Kneel to Win: Prayer as Your Secret Weapon

Lord, we just ask today that you, Lord, I ask that you make me a person of prayer even more, Lord.

I pray that you keep us all here, Lord, spiritually awake.

Strengthen my heart, Lord, to persevere.

Lord, teach me to fight on my knees, Lord, for my life and for the lives of those around me.

Lord, help me to stand, Lord, and help me to never stop standing.

In Jesus' mighty name, we pray. Amen.

Again, y'all, over the last three weeks, we've been learning what it means to

stand, not in fear, not in our own strength, but fully equipped by God Almighty.

In fact, in week one, we actually learned to stand in God's strength,

where surrender, not striving, is the starting line of spiritual stability.

In week two, we actually, we stood anchored in truth and righteousness.

We were protected at our core by who God is and who he says we are.

And then last week in week three, we put on the rest of the armor,

the shoes of readiness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation,

and the sword of the spirit, realizing that y'all, we are not defenseless in the fight.

God has given us everything that we need. But here's the surprising part.

Paul doesn't end the passage we've been looking at with a weapon in hand or

a triumphant charge forward, does he?

He ends it, church, on his knees with prayer.

Why? Because all the armor in the world, church, is powerless without connection

to the one who gives it strength. Amen?

Why? Because you can be dressed for battle and still be spiritually weak if

you're not dependent on God.

And as we see in this next slide today, prayer is not the afterthought.

It's the lifeline, Eastwood. The posture of victory isn't just standing.

I want you to see that today. It's also kneeling.

It reminds me of one of my favorite bands back in the day, Petra,

and they had this great song called Get on Your Knees and Fight Like a Man.

Paul's final word is not about fighting harder. It's about leaning deeper,

not striving more, but staying connected.

Because the strongest warrior is the one who never stops praying.

Do you believe that? What scripture is telling us today?

Well, our main teaching, we're focusing today on Ephesians 6, verses 18 through 20.

Ephesians 6:18–20

Let's throw that on the screen. If we could here again, remind us of this passage.

It says, praying at all times in the spirit with all prayer and supplication

to that end, Keep alert with all perseverance,

making supplication for all the saints and also for me, that words may be given

to me and opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel,

for which I'm ambassador in change, that I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak.

We see number one today, y'all, that prayer keeps you connected to the source.

Ephesians 6.18, and pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.

You know, after walking us through here the full armor of God,

Paul doesn't move on to a new topic, does he?

He actually moves deeper into the heart of battle.

Again, that heart is prayer. because, like I said, armor without power is just decoration.

Prayer is what keeps the armor active, empowered, and effective.

Prayer is not a last resort. It's a lifeline. Don't forget that today.

It is a lifeline back to the giver of life himself.

Prayer isn't reserved for crisis moments. Newsflash, right?

It's not deserved for crisis moments. Paul says to pray how often?

Yeah, on all occasions, right? That means when things are going really good

in your eyes, you need to be on your knees and pray.

When things are falling apart and it seems like the world is crashing down,

you need to be on your knees in prayer.

It doesn't matter the occasion. In the everyday, the mundane,

the joyful, the confusing, the painful, prayer is how we stay connected to the

source of all strength, wisdom, peace, and guidance.

You know, Jesus put it plainly in John 15, four through five.

He said, remain in me as I also remain in you.

Apart from me, Jesus said, you can do nothing.

How much can we do apart from Christ?

If we're not abiding, we're not advancing. If we're not connecting, we're not conquering.

Prayer is what keeps us aligned with God's heart and attentive to his voice.

It shifts our focus from self-reliance to spirit dependence.

That's what Paul means when he says to pray in the spirit.

He's not prescribing a formula or a certain emotional state.

He's actually describing, y'all, a posture of surrender, of sensitivity,

a spiritual attentiveness to the Spirit.

To pray in the Spirit is to actually lean into the presence of God with openness and trust,

letting the Spirit guide our prayers, our perspective, and even,

y'all, dare I say it, our priorities.

It's not optional. Pray continually, 1 Thessalonians 5, 17 says.

Not because God needs constant reminders, but because we do.

When we stop praying, y'all, we start drifting.

When we stop seeking, we start striving in our own power and strength.

You know, I often wonder, you know, it talks about that the work of God and

living our Christian life should not be burdensome.

And if you feel today like you are worn down, worn out, that you can't hardly

get out of bed and come to church, that you feel like the whole world's crashing

in, you feel like this, that.

Stop seeking. I mean, stop striving and start seeking, right?

Don't strive. The Christian life is not where you're just striving all the time

in the sense of striving to do it in your own strength.

Yes, we're fighting the good fight. Yes, we are striving in the sense of the

battle, but it's through whose power?

It's through God's power and through his spirit, not in our own strength.

We learned that in week one.

And if you're feeling burned out at church, it's because you're walking in your

own strength and you need to repent and you need to get right with God and say,

Lord, forgive me a sinner.

Forgive me for focusing on things in my own strength instead of doing it by the power of spirit.

Because when you do it by the power of spirit, guess what?

He's going to give you wings like an eagle, and you're going to have the strength

to do the mission that God has called you to do.

And when we start to disconnect from the source, we actually lose clarity,

we lose power, and we lose peace.

Prayer, get this, is what grounds your soul and my soul in every season of life.

It's how you fight the invisible battle with an unshakable foundation.

And then secondly, this morning, prayer keeps you and I spiritually awake, right?

With this in mind, he says in Ephesians 6, 18, be alert and always keep on praying.

Paul doesn't just say to pray. what does he say? He says to be alert and pray.

Y'all, that's a military term, a watchman's command.

In other words, stay awake, keep your eyes open, be vigilant.

We don't just pray when things go wrong. We need to pray to actually see what's

really happening, y'all, to discern the movement of both God and the enemy in our lives.

Jesus actually gave this same charge if you remember, to his disciples in the garden.

Let me share again with you, if you've forgotten this, it's Matthew 26, 41.

He says, watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.

The spirit is willing, but the flesh is what?

Weak. You see, the moment they stopped praying, they started sleeping.

And when the pressure came, they scattered, didn't they?

Peter, who was once spiritually asleep in that garden, later learned the value

of actually staying alert.

He said, be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like

a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

1 Peter 5.8. So you won't recognize the battle if you're spiritually drowsy, church.

That's why prayer is essential.

It's our spiritual caffeine, if you will, right?

It's essential. It wakes up your soul. It sharpens your awareness.

And as Leonard Ravenhill once said, as we see in this next slide,

that no man is greater than his prayer life.

The pastor who is not praying is playing.

The people who are not praying are straying. You see, prayer doesn't just keep you and I grounded.

It keeps us awake.

Without it, even the strongest believer becomes vulnerable.

Because I tell you what, number three, prayer is a weapon for others, not just yourself.

Ephesians 6, 18, look at it again.

Keep on praying for all of the Lord's people, all the Lord's people.

Paul closes this verse with a powerful reminder.

Prayer is not a private discipline only for personal strength,

right? It's a sharpened weapon.

It's in a collective battle, y'all. The fight of faith, in other words, is not a solo mission.

It's a community effort.

That's why it's so important, y'all, that we need you. You're part of the body of Christ.

And in fact, maybe those of you who are checking out Eastwood Baptist Church,

maybe you're still praying if God wants you to join here.

That's great. you pray through it. But when God leads you to join,

you get to join and you join in the fight. You join in the community of believers.

It's not a solo mission. It's a community effort. That's why we need you.

When you're not here, guess what?

God's work here at Eastwood suffers in some way. We need you all.

That's why Paul doesn't say, keep praying for yourself. he says what again keep

on praying for who all the lord's people because when you pray for others,

you fight battles they may not even know they're in.

And as you see in this next slide, as we look at this, Father,

you also, you stand in the gap when they feel too weak to pray.

And then finally here, you carry one another's burdens into the presence of Almighty God.

Wow, what a privilege. That is the ministry, y'all, of intercession.

To intercede is to actually enter the fray for somebody else,

to lift them up, to cover them, plead for them.

And as this next slide says, and I believe this with all my heart,

sometimes the most loving thing you can do for someone is to pray for them behind their back.

James 5.16 says, therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each

other so that you may be healed.

Galatians 6.2, bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.

It's easy to talk about people, especially when they're struggling,

but spiritual maturity calls

us to talk to god on their behalf not just to others about their problems right

as corrie ten boone actually once said she said we never know how god will answer

our prayers but we can expect that he will get us involved in his plan for the answer.

Prayer is not a passive act. It's spiritual warfare.

When you intercede for someone else, you're stepping into their battle with your armor on.

Standing in the gap, church. Who in your life today, ask yourself the question,

who in your life needs you to fight for them in prayer right now?

A friend, a spouse, a child, a neighbor, a pastor.

Don't just think about them. Don't just feel for them. Again,

stand in the gap for them.

And that leads us to number four today. Prayer fuels boldness in the mission.

Paul actually ends the armor passage with a really personal request here. Look at it, verse 19.

He says, pray also for me that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that

I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel. Y'all,

Paul was no stranger to persecution, was he?

Or pressure, by the way. He had faced what?

Beatings, imprisonment, slander, and opposition.

And yet, notice here, his request isn't for safety, is it? But for boldness, y'all.

Boldness. We need an army of God who is bold for Jesus Christ in this world,

y'all. We have too many wimpy so-called Christians that won't stand upon the word of God.

We need people who are serious in the battle, people who have put their faith

and trust in Jesus Christ alone.

And they're standing firm in his word.

They're kneeling before him, surrendered in the posture of prayer and perseverance.

They're never giving up.

He knew this truth. Paul knew this. He knew this truth. The mission of God moves

forward on the prayers of his people.

When is the next step in the mission of God for Eastwood Baptist Church going to move?

How's it going to move? On the prayers of his people.

When we're praying, we're not just fueling personal devotion.

We're fueling, get this y'all, divine momentum.

Divine momentum.

Prayer keeps that gospel flame burning.

With the winds of fear or discouragement, when they try to blow it out, it keeps it burning.

In fact, Andrew Murray said this. Let me share this with you.

The man who mobilizes the Christian church to pray will make the greatest contribution

to world evangelization in history.

Secret weapon, y'all. Prayer, our secret weapon.

Prayer sustains courage in the face of resistance.

It unlocks boldness when silence feels safer.

It empowers ordinary people like you and me to speak an extraordinary message.

James 5, 17, again, the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

Colossians 4.2, devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

You're not just praying for comfort or clarity.

You're actually praying for courage.

How many of us can use a dose of courage this morning?

Yeah, I think so. All of us, right? You see, as we see in this next slide today,

courage does some things for us.

Courage to keep proclaiming truth in a culture that prefers lies. Did you hear me?

Courage to keep proclaiming truth in a culture that prefers lies.

And then courage to love boldly when it's easier to withdraw.

And then courage to step out in obedience when you actually feel overwhelmed.

Wow. You're talking about courage that is needed. So here's the question.

Whose boldness are you praying for this week? You're praying for your pastor's boldness.

You're praying for a missionary, a young believer stepping into leadership.

Like Paul, they may be one prayer away from their next breakthrough.

Did you know it? But I want to challenge you today.

Keep standing. You've come to the end of this journey and this portion of scripture,

but the real battle is still being fault, Eastwood.

So here's the final challenge.

As I said, and as we see in the next slide after this one, keep standing, keep standing.

You might want to go through this one, Dakota.

That was our last one. There we go. Let's go to the next one. All right, here we go.

Stand strong in the Lord's mighty power because your strength alone is not enough.

We got to be reminded of that.

Stand protected in the armor of God, truth, righteousness, peace,

faith, salvation, and the word.

Stay connected through prayer, not just for yourself, but for the people around you.

Do you want boldness, as I said earlier? Do you want to keep standing?

Do you want to do that even by kneeling in the posture before God saying,

Lord, help me to stand bold? That's what this next slide says here.

We also need to stand bold in our mission because the gospel,

Eastwood, is worth proclaiming, even when it's hard, even when it's hard, y'all.

Remember I told you the other week about Keith Green, the late Keith Green,

that wrote a song called Asleep in the Light.

Because so many people many times come to church and they just go through the

motions and they're just you know following through and show up on sunday morning

and it's just like hallelujah,

but they're asleep in the light because there's people all around us that need

us to stand bold in our mission and y'all the only way we can do that is by

spending time on our knees in prayer,

at all times in all situations getting fueled by the energy of the holy holy

spirit of god That's how we do it, y'all.

Y'all, the Satan just knows how to get the church, how to get the people that are coming to church.

Some of them don't know the Lord. They think they do, they don't.

Others may know the Lord and have slipping into a little bit of apathy.

But I'll tell you what, it is time to wake up.

Wake up, oh sleeper, right? It's time to wake up.

It's time to see a lost and dying world around us. We don't have time to play

games. We don't have time to do that. We have a mission.

We have a mission of God to fulfill, and he has given us everything that we need.

And it's time to stop being a slacker, and it's time to get in the battle.

It's time to stand upon God's word. It's time to be involved in the mission.

I want you to remember this today.

The armor gets you dressed, but prayer keeps you engaged.

Some of y'all have lost the vision for Eastwood Baptist Church.

Maybe some of you that actually, when we first came here, actually said,

hey, this is what we want to do. This is what we want to be about.

And you've already lost the vision. You've already lost it.

You've let the cares of this world slip in and you've been putting other priorities before Jesus.

Today, I want to challenge you, not out of anger or resentment or anything like

that, but out of love for your soul and for you.

I want to challenge you to repent of that.

Repent of getting your eyes off the mark. Repent of the times that you said,

Lord, I want to see you advance the kingdom, but yet you stay at home asleep in bed.

Repent of that, y'all. It's time that we as a church become holy as he is holy.

It's time we grow. It's time we leave those elementary things like sucking on the milk bottle.

It's time to start eating the meat of the word, Eastwood.

It's time. Do you want to see this church grow? Do you want to see us continue

how God is blessing? Do you want to see us go into the next phase of what God has for us?

Then stand in prayer and perseverance.

Victory doesn't come by effort alone, but it comes by dependence on the one

again who equips you and I, and he fights for us.

Remember that first week? The battle belongs to the Lord.

You were never meant to stand alone.

Don't don't try to stand alone in anything you were never meant to fight unarmed

either and you were never meant to pray only for yourself so take your stand

and stop don't stop standing,

take your stand and don't stop standing this week's challenge i'm going to go through this quickly.

I just want to challenge you. We all want to build a rhythm of prayer and pray

with perseverance, not just for ourself again, but for others.

Here's some practical steps that I think can help get us there.

Don't worry if you don't get all these. They're also on the sermon guide.

Some of these on the way out, you can find in the clear rack up there on the

way out. You can get a sermon guide.

But first of all, set three prayer alarms. Here's just an idea for application.

Set three prayer alarms, morning, midday, and evening.

When they go off, pause and intentionally reconnect with God.

Make a list of three people to pray for every day.

Somebody close to you, somebody hurting, and somebody that you know who is leading.

Whether it's your pastor, your Sunday school teacher, or somebody else that

you know. And then as we go forward to this last slide, here's the ultimate part.

End each day with a simple prayer.

God, keep me standing. Keep me alert. Keep me close.

Y'all, I promise you today, I know God's spirit is moving in this place.

And y'all, he is calling some of you, and you're a Christian.

He's calling some of you to walk this aisle today and to repent before God,

of taking your eyes off of Jesus and of getting your mind focused on the world.

He's calling you today to repent and to come forward.

You don't have to come to me. You come to this altar and say, God, forgive me.

Lord, I want to get re-centered with you today. I want to stand in prayer and perseverance.

Some of you today might've been visiting Eastwood Baptist for a while,

as I said earlier, and today's your day. Today, you know what?

Today, I'm going to join Eastwood. This is where God has me.

I invite you to come forward today. and let's talk about being a part at Eastwood Baptist Church.

Let me give you a quick final encouragement here. You have what you need. The armor is yours.

The spirit is with you. And ultimately, y'all, the battle is the Lord's.

Now go and stand firm.