answers any questions that may exist as to the timing of prayer for he tells the Ephesian Christians (and us, as well) to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions”.

In other words, there is never a bad time to pray. We just need to do it.

And since we can pray in the Spirit on all occasions, that means there are a variety of reasons we can pray our prayers and requests before our Lord.

If someone is ill, we can raise a prayer for the Lord’s healing and restoration to be upon them.

If someone is grieving a loss, we can pray for the Lord’s peace and comfort to be with those who mourn.

If someone is struggling in a breaking or broken relationship, we can ask the Lord to bring reconciliation.

If someone is struggling with sin, we can pray for the Lord to intercede and provide strength and power to overcome iniquity.

Good happens to people and when that happens, we should offer up our thanksgiving and praise to the Lord for His goodness and blessing.

I could go on and on but you get the point. There is never a reason we should refrain from prayer because the scriptures implore us to “always keep praying for all the Lord’s people”. This is our Father’s will for us and we’re responsible for making sure His will is done on earth as it is in Heaven (Matthew 6:10).

Paul also asks the Christ believers in Ephesus to pray for him and this is an important point for us today because often we look at our spiritual leaders as the ones who are responsible to spiritually care for us, to shepherd us and point us toward a deeper relationship with our Lord.

But who ministers to the minister?

Shouldn’t we direct the same level of care and concern toward our pastors and their families as they do us?

Here, we find the Apostle Paul asking for prayer from the Ephesians, that he might proclaim the Gospel fearlessly to others. Certainly, the Christians of Ephesus were all too aware of the troubles Paul encountered during his missionary journeys, troubles that often turned dangerous and life threatening. Satan will always come after leaders serving Christ Jesus. Believe that. So we had better be in prayer for all those who choose to boldly sacrifice their lives for the cause of Jesus and the God who sent Him to save.  

In the end translation here, we need not ever wonder when we should pray or who and what we should pray for.

God’s word calls us to pray always on all occasions and for everyone of the Lord’s people.

All we need to do is just pray.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com