This morning, we continue our study of the armour of God.
Our study to date:
- Part one - Holy War
- Part two - The Enemy
- Part three - A Command
- Part four - When?
- Part five - The Belt of Truth
- Part six - The Breastplate of Righteousness
- Part seven - The Shoes
- Part eight - The Shield
- Part nine - The Helmet
- Part ten - The Sword
If you missed any of the issues in this series, you can find them at our website
http://gleaningsfromtheword.com Simply follow the Armour Of God link.
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 saints.
Ephesians 6:18 NIV
This part of the armour differs a little from the rest of the metaphors Paul
uses about Roman amour. The Jews were people very familiar with prayer. They didn't
need another word picture.
This little verse often proves divisive in the church. Those of a charismatic
bent will speak of this as praying in tongues. Others will deny that fact, as
many don't believe in tongues. So what do we do with it? Personally, I'm going
to side step the issue this morning because I think the argument misses the point.
It's like the arguments on modes of baptism. They get so wrapped up in methodology
that they miss out on why we need to be baptized at all.
Having said that, I'll probably hear from people not only about the tongues issue
but baptism as well. Both are areas that I consider non-essential and by that
I don't mean I think they are unimportant. I simply mean that they are issues
where godly men and women can disagree and both sides of the issue can make a
Scriptural case for their position.
Regardless of where a Christian stands on the gift of tongues, the key element
here is prayer. Prayer is a foundational part of the Christian's armoury. It is
an underpinning to all the work that gets done.
Prayer shouldn't be an after thought or something we do when "we can't do anything
but pray". It must come right up front. Anything we do should be bathed in prayer.
God tells us to take all our needs to Him. He's intimately involved in our lives
and deeply interested in our prayers.
We pray not because God is at a loss for ideas about how to handle a situation,
or to make Him aware. We pray to stay in dialogue with Him and to have our faith
built. The more we see God answer prayer the deeper our faith grows. The deeper
our faith, the better rooted we are to stand against the enemy and to shine as
lights in a dark world.
So pray in tongues if that's your gift. Pray in your own words if it's not. If
you don't know what to pray ask Holy Spirit to intercede for you, He's more than
willing. Pray. Pray. Pray.
I think the first letter to the church in Thessalonica says it well.
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this
is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV
Until next time, rejoice that we serve a God who wants us to bring our needs
before Him.
Hallelu Yah (Praise God)
Be blessed
Kevin
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