Prayer
Praying always... Ephesians 6:18a
The armor Paul speaks of has benefits just from the practical effects of wearing it.
But, what is the purpose of wearing all this armor. Think of it. Soldiers, and even the Knights of Old, did not wear protective gear without a reason. Each piece of spiritual armor blesses us in the wearing it by its inherent power:
• Truth and its protection against errors and lies.
• Righteousness and the relief it gives from guilt.
• Faith, the belief God means what He says, especially when He tells us how much He deeply loves each one of us.
• Salvation, can any of us really grasp the total implications of what Jesus accomplished at the cross?
• The sword of God’s word and its absolute rock solid dependability to never change. As wonderful as all this is, there is an overarching purpose, a specific reason; we are to use the armor to stand in the power of God.
I like the way the GNB version translates Ephesians 6:18: Do all this (wear the armor) in prayer, asking for God's help. Pray on every occasion, as the Spirit leads. For this reason keep alert and never give up; pray always for all God's people. (Parentheses mine).
Prayer... Who does not struggle with it? Described by some as the work of the Kingdom, prayer is the weapon of our warfare described in 2 Corinthians 10:4 – ‘The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.’ The word used in this verse for weapon is the root word for the word armor in Ephesians 6.
The power to stand our ground is found in the use of prayer. How does this work?
The word used for prayer in Eph 6:18 is defined as the act of going to God and asking Him for the things He wants to give us in the first place. It is asking persistently. As a loving Father, He wants to protect, heal, and rescue us (and others we pray for). When we pray for these, we are depending on God. This is pleasing to Him for He hates sinful pride in us when we are stubborn and refuse to yield.
We learn to pray by just doing it. There are many resources available on prayer if you want to learn more. The main thing is – praying is talking to God.
One of the best ways to get to know someone is taking the time to talk.