Opening Illustration: Growing up with walkie-talkies. I mentioned last week there was a particular toy that I enjoyed giving my children. Thinking about their toys as kids made me think about some of my favorite childhood toys. I loved my Stretch Armstrong (it tried to make a comeback recently). I loved my water guns. I loved my original Nintendo (and Sega Genesis and SNES). And I loved my walkie-talkies. Children today won’t fully understand why walkie talkies were so amazing. With cell phones and online videos games, the idea of remotely talking to someone who is only 30 feet away just doesn’t create the same excitement as it did when I was kid. Those walkie talkies provided a type of communication that were not part of normal life. When it came to the walkie talkie, when did you use it? For me, it was always for a certain purpose: Pranks, spying on siblings, playing hide and seek, hiding things from parents…I don’t ever recall using a walkie talkie as way to sit around and talk with my friends. Walkie talkies were always for action. Walkie talkies were used to carry out a particular task. Open lines of communication were vital in these mission that I carried out as a kid. As adults, our objectives and missions have changed. I hope you still aren’t trying to hide things from your parents…Life is more demanding and more complex. Here’s the problem: We’ve lost communication. We find ourselves trying to navigate this life – and we’re doing it on own. As Christians, we are journeying through this life, knowing our true home is with Jesus. Yet, we’ve lost communication with the One we are journeying to. That means, we when face spiritual attacks along the way, we’ve lost communication with the One that has overcome our enemy. Our communication with God is essential, especially with the spiritual battles we face.

Today, Paul ends his letter to the Ephesians with this truth: Prayer is essential for victory in spiritual warfare. Let’s open up our Bibles to Ephesians 6 to see how essential prayer is. As you turn there, you will discover there are not many verses left in the book of Ephesians, which means that today is our final Sunday in this letter. It’s been an incredible series. Sermon Series: Ephesians: Masterpiece in Progress. As I reflect on our time in God’s Word this year, there have been two major messages we’ve received as a church family: Jesus is better, so stay close to Him (Hebrews). To live out our relationships in life we must be filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians). Some of you are curious where we are going next. After much prayer and some discussion with the elder team, we are moving to 2 Timothy. My hope is that we’ll see a third message in that letter: We are living for something bigger than ourselves, so we can take heart in the faithfulness of God. But let’s keep our attention focused on this passage. God’s Word is alive and powerful, so let’s read with expectancy. Read Ephesians 6:18-24. Pray. 

Let’s take a look at verse 18. There is a lot to unpack in this verse, so we are going to sit in it for a little bit. Prayer is essential. Here’s the first reason why: Prayer is a spiritual act. 

1) Prayer is a spiritual act. (vs. 18) Before we narrow in on verse 18, let me remind of the larger context of this verse. Do you remember what God’s Word said last week? We are to put on the Victor’s spiritual armor. We are to get dressed and get out there. Why are we to put on the spiritual protection from God? Let’s keep working our way back in Ephesians. Because we are in a spiritual battle. Whether you realize it or not, we are fighting spiritual battles all throughout our lives. Satan is either trying to keep you from a relationship with Jesus or he’s trying to render your relationship with Jesus ineffective. We put on the spiritual armor because we are in spiritual battles. If we go back to chapter 5, the only way to fight these battles, the only way to live out our relationships at home and outside the home – is by doing what? What did Ephesians 5:18 tell us? Be filled with the Holy Spirit! That’s the key verse in Ephesians. If we are live out our calling in a manner worthy of the gospel, we have to be filled with the Spirit. Why did I point all of that out?

Well, what does the first part of verse 18 say? ¹⁸ Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. This next statement might seem like common sense, but I’m afraid it’s gotten lost over the years: Prayer is a spiritual act of dependence. The sad reality it that some view prayer as a spiritual ATM. For you young people, an ATM is “automated teller machine”. Some of you have no idea what “teller” means…Illustration: When my kids were younger, I used to love going to an ATM with them. I would walk up to the ATM and say, “If we guess the correct code, we can win a lot of money.” After I punch in all the right buttons and code, the machine would spit out money and I would start yelling, “We won! We won the money!” It was so exciting for many years. Now, they just roll their eyes at me. But so many treat prayer like that: “If I can crack the God-code, then I’ll get what I’m asking for.” That’s a far reality from what prayer is. Prayer is a spiritual act.

When we pray, we are prompted and guided by the Holy Spirit. That’s why Paul emphasizes to pray “in the Spirit”. That’s why Paul has been making sure that we are filled with the Spirit. The reason you have access to God is because of your union with Jesus – and your union with Jesus is possibly through the Holy Spirit. Our prayers are fueled by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. For those of you who don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus, you are always going to feel a disconnect when you attempt to talk with God because you are missing the Holy Spirit in your life. When we pray, we pray in the Spirit. Well, if you don’t have the Holy Spirit, you can’t pray in the Spirit. If you don’t know Jesus the only prayer you should be praying a prayer of salvation and forgiveness. If you need Jesus, make today the day. GOSPEL PRESENTATION.

For those who have a relationship with Jesus, I would contend that many of you have been or are currently frustrated by your prayer life. You are frustrated because your prayers aren’t being answered. You are frustrated because your prayer life feels dry. You are frustrated because the desire to pray isn’t really there. The question I would first ask to you is this: “Are you praying in the Spirit?” You might respond back to me with: “Well, Jess, I don’t know if I am because I don’t really understand what that looks like.” And then here would be my reply to you (BTW, I love the conversation we are having right now…): “Pay attention to where you pray.” And I’m not talking about your physical location, but your spiritual location. Are you praying IN self-reliance? Are you praying IN your power? Then you are praying in the wrong place. When you pray, be surrounded by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Before you utter a request, ask the Holy Spirit to come. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you the words to say. Ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom. Ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. Then start praying. With that understanding, we now more fully understand the rest of verse 18. Prayer is essential. Here’s the second reason why: There is victory in spiritual warfare through active and devoted prayer. 

2) There is victory in spiritual warfare through active and devoted prayer. What does the second part of verse 18 say? ¹⁸ Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. We see four different “all” statements: All times. All (every)  occasions. All persistence. All believers everywhere. Why does Paul give us these “all” statements? We can’t lose sight of what Paul said right before verse 18. We are told to put on the spiritual armor to fight our spiritual battles. Now, immediately after that, we are told to pray. Our prayers are directly connected to our victories in spiritual warfare. We don’t know when Satan will attack. We don’t know how Satan will attack. So, we put on the spiritual armor to fight against Him. But what happens if you run out into the battlefield on your own? You’ve lost your reconnaissance. You’ve lost your guidance. You’ve lost your intel. You’ve lost your strength. This goes back to where we’ve started: we lost communication with the One who has already won the victory. Jesus already knows the battlefield. Jesus already knows where the victory is. Why on earth would we not stay connected to Him and completely dependent on Him?! If you want to experience victory in spiritual warfare, you will experience through active and devoted prayers. 

So, we pray at all times, on every occasion, with persistence, and for all believers everywhere. What does that look like? Let me cover each one briefly: All times. The most common question I hear from this verse is “How does someone pray all the time?” “Did Paul really sit around all day, every day, and pray? In a way, yes, he did. Many people see “praying” as “talking”. Going back to the walkie talkie imagery, there was never a time that Paul went radio silent. There was never a time, when he said, “I got this next battle. I’ll turn off my communication with God.” Paul was in constant communion and relationship with God. That what it means to pray at all times – that we should be in constant dependence on God.

What about the next one? All (every) occasions. The NIV translations puts it this way: “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” We’ll talk more about this more in verse 19 and 20, but our prayers should be filled with all sorts of requests. It’s good to pray for the same things. It’s not good to only pray for the same things. God calls us to be persistent in our prayers, not robotic. When we fight spiritual battles, the battlefield will change – and therefore, our prayers should change.

Paul goes to say, “Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers…” (all persistence). God wants your persistent prayers. Now, I get this one feels frustrating. You pray and you pray, yet, there is no answer from God. There’s not a yes or a no – but no answer. I hate not having an answer. It even translates when I call my wife. She has a tendency not to answer her phone. I remember one time vividly, when I was looking for her inside “Claires” (it’s a shop full of girls beauty accessories. I never wanted her to answer her phone more than when I found myself holding this girls make up kit that looked like a unicorn cell phone. That’s how we feel so often with our prayer – will you please answer me. I don’t know why God doesn’t answer prayers right away, but let me give you two possible reasons:

1. God is waiting for you to change before He answers. 
   • Maybe there is something in your heart that God is slowly molding
2. God is waiting for your prayers to become bigger before He answers.
   • This is me. I pray too small of prayers.
   • And when I begin to pray bigger and bigger prayers, then I begin to see God’s hand move. 
   • I like how Spurgeon put it: Quote: “Some mercies are not given to us except in answer to [persistent] prayer. There are blessings which, like ripe fruit, drop into your hand the moment you touch the [branch]; but there are others which require you to shake the tree again and again, until you make it rock with the vehemence of your exercise, for then only will the fruit fall down.” ~ Charles H. Spurgeon. 

The last “all” we see in verse 18 is all believers everywhere. Paul makes is clear that we are to pray beyond ourselves. Illustration: David Platt prayers Rachel and me at his church. I was never more impacted by the power of prayer than when a godly man that I barely knew committed to praying for my wife and me. The more I thought about that this week, the more I have to come think that God used his prayers to sustain my marriage and keep me in ministry. If you want victory in spiritual warfare, it takes active and devoted prayer. 

We now turn to the final verses of this letter that Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus. Paul is on mission and he wants nothing to stop that. Paul knows the church at Ephesus was on mission and he wanted nothing to stop that. God knows we are on mission and we should want nothing to stop that. That means prayer is essential. Here’s the last reason why: There is spiritual power in kingdom prayers. 

3) There is spiritual power in kingdom prayers. (vs. 19-24) Let’s look at these final verses, starting with verse 19: ¹⁹ And pray for me, too. Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike. ²⁰ I am in chains now, still preaching this message as God’s ambassador. So pray that I will keep on speaking boldly for him, as I should. ²¹ To bring you up to date, Tychicus will give you a full report about what I am doing and how I am getting along. He is a beloved brother and faithful helper in the Lord’s work. ²² I have sent him to you for this very purpose—to let you know how we are doing and to encourage you. It’s quite remarkable to think about Paul’s final words. Not only is Paul currently in chains, but his ministry would done in less than five years. Not because he would finally retire and say, “You know what, I’m good. I think I’ve done enough. I’m going to take it easy from here on out.” Paul would go on to die within 5 years of this letter. In these final verses to the church at Ephesus, what is Paul concerned with? He didn’t ask for the Ephesians to pray for his release. He didn’t ask the Ephesians to bake a cake and put a file in it so he can escape from prison. He didn’t ask the Ephesians to dig a tunnel under the jail so he could plan his Shawshank Redemption escape from prison. Even if he did pray for his release, that wouldn’t have been a bad thing. 

But Paul is consumed with one thing: Paul wants to boldly proclaim the gospel! Paul knows the enemy is trying to silence him and he wants no part in being silenced. Paul is pleading for the advancement of God’s kingdom. If you want to be in victorious in spiritual warfare, you have to prayer “kingdom prayers”. You have to pray that God’s plan and God’s will move forward. Prayer is for the advancement of God’s kingdom, not your personal kingdom. Illustration: I have several seminary peers that have or are currently serving overseas. I get the privilege to hear updates from them and pray for them. This week, I got an email from one of my missionary friends. After a brief family update, I was asked to pray for three things: 1) Pray for continued boldness, favor with locals, and for their faith to be strengthened as they continue to walk in obedience. 2) Pray for opportunities to share about Christ with the kids that come to play basketball! 3) Pray for this season of travel for our family. We’re facing lots of weeks apart in the coming months. Pray for safety in travel, peace for the family members at home, and unity in the days where we get to all be under one roof.

As I read these requests this week, I was convicted in my own prayer life in two ways: 1) I need more kingdom prayers. 2) I need to stop praying wimpy prayers. We battle in spiritual warfare by praying big, bold kingdom prayers. John Piper said it well: Quote: “God has given us prayer because Jesus has given us a mission. We are on this earth to press back the forces of darkness, and we are given access to headquarters by prayer to advance this cause--that's all. When we try to turn [prayer] into a civilian intercom to increase our conveniences, it stops working, and our faith begins to falter.” – John Piper. If you want to spiritually fight – if you want to start taking back the ground in your own life – it starts with prayer because prayer is essential. What if you began to pray big, bold, active, devoted kingdom prayers for your life? For your family? For your church family? What would that look like? 

“Dear God, send me wherever you want me to go. God use me however you want to use me.

“Dear Heavenly Father, if it’s Your will, take my family to places we would never go on our own accord. Use my family for your kingdom. God, my kids are a gift. Use me a parent to raise them up so they can be sent by You wherever you want.”

“Dear Jesus, will increase the ministry of my church family, The Church at Spring Hill? Please provide wisdom and encouragement and strength to our leaders. Will you help me serve in a way that advances your kingdom within my church family? God, when we read the Bible verse at the end of our worship gatherings, will you help me mean it all my heart?”

If you are tired of fighting the same spiritual battles, then ask God, in prayer, to move you forward in the battle – deeper into the battle. Quit praying for the battlefield to change and start praying that God would change you in the battlefield. This is your challenge as you go out today…Pray like prayer is essential. God’s Word has made it clear that prayer is essential. Pray in a way that you know prayer is essential. This book – this letter – Ephesians – has been an incredible gift to our church family. God’s mysterious plan was for us to become a spiritual family. God’s wants us to live a life worthy of this calling. So, we fill our lives with the Holy Spirit. We fill our relationships with the Holy Spirit. And we fight. We fight in complete dependence on God. We fight with big, bold, active, and devoted prayers. May all of this be so in our lives. I close with our time today and our time in Ephesians with verse 23 and 24: ²³ Peace be with you, dear brothers and sisters, and may God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you love with faithfulness. ²⁴ May God’s grace be eternally upon all who love our Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s pray.

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