We continue to look at the armor of God in Ephesians 6: 10-20: 

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. 15 As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. 16 With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. 19 Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.

Today is the last day that we’ll be looking at the armor of God.  It’s been neat to see our kids at Vacation Bible School doing this same passage throughout the week. I guess I could be acting this passage out with song and dance like they are, but I figured that may not be the best idea. 

Today I wanted to finish this up with something that isn’t really a part of the armor of God, but it may be the most important piece within spiritual warfare – prayer.  Pray is the to all of this.  

Prayer is how we find the strength to stand against temptation and evil. 

Prayer is how we find the ability to stand for what is right.  

Prayer is how we find grace and forgiveness when we fall (which we will). 

Prayer is the key to living our spiritual life.  If we have any shot of resisting evil and being faithful, the first thing we have to do is be serious about prayer life.  Think now of the people in your life who you would regard as the most holy. The first thing is that each of them would in no way consider themselves holy. 

But I can promise you the one thing that each of these saints had in common was a serious and an alive life of prayer.  They took prayer seriously. They attended to it. It was their joy and their strength. Their life was bathed in it. They prayed regularly and often. 

Prayer matter to them.  Prayer matters to Paul.  Prayer should matter to each of us.  

Let us be serious and attentive to our prayer life. And we know that will move and be at work within our lives. 

Tomorrow we’ll finish with Ephesians 6: 21-24. 

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