"praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints" - Ephesians 6:18

I heard a great sermon on prayer this morning; sweet and exegetical, which is probably why it was so good.

So often we don't take "praying at all times" very seriously, nor do we take it very literally. I'd imagine it would be exhausting to constantly have to pray over each and every little thing during the day but the preacher this morning didn't quite think that's what Paul meant.

The key, as he said was that you were to pray at all times "in the Spirit," meaning that you agree to put yourself under the authority of the guidance of the Holy Spirit and to be in submission to His will. So maybe not necessarily a time thing as much as a quality thing. Praying in the Spirit qualifies how you should pray, and how you should pray when you pray at all times.

I must admit that I definitely am not praying at all times and often stop myself from doing it. I find excuses and reasons to do it later, and I actually end up never getting around to it, maybe until a day or two later.

The preacher said that spiritual attack is certainly a very real element of a hindrance to our prayers. Satan cannot stop our prayers! He fears that and is the only weapon he cannot come against, he said. It is funny that whenever we want to stop and put in a concerted effort to pray about anyone or anything, a million things start rushing into our mind and we have to "think out" all that stuff, pushing all distractions aside before we can actually get to praying. That in itself, is such spiritual warfare. And I fail to recognize that at times.

He asked if we would seriously commit to praying today and challenged us to pray some of Paul's prayers, affectionately dubbed the "apostolic prayers".

"we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding" - Colossians 1:9

And Paul prays that they would be filled with all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

"so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God." - Col. 1:10

Finally, Paul blesses the church at Colosse with this benediction:

"May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light." - Col. 1:11-12

The preacher used Paul's prayer as an example of how we can pray for almost anyone we know when we don't even really know much about them, other than their need for prayer.

I've been meaning to put up a prayer board in my room for the longest time and I think it's about time that I stop putting that off. I've made countless excuses about my apartment lease being up soon, the adhesive tape not being strong enough to hold up the prayer board, I don't have the right markers, it takes too much time, etc.

But today, I'm putting that in my mind and that's the first thing I'm gonna do when I get back home. Well, I'll drop my bags first and do some laundry, but I think you get the point.

I hope you will be inspired by this entry to also pray at all times and to pray for others to "be filled with all spiritual wisdom and understanding."

Have a blessed Sabbath day.

This entry was posted by Christopher Wu, on Sunday, September 03, 2006. You can leave your response.