Christian Living

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by Rev. Jeff Hagan, DCE, DMin, (ThD)

Ephesians 6:18 - "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 Lord’s people" (NIV).

Introduction: In my humble opinion, this is one of the best passages on prayer in the entire Bible. Look at how many times it uses "all" along with "always." "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 prayinig for ALL the Lord's people."

More than just a segment of set aside time, prayer should become a way of life. We should be living out each of our days with an overall attitude of prayer. Prayer is as much of an attitude as it is actual communication with God. So, to pray always does net technically mean pray 24/7, 365. In fact, that would be impossible. How would one think, work, or socialize if every second of their day was spent on their knees with their heads bowed? Let me explain more of what I mean by breaking this verse down into four very brief sections:

1. "On ALL occasions." A great example of an Old Testament saint who took this approach to prayer is David. If we take a look at Psalm 4 we see he prayed before he went to bed. In Psalm 5 we see he prayed before he started his day. In Psalm 5 he prayed when he felt like "groaning." I would venture to guess these were times when he was in some kind of pain, depression, or frustration. In Psalm 6 he prayed when he had sinned. In Psalm 7 he prayed when he was under attack, Pslam 8 when he was in awe at God's creation, Psalm 9 when he was happy, and Psalm 10 when God seemed distant.

2. "ALL kinds of prayer." There are many different types of prayer and God is ready for, and desires, all of these types: written prayers, spontaneous prayers, corporate prayers, private prayers, thanksgiving, worship, requests, intercession, praise, confession, repentance, long prayers, and short prayers.

3. "ALWAYS." We should make every effort to make prayer as instinctive to us as our unconscious habits.

4. "For ALL the Lord's people." Often times our prayers focus on ourselves. It's easy to make our prayers all about us. But one of the most significant and meaningful ways we can minister to others is by lifting them up to God in prayer. We need to pray for fellow believers.

Conclusion:
Jim Elliot once said, "God is still on His throne, we're still His footstool, and there's only a knee's distance between!"

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