Dear Brothers and Sisters,

You are invited to come to the Wednesday evening prayer meeting and pray for the church (and other things -- 7:00 PM Wed., LHF time).

Text: Eph. 6:18-20

"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. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make know the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should." (NIV)

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests." We are told in verses 10 through 17 of chapter 6 to be strong in the Lord and to put on the full armor of God. We are told why it is necessary for us to put on the full armor of God -- so that we can stand against the spiritual forces of evil (who would like very much for us to stumble and fall). And we are told what the full armor is and how it works. Paul, speaking by the Holy Spirit, starts this passage (the whole passage, Eph. 6:10-20) by telling us to be strong in the Lord and ends it by telling us to pray in the Spirit. We're told to be strong in the Lord. How can you make yourself be strong in the Lord. You can't. But you can ask God. You can pray in the Spirit for him to make you strong -- and all the Church, also.

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests." What does it mean to pray IN THE SPIRIT. And what are occasions?

First, what does it mean to pray in the Spirit? One thing I don't think it means is to pray in tongues, as some people believe. In 1 Cor. 14:14,15a, Paul says the following: "For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind;" When Paul "prayed in a tongue," he was praying with HIS spirit (rather than God's Holy Spirit). He says, "If I pray in a tongue, MY spirit prays." I believe that in today's passage in Ephesians, when Paul tells us to pray in the Spirit, he is talking about God's Spirit, not ours. The NIV translators obviously also believed this, since they capitalized "Spirit."

So, what does it mean to pray in the Spirit? I'm going to put forth several interpretations and then claim it's "all of the above." In fact, I'll claim it's all of the above (or all of the below) right now so I won't have to say it later.

First, in order to pray in the Spirit, you need to be "in step with the Spirit." Paul says, "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." (Gal. 5:26) Also, Peter, in 1 Peter 3:7, says, "Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, SO THAT NOTHING WILL HINDER YOUR PRAYERS." (This is directed to husbands, but the principle is that the way you live affects your ability to pray and the way God views your prayers.) Peter also tells us in 1 Pet. 4:7, "The end of all things is near. Therefore, be clear minded and self-controlled SO THAT YOU CAN PRAY."

The end of all things is near. Do you live your life expecting Jesus to come back at any time? "Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns." (Matt 24:45,46) If you live expecting Jesus to come back at any time, you will be clear minded and self-controlled, you will be in step with the Spirit and you will be able to pray. There will be nothing to hinder your prayers.

Another way of looking at praying in the Spirit is to look at it as praying according to what you know God wants to do, rather than praying for something that is against God's will. Jesus said to pray, "Your will be done." If you pray according to God's will, you are in agreement with the Spirit and praying in the Spirit. If you pray for something that is against God's will, you will be opposing the Spirit. If you don't understand this, try praying for success in doing something that you know is sinful. (Don't really do it. Just think about how hard it would be to do. And if it doesn't sound too hard, then you need to repent.) The Spirit lets you know what is within God's will.

Paul also tells us that, if we don't know what to pray, the Holy Spirit will help us. In Romans 8:26, he says, "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We don't know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans word can't express." "Groans that words can't express" doesn't necessarily mean real serious groans or agonizing groans, but, more likely means, simply, something that you don't know how to put into words. So if you're in a situation where you know there is something that you need to pray about, but you have very little idea how to pray, admit that to God and ask for help. The Holy Spirit will give you words to pray -- or maybe groans. The Holy Spirit will intercede on your behalf.

There are also times, I believe, when you don't have to do anything. You just open your mouth and the Spirit speaks through you. Words just flow out. You know you're in the presence of God. God just does it.

Now, to go on, Paul tells us to pray in the Spirit ON ALL OCCASIONS. What is an occasion? I think "occasions" happen much more often than we think -- or at least much more often than we pray. Basically, Paul is telling us to pray about everything. King David says in Psalm 37:5a, "Commit your WAY to the LORD." (Your WAY is your whole life!) King Solomon says in Proverbs 16:3, "Commit to the LORD WHATEVER you do, and your plans will succeed." The apostle Paul says, "And WHATEVER you do, whether in word or deed, do it ALL in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." (Col. 3:17)

I think that God is telling us to pray whenever we start anything new -- or even some new phase of some ongoing activity. We generally acknowledge God before we eat by thanking him for what he has provided. It's our custom. Sometimes we pray before we go on a trip. We may have daily devotions where we read God's word and bring our requests and thanksgiving to him. But, do you pray when you get in your car to drive to work? How about before you go to the grocery store to buy a few items that you are out of? -- or to the hardware store? Do you even say, "Please bless my going to the store?" How about praying before you try to balance your check book? (Maybe more people do that.) I've been accused of being extreme in teaching things like this, but God says, "Whatever you do, do it ALL in the name of the Lord Jesus." We think we need to pray before we start some "spiritual" activity, but God wants us to acknowledge our dependence on him in everything we do.

To pray on all occasions seem to be a hard thing to do. It seems hard to remember to do it. What it comes down to, in fact, is that it is hard to remember that we are totally dependent on God for our very existence from moment to moment. In our pride, we want to think that surely in small matters, at least, we ought to be able to make our own decisions and carry them out. God is patient when you are young (in the faith). But if you've noticed that simple tasks seem to be becoming more and more frustrating, maybe the Lord wants you to start committing your ways to him. Lets pray in the Spirit on all occasions.

In addition to telling us how and when to pray, Paul also tells us who to pray for. We are to keep on praying (that is, pray with perseverance - NASB) for ALL the saints. So again, we are back to the Church. We are praying for the Church -- all the saints. How many saints do you pray for? How much do you pray for yourself? How much do you pray for your family? How much do you pray for your enemies? Keep on praying for all the saints.

Finally, Paul says, "Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words will 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." Probably we don't need to pray for Paul any more. But one of the gifts of the Spirit which God gives is the gift of being an evangelist (Eph. 4:11). We must pray for God to give the evangelists words, so that whenever they open their mouths they may preach the gospel fearlessly. And I also believe that it's God's purpose for all believers to testify to the gospel in some way, whether by preaching or otherwise. So pray for the gospel to spread wherever we go -- even to the ends of the earth.

Now, from the word of God, I've talked about what we, the Church, need to do to be strong in the Lord, to put on the full armor of God and to stand against the spiritual forces of evil. We have to pray. Last week I talked about putting on the armor. I concluded that God actually puts it on us. The righteousness is not our righteousness, but the righteousness of Christ. We didn't make peace with God, but he made peace with us. He is the one who gave us the gift of faith. We didn't save ourselves, but he saved us by a great sacrifice. This week I have to say that, although Paul tells us to pray in the Spirit on all occasions, we can't do it. God has to give it to us as a gift. Jesus said this to his disciples: "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ASK him." Lets ask him.

Come on Wednesday and pray for the Church. The Church is the overflowing abundance, the wealth beyond measure and the full and perfect nature of God who fulfills and completes everything in every way.

Grace and peace,
Dean Svoboda

PS: You can also bring you own prayer requests and pray for them with your brothers and sisters in Christ (i.e., with the Church). Bring your requests to God with thanksgiving and receive his peace.

PPS: Pass this invitation along to others in your household or to someone who doesn't have an e-mail address in the LHF directory