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The Weaponry We Use (7)

The Attitude of Prayer

Eph. 6:18-20

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Thus far we have studied six pieces of God’s armor.

· The Girdle of truth – pictures our personal truthfulness, integrity and commitment which flow from the objective truth of Christ.

· Breastplate of Righteousness – pictures the righteousness of Christ which produces right conduct and holy living the believer.

· The Sandals of the Gospel – picture the readiness, stability, and movement we have in our position in Christ.

· The Shield of faith - pictures our trusting the Lord and His Word to give us victory over temptation to sin.

· The Helmet of Salvation – pictures how our salvation protects our mind from two attacks: Inward attitudes of doubt and discouragement and the outward philosophy of Humanism, which encompasses many others.

· The Sword of the Spirit – the one offensive weapon, the inspired, authoritative Word (and Words) of God.

This leads us to the seventh and final piece of God’s armor: The Attitude of Prayer. Bible teacher Theodore Epp writes, “In the book of Ephesians prayer reaches the highest pinnacle of any place in the Bible.”[1] In fact, as we’ve studied, two of Paul’s prayers are recorded:

· 1:15-21 was for believers to have the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ.

· 3:14-21 was for believers to have an experiential knowledge of Christ’s indwelling work within us.

We now see a third challenge to prayer, which to underscore its importance, Paul ends his letter with it. Let us take the time to detail this very life blood of the Christian life.

The Physical Piece of Armor

Obviously, there isn’t here an actual, physical piece of armor. Rather, what is pictured here is the energy that the soldier must possess if he is going to fight effectively. All the cutting edge equipment and top-notch training in the world is worthless if the soldier has no energy to fight. What’s involved in a soldier’s attitude? There are many things, but here are a few of the most important.

First, a soldier’s mind must be set on what he’s fighting for. I recently read a fascinating report from The Strategic Studies Institute entitled, Why Soldiers Fight.[2] The overall result of the study was “that today’s U.S. soldiers, much like soldiers of the past, fight for each other. Unit cohesion is alive and well in today’s Army.” They also found, however, “that soldiers cited ideological reasons such as liberation, freedom, and democracy as important factors in combat motivation.”

The study first went back to the drafted soldiers of World War II. Early in the war there was a general attitude of apathy; while conscripted soldiers weren’t grouchy or mutinous, they just didn’t care. After seeing the ineffectiveness of boring lectures on the subject, Chief of Staff of the Army, General George Marshall, brought in movie producer Frank Capra and told him to make a movie that would “explain to our boys in the Army why we are fighting, and the principles for which we are fighting.” Critics claimed that there were more important things to do, but Marshall insisted on men motivated and knowledgeable about the democratic cause. The result was the famous and riveting seven-part “Why We Fight” film series that emphasized that the war was not “just a war against Axis villainy, but for liberty, equality, and security.” That did, indeed, help the problem.

This has greatly deepened, however, in today’s Army, which in 2003 celebrated thirty years of an all volunteer force. Today we see “a professional army,” in which “soldiers are also sophisticated enough to grasp the moral reasons for fighting.” They are also “well-educated” and are “amazingly in touch with the pressing issues of the day.” That’s an important statement. Some people characterize military personnel as simply brutes who can’t get a job anyway and just know to shoot a gun. On the contrary, they are professionals who know why they are fighting and what they are fighting for. Every American should be thankful that those are they people who are protecting our liberty.

The Christian soldier, therefore, is challenged in the same way. We must realize what we’re fighting for, which is far more than any other soldier. We’re not fighting simply for a tactical objective, or even a strategic goal; rather we are fighting for eternal results. Many today are fighting to add numbers to the church. Many we fighting to entertain people. What we are supposed to be fighting for is to educate God’s Word and spread the God’s message of salvation to the world.

Second, a soldier’s mind must be set on “unit cohesion,” that is, that he’s fighting for his buddies. This principle is, in fact, the main point of the aforementioned study. In World War II, for example, while ideology, patriotism, or fighting for the cause were factors in combat motivation, “cohesion, or the emotional bonds between soldiers, appeared to be the primary factor.” Historian S. L. A. Marshall is also quoted in the study. In his 1942 book, Men Against Fire, he noted, “I hold it to be one of the simplest truths of war that the thing which enables an infantry soldier to keep going with his weapons is the near presence or the presumed presence of a comrade. . . . He is sustained by his fellows primarily and by his weapons secondarily.”

It was also fascinating that the report cited that the same basic principle was true among the German Wehrmacht. POWs were asked why they continued to fight “despite the overwhelmingly obvious evidence that Germany would lose the war.” While allegiance to Hitler was secondary, the primary motive was “the interpersonal relationships within the primary group.” Among American soldiers, this continued in the Korean War, where “‘buddy relations’ were critical to basic survival.” It was likewise observed that during the Vietnam War “combat primary group ties [served] an important role in unit effectiveness.” The same is true today. “Social cohesion appears to serve two roles in combat motivation. First, because of the close ties to other soldiers, it places a burden of responsibility on each soldier to achieve group success and protect the unit from harm. . . . The second role . . . is to provide the confidence and assurance that someone soldiers could trust was “‘watching their back.’”

In stark contrast, when Iraqi POWs were asked about their combat motivation, “the near universal response was that the Iraqi Regular Army soldiers were motivated by coercion.” More than anything else, “they were fearful of the dreaded Baath Party to their rear.”

What does this say to the Christian soldier? Simply that we each rely on each other. We encourage each other in spiritual combat. We truly love, encourage, nd protect each other. I am convinced that this starts with faithful attendance in the Local Church. A burden I have had for over three decades of ministry is the seeming indifference in faithful attendance, which just about anything can be placed before such faithfulness. It is there we are trained not just as individuals but as a “combat unit.” What would be the result if Army soldiers were as unfaithful to their training sessions as some Christians are to the church? What would that do to the quality of the unit in both combat readiness and morale? Likewise, we are in a war, and we are required to be in training (Heb. 10:25).

From there we are then challenged that we are to labor together in the spiritual war. We should strive for unity as much as possible and set ourselves to the destruction of sin and falsehood. That’s why we are in this fight.

Third, a soldier’s mind must be set on trusting the leadership over him. As the report once again observes, “The U.S. Army is the best in the world because, in addition to possessing the best equipment, its soldiers also have an unmatched level of trust. They trust each other because of the close interpersonal bonds between soldiers. They trust their leaders because their leaders have competently trained their units.”

As we’ve studied before, the Church will rise or fall based on its leadership. Appallingly, the problems we see in Christianity today—the redefining of the Gospel, the “seeker-sensitive” movement, the entertainment-orientation of ministry, the Relativism and Pragmatism that rule all aspects of Church life, and so on—all come from the breakdown of leadership, which in-turn comes from unbiblical leadership. Such leaders are not military commanders at all, for they often actually embrace the enemy. Equally tragic is that many are in leadership positions today who are not qualified to be there simply because they have not be trained.

God’s people, therefore, must be able to trust their leadership to lead them according to Scripture alone, which is our “Official Military Manual.” Depending upon the size of the church, a pastor can be anything from a lieutenant leading a platoon to a general leading a division. And Who is the General of the Army? The Lord Christ, and we must trust Him and His Word alone in all things. Without His Word and our implicit trust in It, we will fall in battle. And tragically, we are today falling by the thousands because God’s Word is not central.

I was also reminded here that a soldier is required to follow only a “lawful order” given by a superior. Nazi war criminals, for example, tried to justify their crimes against humanity by insisting, “We were just following orders,” but that didn’t work then and it doesn’t work now. No soldiers should obey an order that is unlawful. Likewise, if some Christian leader today says someone contrary to God’s Word, that is an “unlawful order.” The Christian’s reaction should be, “I’m going back to what the Commander and Chief says in the Official Manual.”

Fourth, a soldier’s mind must be set on trusting his training. A properly trained soldier, marine, or pilot does things automatically. In a crisis situation, ingrained training immediately takes over and he reacts instinctively, for if he doesn’t, he might very well die right there. That must be true of the Christian soldier as well. If tempted to sin, he should react automatically because of biblical training. If confronted by a false doctrine, he should instinctively recognize it as such because he has been taught the Truth by his leaders.

Fifth and finally, and what all the others point to, a soldier’s mind must be set on killing the enemy; he must have the warrior mentality. As noted in a previous study, the idea of a “kind war” is not only ridiculous, but disastrous. While it hurts the sensitive ears of the “politically correct” crowd, the soldier’s sole function is to kill the enemy. He’s not trained to have a counseling session with the enemy or to have an open-minded tolerance of the enemy’s political point of view. No, his job is to kill the enemy as quickly and efficiently as possible.

That must likewise be the mindset of the Christian soldier. That is why Paul uses this imagery. Yes, it’s an ugly picture, but it’s absolutely essential because we are in a war. We must put on the armor and then battle and destroy sin in our own lives. We must fight and demolish false teaching. We must combat and defeat doubt and discouragement as they arise during the heat of battle.

General Omar Bradley once said, “In war there is no second prize for the runner-up”[3] Better known is General Douglas MacArthur’s statement, “In war there is no substitute for victory.”[4] In his famous book, The Art of War, the fourth-century BC general Sun-Tzu wrote, “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.” What a truth that is for the Christian! We can win before we ever go into battle because Christ has already won the war.

I was also reminded of General George Patton’s motto, which was actually a quote from Frederick the Great: “L’audace, l’audace, toujours l’audace,” that is, “The attack, the attack, always the attack.” And that is exactly how Patton lead. He refused to defend anything; “Let the Hun do that,” he said. Rather he was always on the attack. Sadly, most Christian leaders today don’t even defend anything, much less attack. Would that we would be committed to the attack. Shame on us if we do not use the Sword the way it was designed.

That leads us to the even deeper spiritual application.

The Spiritual Application (v. 18)

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

It should be noted that all the statements that closed the previous section flow from the warrior’s attitude. And the only way the Christian can cultivate that attitude is through prayer. Unless we are praying, we will fall in battle. Prayer is the only thing that gives us energy and confidence in Christian living. We must not lean on “self,” or even on the weapons of our armor, but on God. It is through prayer that He gives us the power to win the battles. A line from the old hymn, Stand Up Stand Up for Jesus, is a perfect commentary on this verse: “Put on the Gospel armour, each piece put on with prayer.” It is prayer that is, if we may use the term, our “secret weapon.” Martyn Lloyd-Jones is absolutely correct when he writes, “Our ultimate position as Christians is tested by the character of our prayer life.”[5]

That is no better illustrated than in an incident that occurred on August 15, 778. The ancient Franks were Germanic tribes who originally lived east of the Rhine. In the third to the fifth centuries AD they repeatedly invaded Gaul and finally overran it. It was then under the rule of Charlemagne that the Franks reached the height of their power in the eighth century. Coming to power in 771, he began to extend his kingdom. Among other campaigns, he took northeastern Spain from the Moors in 778. It was during the return trip from that campaign that his rear guard of 20,000 men, commanded by Roland, was ambushed by the Basques in a pass in the Pyrenees mountains. This was immortalized in the famous eleventh century, some 4,000 line French epic poem The Song of Roland.

What makes the incident significant, however, is that when the 100,000 strong Basque army (Saracen according to the poem’s tradition) is seen approaching, Roland’s friend Oliver advises him to blow his legendary Olifant (or Elephant) horn, an ivory horn made from an elephant tusk, that would immediately summon the rest of Charlemagne’s army, but Roland’s pride and twisted sense of honor prevented him from doing so. While during the attack he finally sees the disaster to come, it is too late and the entire guard is annihilated.[6]

How often this is sadly true in the Believer’s life! Out of pride and self-sufficiency, we ignore the very weapon that energizes all the others—prayer. An unknown author penned the following:

I got up early one morning

And rushed right into the day;

I had so much to accomplish

I didn’t have time to pray.

Troubles just tumbled about me

And heavier came each task.

Why doesn’t God help me, I wondered,

He answered, “You didn’t ask.”

I tried to come into God’s presence,

I used all my keys at the lock.

God gently and lovingly chided,

“Why child, you didn’t knock.”

I wanted to see joy and beauty,

But the day toiled on grey and bleak,

I called on the Lord for the reason—

He said “You didn’t seek.”

I woke up early this morning

And paused before entering the day.

I had so much to accomplish

That I had to take time to pray.[7]

Prayer is, indeed, the power for living, and that brings us specifically to our text. As mentioned earlier, prayer reaches its “highest pinnacle in Ephesians,” and here we see Paul’s third mention of its importance. Here in verse 18, we find no less than six principles concerning prayer:

· We are to Pray Constantly (praying always)

· We are to Pray With All (i.e., “all kinds of”) Prayer (all prayer)

· We are to Pray in the Spirit (in the spirit)

· We are to Pray With Watchfulness (watching)

· We are to Pray With Perseverance (perseverance)

· We are to Pray For All Saints (all saints)

We Are to Pray Constantly

With the words praying always, Paul alludes to the true definition of prayer: “constant communion with God.” Prayer is not just asking and getting things from God, which is perhaps the most prevalent view of prayer. To many of us, prayer is what we use only when we are in need or when trouble arises. Biblically, however, prayer is moment-by-moment communion. As Jesus’ Model Prayer (Matt. 6:9-13) outlines, prayer involves praise, thanksgiving, self-examination, and finally petition. God doesn’t just want us to say “prayers” but to pray. Yes, we most certainly should have set aside times when we pray specifically, but at the foundation of that is that we should be throughout the day talking to the Lord as we go about our daily tasks. Another definition that sums this up is: “Living our life in God-consciousness.” Day-by-day, moment-by-moment we are aware not only of God’s existence, but also of His very presence in us.

This principle is brought out with full force in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, where Paul encourages us to, “Pray without ceasing.” While proseuchomai (“pray”) speaks of prayer in general to God, the adverb adialeiptōs (“without ceasing”) adds a startling truth. It’s comprised of the prefix a, “without,” and dialeipō, “to intermit, leave an interval or gap.” This word, as well as the adjective adialeiptos, appears several times in the NT.

In Romans 9:2, for example, Paul writes of the “continual sorrow” he had for his fellow Jews who reject Christ. This word was used in Roman times for a nagging cough; while the person didn’t cough every moment, he would still cough often, so it could be said of him, “He’s still coughing.”[8]

Here, then, the meaning is clear—prayer is to be offered “continually, without intermission.” In other words, prayer is not just those specific times when we pray, but also a constant communion with God, a continuous consciousness of God’s presence in which we view everything in life in relation to Him.

Another writer offers, “Paul’s injunction means that one should be constantly conscious of his full dependence upon God.”[9] This doesn’t mean we lock ourselves in a monastery where we do nothing but “pray.” Rather every moment is a moment for prayer; like the cough, we’re still praying.

If we meet someone, for example, we immediately consider where they stand with the Lord. If we hear of something bad happening, we pray for God to act in the situation for His glory and people’s good. If we hear of something good, we respond with immediate praise to God, for He’s been glorified. In short, we view everything that comes from a spiritual perspective. When Paul looked around his world, everything he saw prompted him to prayer in some way. When he thought of or heard about one of his beloved churches, it moved him to prayer. That is exactly the thought of Romans 1:9, where Paul declares, “Without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers), and again in 2 Timothy 1:3, “Without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day.”

Another verse that gives this very thought is Colossians 3:2; we are to set our minds constantly on the things of heaven, not on the things of the earth. That is, our life becomes a continual ascending prayer, a perpetual communion with the Lord.

We submit, therefore, if we do not view prayer in this way, we’ll soon view God only as One we call on in time of need; we will, indeed, lose touch with Him. As someone has pointed out:

Some Christians seem to look upon God as a kind of spare tire. A spare tire is forgotten for months at a time until suddenly we have a flat on the road. Then we want the spare tire to be in good condition, ready for use. Just so, many forget God during all the times when things go well, then in an emergency they want God to be on hand, immediately ready to hear and answer their cry of distress.[10]

Our “specific times” of prayer, then, are actually an outworking of our “constant communion.” As we’re continuously conscious of God’s presence and our dependence, He will bring people and needs to our minds so that we may bring them before His throne. In His book Testament of Devotion, Thomas Kelley well sums up this principle:

There is a way of ordering our mental life on more than one level at once. On one level we can be thinking, discussing, seeing, calculating, meeting all the demands of external affairs. But deep within, behind the scenes, at a profounder level, we may also be in prayer and adoration, song and worship, and a gentle receptiveness to divine breathings.[11]

What a wonderful statement! Indeed, all the “stuff” of life is just that, stuff. The real motive, the true depth of our life is a deep consciousness of God, the very breathings of God concerning His nature and workings.

We Are to Pray With All Prayer

The words all prayer can also be translated “all kinds of prayer.” There are actually no less than seven Greek words that picture the concept of prayer, which in turn are translated by various other English words, such as “intercessions,” “supplications,” “requests,” and “giving of thanks.”

Why so many words? While Greek has four words for “love,” even more profound is that there are seven that are connected with prayer. Probably the best explanation is that of Greek Scholar Richard Trench, who writes, “These words do not refer to different kinds of prayer but to different aspects of prayer.”[12] While there is a little difficulty in distinguishing these words from each other, we do see some subtle differences.

First, the Greek proseuchē (the word behind prayer in our text), along with the word proseuchomai (praying), is the most common word for prayer, appearing some eighty-five times. It’s a general word that speaks of prayer to God, which underscores the obvious principle that only the true God should receive prayer. Prayer to other gods or saints is less that worthless; it’s utter blasphemy against the One True God. Both of those concepts, in fact, are pagan in origin.

Second, a vital aspect of prayer is described by eucharistia, at the root of which is charis (“grace”) with the prefix eu (2095, “good or well”). The idea, then, is to “give good grace,” that is, “be thankful, give thanks.” Sadly, while the Roman Catholic doctrine of Holy Eucharist is supposedly to be the most important act of thanksgiving, it is in truth viewed as a sacrament that infuses grace into the worshipper and is part of salvation. That is not the biblical teaching concerning the Lord’s Supper. Prayer, then, is thanksgiving, thanking and praising God for all He does (Phil. 4:6; Col. 4:2; 1 Tim. 2:1; Rev. 7:12).

Third, another aspect of prayer is aitēma, “a petition, a request,” as in 1 John 5:15: “And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”

Fourth, a synonym of aitēma is the common deēsis, which is translated supplication here in our text. It means “to make known one’s particular need.” While aitēma seems to be any request in general, deēsis appears to picture a more personal need of one’s own. So, while prayer is much more than “asking and receiving” (as one writer wrongly defines it), we certainly can “let [our] requests be made known unto God” (Phil. 4:6).

Fifth, we encounter the word enteuxis (1 Tim. 2:1; 4:5), which speaks of having access to someone, and even a certain amount of boldness in coming to them. What a humbling privilege! Who are we to come before God? We have that privilege only because of our Savior.

Sixth, another aspect of prayer is hiketēria (2428), which appears only in Hebrews 5:7, where the Lord Jesus in His humanity “offered up prayers [deēsis] and supplications [hiketēria] with strong crying and tears.” This word, along with the context, indicates humility and earnestness in prayer. Here is great paradox. While we can come to God boldly (hiketēria), without hesitation, it is, indeed, a humble boldness. Additionally, prayer is not something we do offhandedly; rather we practice it with all contriteness and solemnity.

Seventh and finally, one other aspect of prayer is found in the word euchē (2171), the basic meaning of which is a wish or vow. As one Greek authority writes, “When we pray to God, we wish that He would intervene to permit something in our lives that we feel is proper and right. . . . A Christian’s wish is for God’s will to take place in his life, even if it’s sickness.”[13]

This introduces us to perhaps the most ignored principle of prayer. Simply stated, the plan, point, and purpose of prayer is that our will conforms to God’s will. What shameless arrogance it is to say that we can make demands of God, such as financial prosperity or other blessing, as some teach today. That is not only a total misunderstanding or prayer but also of the nature of God. One of the clearest principles of Scripture is that we are to pray according to God’s will. The idea in “The Model Prayer” (Matt. 6:9–13) is, as Robert Young’s Literal Translation puts it, “Thy reign come: Thy will come to pass, as in heaven also on the earth.” The bottom line is, “God, do what you want.” David prayed this way in Ps. 40:8, “I delight to do thy will, O my God,” as did our Lord Himself in Gethsemane, “Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matt. 26:39). Should we be any different?

Someone has wisely said: “Prayer is a mighty instrument, not for getting man’s will done in heaven, but for getting God’s will done on earth.” Is not 1 John 5:14 clear? “If we ask anything according to his will, He heareth us” (emphasis added). What is God ultimately doing? He works things according to His will, for His ultimate glory and our utmost good. Oh, let us forever abandon arrogant prayer!

Some sincere Christians ask at this point, “If God is sovereign and works His will, why pray at all?” For one thing, God says to do it, which ought to be enough. For another, however, because God is absolutely sovereign, it therefore follows that His decree for a certain thing also includes prayer for that thing. Theologian Lewis Sperry Chafer says it well: “It is as much decreed that it shall be done in answer to prayer as it is decreed that it shall be done at all.”[14] God is so great that He not only decrees an event, but He also decrees the prayer of the saint that will bring it to pass. In the final analysis, however, we simply have to recognize that prayer is the most mysterious force there is. We cannot fully comprehend it, much less adequately explain it. We don’t know exactly how it works; we just know it does.

So, what is prayer? Prayer is communion with the One True God, before Whom we come boldly and humbly to praise and thank and to Whom we direct our petitions for others and ourselves according to His Will.

We are to Pray in the Spirit

Commenting on the words in the Spirit, Martyn Lloyd-Jones rightly observes:

Nothing so appalls me as to hear, sometimes in a religious service, on the wireless or television, people talking about “saying a prayer.” I remember once hearing a man describe how he had been visiting a certain city. He told us that he suddenly saw a cathedral, “and I went in,” he said, “and said a prayer.” He then went on looking at the sights of the city.[15]

How true! We constantly hear such statements. We see it even on a national level. When some horrendous event occurs, such as the September 11, 2001 terrorists attacks, people are encourage to “say a prayer,” but seldom does anyone ask, “Exactly to whom are most people praying?” As Lloyd-Jones then goes on to conclude, that is “the exact opposite of praying in the Spirit.” Such glib, offhanded “prayers” are foreign to Scriptural prayer. John Calvin is well worth quoting here:

If we think to be heard by God for our babbling, when at the same time our heart is dead, and our prayers do not proceed from a well-disposed and earnest mind, we make God like an idol, or like a babe, whereby we do great wrong to His majesty , and, in short, we only transfigure Him according to our own fancy. Therefore, it is necessary for our prayers not only to be made with our mouth, but also to come from the bottom of our heart.[16]

Jude 20, therefore, declares: “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost.” The Biblical method for prayer is: Pray to the Father through the Son in the power of the Holy Spirit. Without question, praying in the Spirit is the master key to an effective prayer life. It means we are yielded to the Spirit’s wishes, not our own. As one commentator insightfully writes, we are to pray “not in a perfunctory manner, not by reciting our favorite syllable or empty repetitions, but praying from the depths of our souls. To pray in concert with the Holy Spirit means that the communication is earnest in its origin and its passion.”[17] We are to pray just in our head; nor do we pray just in words. We pray from the inner depth of our soul and pray in attitude.

To pray in the Spirit, we must, therefore, remember four principles:

First, remember that we do not know what we should pray for. Consider Romans 8:26-27:

Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

Prayer goes beyond words. The phrase “groanings which cannot be uttered” could also be translated “groanings unutterable” (Young’s Literal), or if I may offer, “dismayed sighs that cannot be expressed in words.” All of us have experienced times when we just can’t put something into words, when we just don’t know how to pray. We must rely upon the Holy Spirit to “translate.”

In contrast, we’ve all at one time or another been arrogant in prayer. We think we know what we need and what’s best for us or someone else. Granted, we might know what is good in a situation, we do not know what’s best! As mentioned earlier, we are to always pray according to the will of God.

Second, remember that the Holy Spirit indwells us (I Cor. 6:19-20; Rom. 8:9). Those who deny this fact of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling don’t realize that they couldn’t effectively pray without Him. I sometimes hear someone pray, “Oh, Lord, send us Thy Spirit to be among us and to bless us in this meeting.” But He’s already here! He’s already in us.

Third, remember to do nothing either to grieve or quench the Spirit. As we studied back in 4:30, sin grieves (lupeō, “to sadden or bring pain to”) the Holy spirit. We also observed in I Thessalonians 5:19 that unyieldedness quenches the Spirit (sbennumi, which in the literal sense means “to extinguish by drowning with water, as opposed to smothering”). Some Christians don’t know why their prayer life is ineffective, but here are two sure causes of such fruitless prayer.

Fourth, remember that we must be filled with the Holy Spirit. As we studied back in 5:18, Spirit-filling does not mean the “sealing,” the “baptism”, or the “indwelling” of the Spirit. The Greek is pleroō “to influence fully, control”. In other words, we are permeated by the Holy Spirit, influenced by the Spirit and nothing else. To put it simply: to be filled with the Holy Spirit is to have our thoughts, desires, values, and all else set on spiritual things and spiritual growth. Ponder how this parallels “setting our affections on things above, not things on the earth” (Col. 3:2).

The tense of the verb is also all-important. One of the most prominent misconceptions is that Holy Spirit filling is some “crisis experience,” some dramatic occurrence, a so-called “second blessing,” or life shattering event we must agonize over to attain. All such notions are obliterated, however, by the Present Tense of the verb, showing a continuing action. In other words, Spirit filling is designed to be a continuing reality.

Again we see the parallel to prayer—constant communion. Here is another reason why many Christians are ineffective in their prayer life. Holy Spirit control is another key to effective prayer.

We Are to Pray With Watchfulness

Watching translates the Greek agrupneō, which literally means “to abstain totally from sleep, to keep oneself awake” and so figuratively means “to be attentive.” Our Lord used this word in challenging His disciples concerning His Second Coming: “Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is” (Mk. 13:33). We find the same concept in Nehemiah’s leading the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. When the enemy was trying to stop the work, Nehemiah defeated them by watching and praying: “Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them” (4:9). Here is another military image. We are to set a watch, assign a sentry who is always on duty.

One other instance of this word should be noted. To the Hebrews Paul wrote: “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you” (Heb. 13:17). God’s people must not only submit to the leadership He has given them, but that leadership must be attentive to what’s going on around them and be on guard 24/7/366. How we need pastors today who will watch and truly stand for the Truth.

So how does this relate to prayer? Are we supposed to “lose sleep” over our prayers? Perhaps. More to the point, however, Paul is telling us that we are to be “fully awake” in our prayer life, not “dosing off.” In this context, we’re to be attentive to the battle at hand and the needs that this spiritual war will bring. There will be many things that can distract us from prayer, so we need to pay attention.

We Are to Pray With Perseverance

The Greek behind perseverance is proskarterēsis (4343), which occurs only here, although the verb form proskartereō appears several times. The root verb kartereō simply means “to remain strong, steadfast, to endure.” The prefix pros, however, adds a “greater emphasis [on] the time element,” so the full idea is “to hold out, to persist.”[18] We find the verb several times in the Book of Acts. The Early Church, for example, “Continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers” (2:42, emphasis added). This demonstrates that steadfast prayer is as vital as steadfast fellowship and the steadfast ministry of the Word. In all of these, we persist.

We see it again in 6:4, where we see the first “deacons” appointed to take care of temporal matters in the church so the apostles could “give [themselves] continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.”

So Paul tells us that our prayer must be persistent; it must hold out. That doesn’t mean we’re trying to twist God’s arm until we get what we’re praying for. Rather, it means we are deeply concerned and burdened to the point that we continue until we receive an answer (whatever it might be). Our perseverance always has God’s will as the goal, so God wants us to persist until we know that will.

We Are to Pray For All Saints

Here is wonderfully challenging principle. Saints is once again the Greek hagios, the ninth time Paul has used this word in this Epistle,[19] and in each instance it refers to all Christians, not some special group that have been canonized by the Church. As we’ve noted before (see 1:1 and 4:12), being a saint is not a matter of achievement, as is taught in Roman Catholicism; rather it’s a matter of position. In other words, a Christian is not made a saint by merit, but rather is a saint by position in Christ. Every Christian is a saint, a set apart, holy child of God.

Paul, therefore, says that we are to pray for all saints. The Greek behind all is pas. When used without an article, it means “each” or “every.” When used with an article, however, as it is here, it conveys the idea of the sum total of something. We, therefore, are to pray for the sum total of the Church, all believers. That’s quite a task!

Praying for one another is one of the most important principles of prayer. It’s challenging, indeed, that Paul sought the prayer support of people. But he didn’t ask them to pray for his comfort or safety. Rather, he asked prayer for effectiveness in his witness and ministry. One of the biggest faults of our prayer lives is selfishness. We must be concerned with the burdens and needs of others. Intercessory prayer, in fact, is a central theme in the Scripture’s teaching on prayer. We see many occurrences of this in Jesus’ prayer life (Matt. 9:18-26; 15:21-28; 17:14-21; Jn. 17:9-24; etc.), as well as in Paul’s (Phil. 1:9-11; Col. 1:9-14; I Tim. 1:3; etc.).

Now obviously, we can’t pray for every single Believer on the earth; after all, we don’t know all their names. What we can do, however, is to pray specifically for the ones we do know, and generally for the ones we don’t know. When was last time, for example, that we prayed for the Christians who suffer under communist, Muslin, or even Roman Catholic rule? Have we prayed recently for the Believers who are members of our Armed Forces? Do we pray for Christians who are in churches that do not preach the whole council of God and are starving because of it? Are we praying for pastors everywhere to be committed to Scripture alone and to preach that alone? (Oh, how preachers today need prayer!) And the list goes on.

Let us also consider another thought—does prayer for all saints include ourselves? Of course. We bring our needs and burdens to Him, for Who else can we turn to? In that wonderful verse on prayer, Paul assures the Philippians:

Be careful [i.e., filled with anxiety] for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus (4:6-7).

Are you ever alone? Certainly not. You’re not only one of God’s soldiers, but you are also one of his children. He is always there to comfort and give you peace.

Before going on, consider one more thought on prayer, namely, that it is the remedy for many of the ills, diseases, and depressions of life. I greatly appreciated a fascinating illustration offered here by Martyn Lloyd-Jones. He recounts that during the Spanish Civil War, just before World War II, there was an epidemic of neuroses and other psychological problems throughout England. Thousands had to go to clinics just to keep going. Then came the war, and it virtually emptied the clinics. People now had a greater anxieties, not the least of which was simple survival. Greater anxiety got rid of the lesser ones.[20] That is exactly what prayer does, but it goes even one better—it replaces anxiety with the peace of God. Are we praying for this concerning all saints?

The Requests and Results of Prayer (vs. 19-20)

And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

As mentioned earlier, Paul sought the prayer support of others. He here emphasizes that very fact—And for me. We repeat, he didn’t ask for prayer concerning his comfort and safety, but for effectiveness in witness and ministry. Here is one of the great challenges of the New Testament. Let’s look at this more specifically by noting that Paul’s three requests of prayer also became results in his own life.

Prayer Gives Us the Words to Say in Witness and Ministry

Utterance is the Greek logos, which we’ve seen several times throughout our exposition (1:13; 4:17 [legō]; 4:29) and means to speak intelligently, to articulate a message, to give a discourse. It’s easy to forget that Paul was not an orator. In fact, the orators and philosophers taunted him, “His presence is weak and his speech contemptible” (II Cor. 10:10). So, Paul prayed for the words to say. God doesn’t want us to lean on our own logic, rhetoric, or other devices. He wants us to lean on the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to give us the words. So Paul prayed for utterance, and that’s exactly what God gave him.

Prayer Gives Us Boldness in Witness and Ministry

Boldness translates parrhesia, which we encountered back in 3:12, where Paul says that in prayer we have “boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.” Comprised of pas, “all,” and rēsis, “the act of speaking,” the most literal idea is “to tell all.” Paul asked other Believers to pray that God would empower Him “to tell all,” that he would be fearless and confident in freedom of speech. What mattered most was not that his wrists were chained, but that his mouth would remain unchained. And that is again exactly what God did in Paul’s ministry. As noted earlier, he didn’t use the fancy rhetoric of the orators. He just spoke the truth with frankness and confidence. He preached “all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:27).

Sadly, how few do this today. “We must be diplomatic,” it is argued. “We must not offend.” “We must be tolerant.” “We must not be fanatical.” “We must not be too emphatic or dogmatic.” “Boldness is not scholarly.” But thank God that Paul was bold. When something was pagan, immoral, anti-Christian, anti-church, anti-Christ, or the like, he said so. There are really two reasons for this lack of boldness: preachers who have no courage, and people who don’t want to hear. These two are inseparable and cause a vicious circle. May we each be challenged to boldness in witness and ministry.

John Calvin comments here that Paul prayed that “God might give him such largeheartedness and constancy that he might not half speak, but freely preached the Gospel, and not conceal anything that might serve to set forth the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the infinite benefits that he has brought us.”[21] Oh, that we too would pray that we never “half speak” about Christ!

We should also point out that there is a another side of parrhesia. It could also carry negative meanings such insolence, haughtiness, and arrogance.[22] Herein is a solemn warning. God wants us to speak openly and courageously, but He does not want us to be arrogant, overbearing, or pushy in our witness. God does not want Christians to wear their Christianity as a chip on their shoulder just waiting to be knocked off so we can then “tear into them.” Rather, He wants each of us to stand courageously and stand humbly when our faith is challenged. As Paul declared earlier in Ephesians, we are always to “[speak] the truth in love” (4:15). This power comes only from prayer and its subsequent dependency on God.

Prayer Gives Us Opportunity for Witness and Ministry

Paul referred to himself as an ambassador. The Greek here is presbeuō, which we mentioned back in our study of 4:11b in the context of its use in II Corinthians 5:20: “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ.” As mentioned there, it’s in the same family of words as presbuteros, which basically means “one who is advanced in years or of mature age.” It was the best word in Greek to correspond to the Jewish concept of “elders” (e.g., Tit. 1:5), that is, the mature leaders of Israel.

The verb presbeuō, then, means “to be older or eldest” and was “used also for institutional functions in society, for which the wisdom of age is regarded as a prerequisite.” It was, therefore, “used for the activity of an ambassador, who represents the people who send him and negotiates for them.”[23] Even in our day rarely will you see a “young ambassador,” because those two words are contradictory.

There’s at least a four-fold significance in Paul’s use of this word.

First, the ambassador of Christ is a mature Christian, one who truly represents Christ in action and attitude. He is not one who is impetuous, hot-tempered, self-centered, whimsical, flighty, or other such immaturity of the young. Rather, he’s a godly, mature Christian who says and does the right thing in every circumstance. Just as an early ambassador can destroy a political alliance with a single slip of the tongue, the ambassador of Christ must be in constant control of all that he says and does.

Second, the ambassador of Christ does not expect honor for himself. The fact that Paul was bound to a Roman guard by a chain when he arrived in Rome is clear from Acts 28:20. Paul’s statement that he was an ambassador in bonds is, therefore, extremely significant simply because it’s totally incongruous with how an ambassador is treated. In ancient times, as today, an ambassador was treated with the utmost respect and honor as recognized by international law, not to mentioned having diplomatic immunity that barred imprisonment. But in appalling contrast, here was Paul, the Ambassador of God who was sent to the Embassy of Heaven on earth, but who was treated with contempt and even put in chains.

It’s also worth noting that dignitaries of ancient times, as in our own, often wore gold chains to demonstrate the pomp, power, and prosperity of the ruler they represented. We can probably be assured that Paul considered his iron chains to be just as much a glory to God as would be gold.

The principle is clear: the ambassador of Christ does not expect the honor that should go with that office, but rather is willing to serve in chains.

Third, the ambassador of Christ does not tolerate his ruler to be belittled in any way. The story is told of Sir Jeremy Bowes, the ambassador of Queen Elizabeth to Russia in the seventeenth century. He was to come before John Basilowitz, the Great Duke of Muscovy who had already proclaimed himself Czar. He was a cruel ruler, who once nailed a man’s hat to his head when he failed to take it off in the Basilowitz’s presence. Despite that infamous incident, Bowes did not, in fact, take his hat off in the Czar’s presence, who then said to him, “Have you not heard, sir, of the person I have punished for such an insult?” Sir Jeremy answered, “Yes, sir; but I am the Queen of England’s ambassador, who never yet stood bareheaded to any prince whatever. Her I represent.” The Czar replied, to his nobles “A brave fellow this, who dares thus to act and talk for his sovereign’s honor. Which of you would do so for me?”[24]

How many Christians today are that bold and brave? In stark contrast, there is a much greater tendency to compromise His honor and His Word, to soft-peddle His Truth so it will not offend anyone, and even “tip our hat” to the world. But that is not what a true ambassador does. The true ambassador of Christ will never allow His Sovereign Ruler to be dishonored even in the slightest measure.

Fourth, the ambassador of Christ represents his Sovereign Ruler alone. He is not there to put forth his own views, negotiate terms on his own, make new policy, or to please anyone else. He is there solely to enforce the wishes, plans, and goals of his ruler. It is worse than inexcusable when Christian leaders redefine the Gospel, reorganize the church, and reconstruct ministry to conform to the views of the world. An earthly ambassador who would do such a thing would be dismissed from his post and returned to his country in disgrace. Yet today, Christian leaders are applauded for such “innovation,” while in truth they have betray their Sovereign Ruler.

While Paul is specifically in view here, and while the context of II Corinthians 5:20 also speaks specifically of Paul and his fellow ministers, by extension and application all preachers and all believers are ambassadors of Christ. Every one of us is representatives of our Lord on this earth, and we are to do exactly what He says to do, no more and no less. And it is prayer that provides us with the energy to do so.

Satan’s Attacks on the Believer’s Prayer Life

Throughout our study of God’s armor, we have referred several times to William Gurnall’s classic work, The Christian in Complete Armour. We do so again with even greater significance, for when it comes to prayer as in integral part of this armor, Gurnall dedicates an astounding 312 pages of its some 1,200-page bulk (one-fourth) to this subject. (Sadly and shockingly, however, all this has been removed from the abridged edition.) Among the many aspects of prayer he addresses, Gurnall is especially masterful in submitting three attacks that Satan launches against the Christian’s prayer life:

· First, he tries to keep us from prayer.

· Second, if that fails, he tries to interrupt our prayer.

· Third, if that fails, he tries to hinder the effectiveness of our prayer.[25]

We would one more time humbly adapt Gurnall’s discussion of these principles and applications.

Satan Tries to Keep Us From Prayer

There is nothing that delights Satan more than if he can keep you from prayer. To accomplish that end, he uses at least four tactics.

Tactic #1: Satan tries to keep you from prayer by accusing you of hypocrisy. He whispers, “What! You pray! Living the way you do, it’s nothing but hypocrisy to pray.” But this is easily answered: we’re never safer from sin than when we are afraid of falling into it. If we fear hypocrisy, we will avoid it as we would avoid contact with the plague. Besides, if you were really a hypocrite, Satan would not be discouraging you in that sin; he would encourage you all the more to keep doing it. Satan loves the hypocrite, for the hypocrite serves Satan, not God.

Tactic #2: Satan tries to keep you from prayer by whispering, “Oh, but you don’t have a gift for praying. Let someone else do it who can do it far better.” This too is easy to answer. For one thing, prayer is not a gift; of all the spiritual gifts listed in the New Testament, prayer is not one of them. For another, having a gift for something implies that one person is better at that thing than another, that he is more effective. But that is not the case with prayer. Scripture does not teach that one person’s prayers are more effective than any one else’s. Some people also think that eloquence indicates more effective prayer, but neither is that taught in Scripture. The simplest, or even the most awkward, of prayers is just as effective as one of the highest eloquence. What matters is not human eloquence, rather the Spirit’s energy.

Tactic #3: Satan tries to keep you from prayer by tempting you to neglect it. Once again, he whispers, “This is not really a convenient time to pray. A little later will be better.” This tactic is subtle, indeed. Satan almost seems helpful; he doesn’t say, “Don’t pray at all,” rather, “Pray later.” But like Felix, who after hearing Paul present the Gospel said, “Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee” (Acts 24:25) but that “convenient season” never came, we too will not find the time to pray. Satan has a couple of ways of applying this tactic.

First, he uses your own present weakness against you. After all, if you can’t do the job well, wouldn’t it be better to wait till later? One weakness he uses is your bodily weakness. “You’re tired,” he says, “it’s been a long day. Just pray in the morning.” To combat this temptation, however, just ask yourself, “Wait a minute. Just how tired am I really?” Gurnall is almost sarcastic here when he writes:

Art thou well enough to go into thy shop, and not to pray in thy closet? Canst thou waddle so far as to the market, and not pray at home?[26]

But even if you are tired or ill, should that keep you from prayer? On the contrary, it should drive you to prayer all the more. No, you might not be able to pray as long or as fervently, or you might even fall asleep as you pray, but you can still pray. Our Lord never prayed more earnestness than in His agony and exhaustion in the Garden of Gethsemane. We consider also Paul’s fervent prayer in the midst of his thorn in the flesh, whatever that was (II Cor. 12:7-10). It is, indeed, “when I am weak, then am I strong” (cf. Heb. 11:34).

Besides the weakness of the body, Satan also uses the weakness of the heart. Satan knows that in the same way as the little boy who skips school one day is likely to do it again, likewise if we give the flesh leeway to work in us even a little bit, we’re unlikely to restrain it at all. As Paul has mentioned earlier in this Epistle, “Neither give place to the devil” (4:27). As we saw there, that command literally says, “Never give Satan any space to work, any room to maneuver.” Any sin in our lives, therefore, gives Satan raw material to use against us and such sin will keep us from prayer.

Second, not only does Satan use your own present weakness against you, but he also uses the business and busyness of life against you. Again Satan plants thoughts such as, “I just don’t have the time to pray right now. Business is pressing, and I’m just too busy. I’ll pray later.”

How many Christians there are today who are, indeed, just too busy! They are too busy to pray, too busy to read their Bible, too busy to be faithful to the Local Church, too busy to train their children, too busy for anything else that really matters.

Does not Martha immediately come to mind (Lk. 10:38-42)? Here she was so “cumbered about much serving” that she was missing the very presence of her Lord. The Greek behind “cumbered” paints a vivid picture. It is perispaō (4049), which appears only here in the New Testament. It’s a compound comprised first of the root spaō (4685), “to draw,” as in drawing or pulling a sword. This root appears, for example, in Mark 14:47, where Peter “drew a sword, and smote a servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.” When we then add the prefix peri (4012), “around,” the literal idea is “to draw different ways at the same time,” and figuratively, “to distract with cares and responsibilities.”[27]

So while cares and responsibilities are inevitable and while they must be addressed, they must still not be allowed to distract from what is more important. In Martha’s case, what could have possibly been more important than spending time with here Lord? Likewise, what can possibly be more important in our lives than His presence? And how do we come into His presence? Through His Word and prayer.

We’re reminded of what Paul has already said in this Epistle, that we should be “redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (5:16). As mentioned there, Paul is not just saying to “make the most of your time” (as modern translations mistranslate); he’s saying more than that, namely, to “buy it” and make it your own and use it correctly.

Tactic #4: Satan tries to keep you from prayer by making you think you’re asking too much from God, that your request is too great. But this too Paul addresses in this Epistle, saying that God “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” (3:20). When Abraham asked God for a son (a big request in itself), God said that through that offspring all the nations of the earth would be blessed (Gen. 22:18). When Solomon asked for wisdom (not a small request), God threw in wealth and honor (II Chron. 1:10-11). The Canaanite woman asked for her son’s healing (again, no small thing), but Jesus gave her also salvation (Matt. 15:21-28).

Dear Christian, never listen to Satan’s whisper, “You’re asking too much of God.”

Satan Tries to Interrupt Our Prayer

If Satan’s first tactic fails, he tries this one. If he can’t prevent you from praying, perhaps he can interrupt your praying. He seeks to interrupt prayer by injecting levity into it, by making the mind wander, by making us think too little of prayer, or by making us think too much of ourselves. Why do wander in prayer? There are at least four causes, but each also has a cure.

Cause #1: We wander in thought because of the natural levity of our minds. We live in day of unparalleled shallowness and levity. If something isn’t entertaining, we’re not interested. Things of God have, therefore, suffered like no other time in history. Christian comedians say we must make Truth funny so people will accept it, and church builders say we must put on a show to get people to come. Holy things are made hilarious, godliness is turned into gaudiness, and Truth is replaced by titillation. How do we combat this?

First, we must focus our minds on holy thoughts. That is why Paul wrote, “Whatsoever things are true . . . honest . . . just . . . pure . . . lovely . . . good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Phil. 4:8). This certainly doesn’t mean We do not mean that there is no place for humor in life, that life must be dull, somber, and boring. It does mean, however, that our chief concern is to think on “these things.”

Second, we must focus our hearts on a reverence for God’s majesty and holiness. This will, more than anything else, “gird up the loins of [our] mind” and make us “sober” (I Pet. 1:13). Gurnall’s words here strike at the very heart of today’s frivolity in the Church:

Darest thou toy and trifle with the divine majesty in a duty of His worship! Carry thyself childishly before the living God! To look with one eye upon Him, as it were, and with other upon a lust! To speak one word to God, and chat two with the world! Does not thy heart trouble at this?[28]

Oh, how the Church today flirts with the world! We should, therefore, pray as if we were taken up to Heaven and ushered right into the Throne room and presented to God on His throne. If we keep that image in our hearts, it will be very difficult for us to wander in thought and attitude.

Third, we must focus our trust on the Holy Spirit for strength. As a vine needs the strength of the arbor to hold it up, and without which it and its fruit would lie in the dirt, so we must lean on the Holy Spirit to lift and strengthen us and hold up our fruit for display. Let us pray with David, “Uphold me with thy free spirit” (Ps. 51:12).

Cause #2: We wander in thought because our hearts are inactive. Yes, we pray, but our affections are dead and dull. Our heart is not really involved. We say the words, but our thoughts and affections are elsewhere. We must guard against being “dull of hearing” (Heb. 5:11).

Cause #3: We wander in thought because of being encumbered with worldly or temporal cares. How often are you in prayer when some temporal matter pops into your mind and pushes out, or at least clouds, spiritual thought and concern? We must, therefore, be careful how large a place we give temporal matters in our lives. If they consume so much of our mind that there is little place left for anything else, we are simply too encumbered. We must not be like the thorny ground hearer of the Word, “the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful” (Mk. 4:19).

Satan Tries to Hinder the Effectiveness of Our Prayer

If Satan’s first two tactics fail, he has one more to fall back on. If he can’t prevent our praying or can’t interrupt it, perhaps at the very least he can make it less effective. There are at least two ways he tries to hinder our prayer and make it less effective.

Hindrance #1: He tries to hinder the welcome of our prayers in Heaven. In other words, he works in our lives in such a way that by tempting us in certain areas our prayers will be less effective before God. To that end, he uses four things to hinder our prayers.

First, Satan tempts us to pray according to our will, not God’s. We considered this principle earlier in our study, but it bears repeating. Gurnall writes pointedly here:

We have not liberty to pray at random for what we will. The throne of grace is not set up that we may come and there vent our sudden distempered passion before God, or make any saucy motion to him that comes in our head. . . . If He had promised to sign all our petitions without any regard to the subject-matter of them, He should too oft set His hand against Himself, and pass that away which would be little for His glory to give.[29]

To put it into modern terms, God does not give us carte blanche, or give us a blank check and tell us we can have anything we want. He is not an indulgent parent Who hands us a credit card and Who will pay whatever bill we run up. But oh how Satan is winning with this tactic today!

Second, Satan tempts us to pray with the wrong end in view or the wrong motive. James is the clearest here when he warns: “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts” (Jas. 4:3). “Amiss” is the Greek adverb kakōs (2560), which here means “badly or improperly.” Modifying the verb “ask” (aiteō), the idea then is to ask or beg improperly, that is, as the verse goes on to say, to spend it wastefully on ourselves (dapanaō, 1159). So when we make request of God, we should ask such questions as: Why am I asking for this? What will I do with it? How will I use it? Will it in any way keep me from faithfulness to the Lord?

Third, Satan tempts us to be at odds with another Believer, which hinders prayer. It is extremely significant that Peter writes, “Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered” (I Pet. 3:7). If Satan can disrupt the home, he wins a two-fold victory: a weakened home and a prayerless husband.

Additionally, time and time again God commands Believers to love one another (Jn. 13:34; 15:12; I Thes. 4:9; I Pet. 1:22; I Jn. 3:11, 23; 4:7, 11). As Paul also told Timothy, “I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting” (I Tim. 2:8), clearly implying that it is impossible to pray in faith and at the same time wrath. The Model Prayer also couples together “forgive us” as “we forgive.” In other words, since we have already been forgiven, we are then to be forgiving. Again, if Satan can bring discord, our effectiveness in prayer will be shattered.

Fourth, Satan tempts us to lack faith in our prayers. We can do no better here than to quote Gurnall’s beautiful analogy:

Prayer is the bow, the promise is the arrow, and faith the hand which draws the bow and sends the arrow with the heart’s message to heaven. The bow without the arrow is of no use, and the arrow without the bow as little worth; and both without the strength of the hand, to no purpose. Neither the promise without prayer, nor prayer without the promise, nor both without faith avails the Christian anything.[30]

Our prayer can never be effective if we do not have faith in God’s promises concerning prayer. As our Lord Himself promised: “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mk. 11:24).

This leads us to the second hindrance Satan brings to make our prayer less effective.

Hindrance #2: Satan tries to hinder us from recognizing God’s answer to prayer.[31] Even as God answers our prayers, Satan can still interfere by making us think that God did not answer. A very troubling teaching that is sometimes offered is that God does not always answer a Believer’s prayer. They arrive at such teaching because they confuse our effectiveness in prayer with God’s answering of prayer. While things that we’ve already observed can determine how effective our prayer is, God always answers.

We insist on this distinction because the teaching that God doesn’t the Believer’s prayer is inconsistent with the Father/Child relationship. Just as no good parent ignores a request from their child, to say that God would do so is unthinkable. I am convinced that Satan uses such teaching to hinder and defeat Christians in their prayer life. To those who insist, “God didn’t answer my prayer,” we say, “Yes, He did; you just didn’t recognize it.

To avoid and combat this hindrance, therefore, we need to be absolutely assured that God always answers the prayers of Believers, whatever that answer might be. Our Heavenly Father, therefore, answers prayer in one of four ways.

First, there is His Direct answer of, “Yes.” This is when He gives exactly what we ask for in our prayers.