Mike Salvati

We have been spending time in the book of Ephesians,

and we're closing out a little piece on the armor of God.

So we're in Ephesians 6, verses 10-20 this morning.

Ephesians 6:10–20

We're going to be focusing on verses 18-20.

And all along here, we have been learning that we have an enemy,

that the devil is real.

And though he's already been defeated at the cross,

Jesus triumphed over him.

Through his death and resurrection.

God put all things under the feet of our King Jesus,

including the devil and his demons.

Even though that's true, he's still on the run.

He's on the prowl, 1 Peter 5.8.

And he's looking to do us ill.

Doubt.

Distraction. Distortion. Division.

Deceptive tactics to destroy.

Anyway, in Ephesians 6, verses 10-14,

Ephesians 6:10–14

four times we're told to stand.

Stand firm.

Remember, Ephesians is all about walking.

Walk, walk, walk, walk, walk.

Walk. Live your life.

Walk, walk, walk, walk, walk.

Walk in a manner worthy of the Gospel.

Walk, walk, walk.

Ephesians 6, 10.

Stand.

Take a stand.

Stand firm against the schemes of our enemy.

And God has provided strength for us

to stand firm.

This armor.

And Paul very intentionally chooses battle imagery.

We are in a spiritual guerrilla warfare.

And in order to stand firm,

we've got to put the armor on.

We've got to put on the belt of truth

that Christ is everything.

It's all about Him.

That's the truth of the matter.

We've got to buckle on

the breastplate of righteousness.

We've got to call to mind by prayer

that yes, my sin has been imputed to Christ

and Christ's righteousness

has been imputed to me.

I'm completely forgiven

and totally accepted in God's sight.

Amen.

Amen.

I lace up

the high top cleats

of the Gospel of peace

that make me immovable.

God is for me.

In Christ.

I take up the shield of faith

and with it,

I intercept and extinguish

the fiery darts of the evil one

looking to divide us.

He's looking to aim into gaps

into our unity.

The unity we have in Christ.

We've been given this helmet.

The helmet of salvation.

And it's God saying to us,

you are mine,

you are mine,

you are mine,

you are mine,

and when it's on,

we say,

I am yours.

Saved.

Forever.

And then finally,

we take up that living,

lethal,

and legendary sword

of the Spirit,

the Word of God.

It's all about Christ.

It's all about Christ.

I mean,

He wielded it.

And now we wield it,

and we cut to pieces

destructive deceptions

of the devil.

Armor on.

Now,

imagine,

Woodman's on a Saturday morning.

Talk about a war zone.

One of the sisters from our church

is there.

She's pulled up in her minivan,

and she has three kids under four.

She gets out of the minivan,

and she is decked out

in the armor of God

from head to toe.

She's pushing that Woodman's cart,

kids hanging off

at like a jungle gym,

and as she's going down

the cereal aisle,

you see her mouth moving.

You think she's looking for Cheerios.

You think she's reading

kind of nutritional charts.

But you know what she's doing?

She's praying.

I-94,

Wednesday morning,

southbound.

A middle-aged man

squeezed into his Honda Civic.

decked out in armor.

And as you drive by him,

you notice that his lips are moving.

He's on a direct line to heaven.

Student walking down the hallway

of Tremper High School.

Maybe it's not Tremper.

Maybe it's Bradford

or Indian Trail.

Harborside.

Lakeview.

Maybe it's not high school.

Maybe it's middle school.

Lance.

Washington.

Lincoln.

Christian Life School.

Maybe it's not a school.

Maybe you're homeschooled.

You're walking down the hallway

in your house.

But you're a student

with your armor on.

And if you were to walk

by this student,

you couldn't help but notice

that they're saying something

under their breath.

And they're not gossiping.

They're making supplication.

They are asking God

for boldness

to walk in their school

for the glory of Jesus.

If you would look at Ephesians 6,

18-20,

we read this.

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

in opening my mouth boldly

to proclaim the mystery of the Gospel

for which I am an ambassador in chains,

that I may declare it boldly

as I ought to speak.

In order for us as Christians

of Christ the King Church

to stand firm against the devil's scheming,

we must pray.

We must pray.

There's five points

I want you to see this morning.

The last four are right out of the text,

but here are the five points.

First,

we must pray with all of our hearts.

Second,

we must pray all the time.

Third,

we must pray all kinds of prayers.

Fourth,

we must pray with all perseverance.

And fifth,

we must pray for all the saints.

Why?

To experience God's spiritual strengthening

so that we can stand firm

against the schemes of the devil.

United we stand.

Let's stand firm.

Let's pray with all our hearts.

What is prayer?

Prayer is not complicated.

It's actually very simple.

What prayer is,

is simply entrusting your soul to God.

Oftentimes,

prayer is a verbal communication

of our hearts' trust in God.

And it comes in many forms.

But what I want you to think about this morning

as we get going here is this.

Prayer is depending on God.

Prayer is the way we trust God.

Prayer is the way that we cry out to God.

And so,

prayerlessness

is independence from God.

It's a lack of trust in God.

A lack of ongoing dependence on Him.

And if you're like me,

I am,

I'm tempted to self-sufficiency.

My prideful tendency to self-sufficiency

will make me prayerless.

Because essentially,

I'm trusting in myself.

So what prayer is,

is essentially trusting actively

in our God.

Calling out to Him

over and over and over again.

That little,

this first point is

pray with all your heart.

And if you replace that word pray

with trust,

it's trust God with all your heart.

Like Proverbs chapter 3,

Proverbs 3 · chapter mention

5 and 6.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

And lean not on your own understanding.

But in all your ways,

acknowledge Him

and He will make straight your paths.

Pray to your God with all your heart.

Lean not on your own understanding.

Trust Him.

Trust Him.

As we trust God,

what we will find

is that God,

as we pray,

refocuses us.

As we pray,

He reframes us.

As we pray,

He is able to revive us.

As we pray,

He's able to restrain us.

Are you praying?

Are you actively trusting God?

Are you seeking Him?

The second thing I want you to see

is we're to pray all the time.

We see that right in this passage.

Verse 18.

Praying at all times

in the Spirit.

Praying at all times.

Now,

we all have regular times of prayer.

I mean, as a church,

this morning,

we've already prayed multiple times.

Our small groups pray

every time they get together.

Families get together and pray.

If you're a family like mine,

we pray for all of our meals.

Sometimes it's just rub-a-dub-dub,

thanks for the grub,

and dive in.

But often on mornings,

we pray together as a family

and we entrust ourselves

to God for the day.

It's really simple.

And then there's this thing

called private prayers.

Personally praying to God.

Private praying is part of a

spiritual wartime mentality.

Here's why.

We need to pray all the time

because the battle is raging all the time.

We must be vigilant in our praying.

Personal praying,

a vibrant personal prayer life

will help you stand firm

against the devil.

This morning,

I really want to help you

with this.

I want to get concrete.

So here's a suggestion

of how to pray

throughout your day.

Beginning your day

with private prayer.

Trusting God from the get-go.

Starting your first inclination

towards Him.

Maybe you pray through the armor.

May you call to mind

that first belt of truth

that today it's all about Jesus.

Jesus.

That's who I'm living for.

I'm not sure what your

beginning of your day is like

if you have a calendar

on your phone

or if you have a calendar

or a schedule

that you keep pen and paper

or if you keep it up

in your head

and you just know

what's going to happen that day.

But can I encourage you

to start your day this way?

Take a couple minutes

and pray through your day.

Just think about

what's going to happen today

and you entrust yourself

in this day to God.

You're looking to Him.

You are laying it before Him.

Begin your day

with private prayer

and then throughout the day

pray.

It's kind of like urban warfare.

It's kind of like going

to house to house.

Kind of situation to situation.

Appointment to appointment.

Phone call to phone call.

Email to email.

One after the other.

And you're kind of

covering everything with prayer.

You're laying down prayer cover.

Oh God, I got this meeting.

I'm about to walk into it.

Lord, I don't know

what's going to happen

but whatever happens, God,

may I be a light for you.

May I be wise.

May I be gracious.

May I be truthful

and honest.

God, I'm entrusting myself

to you now

as I walk into this meeting.

Or, God, I know this meeting

is going to be antagonistic.

God, would you help me

to respond in such a way

that's forgiving

and tender and gracious.

God, as you pick up your phone.

God, this is going to be

a hard phone call.

I pray that, Lord,

you would help me

make this phone call

and preserve the unity

that you've purchased in Christ.

as you're typing out an email.

Oh God, I pray that this email

would find this person

or these people,

that this would be

a blessing to them.

That it would build,

it wouldn't tear down.

God, as my family

relaxes this afternoon,

would you help us

to relax in such a way

that honors you?

You're just kind of praying

from one thing to the next.

Praying at all times.

Essentially, you're saying this.

Oh God, help me.

Help me, help me.

Help me, help me.

Help me with this.

Help me with that.

Help me with this.

Give me strength.

Give me strength.

Close of the day.

You're laying down on your bed.

Thank God for your day.

Thank God for what

He's done that day.

Thank God for His faithfulness

to you.

Thank God for specific ways

He has met you

and sustained you.

And then you sleep

the sleep of the Beloved.

Psalm 4.8

In peace,

I will both lie down

and sleep

because you make me

dry inside you.

God, I trust you.

Now this is throughout

the day, right?

What happens when you

wake up in the middle

of the night?

What happens if you

can't fall asleep

because you're anxious?

Well, you pray.

Sometimes you need to

sleep with your helmet

of salvation on.

Reminding yourself

again and again

that I am yours.

I am yours.

God, you're for me.

God, make straight

these paths.

Here's something

that happens

on a somewhat

frequent basis here.

God wakes somebody up.

God wakes somebody up

by putting someone else

on their mind

at 3 a.m.

You awake,

awaken,

and there's someone

on your mind.

You're being prompted

by the Spirit of God

to pray for them.

Maybe you don't know what,

but you lay it down.

You lay down,

cover.

Oh God,

I pray for this person

right now.

I don't know why.

I don't know the circumstances,

but God,

would you strengthen them?

Would you give them

what they need?

Help them.

So regular times of prayer.

We're to pray

all the time.

Now, could you imagine

us as a church

if we're praying

more and more frequently

like that?

Do you know what happens?

God moves.

I'm not sure

if you noticed this,

but there's a little

prepositional phrase

that we're to pray

all the time

in the Spirit.

Did you guys notice that

in verse 18?

In the Spirit.

He's not speaking of

praying in tongues.

It's not what he's

talking about there.

What he's talking about

is this.

Paul is saying

pray all the time

with prayers

that are prompted

and guided

by the Holy Spirit.

Prayers that are directed

by the third person

of the Trinity.

Prayers that are

being prompted

by God living in you

and seeking to unite

us together

as a church.

Pray in the Spirit.

These are upwards

and outwards

prayers.

Prayers that are

seeking to glorify Christ.

Prayers that are

seeking good

for others.

Here's some examples

of prayers

not in the Spirit.

Ready?

Lord, give me

a ton of money

so that I can get

a ton of stuff.

Amen!

Amen!

It's not of the Spirit.

It's of the flesh.

Lord, keep my wife

from finding

out about

about my secret.

It's not of the Spirit.

It's of the flesh.

Lord, would you just

bail me out this

one last time

and I'll give you

anything!

It's not of the Spirit.

Here's examples

of praying in the Spirit.

Lord, I confess.

I confess.

I spoke

in anger.

I confess.

God, help me.

I need to love

this person.

Lead me.

Strengthen me.

Lord, provide wisdom

for my son.

Provide wisdom

for my wife,

for my husband,

my friend.

God, unite us

as a church.

If your praying

is marked

by the fruit

of the Spirit,

love, joy, peace,

patience, kindness,

goodness, gentleness,

faithfulness,

and self-control.

If your praying

is marked

by the fruit

of the Spirit,

you know what?

You're praying

in the Spirit.

You're praying

in prayers

prompted and guided

by the Spirit

of God.

You know what?

Praying in the Spirit

is another way

of saying

we're depending

on our God.

our prayers

are dependent

on God.

So the question

we will need

to ask is this.

Are you praying

with greater

and greater frequency?

Praying all times.

And are you praying

in the Spirit?

Are your prayers

prompted

and guided

by the Spirit

of God?

When we pray

like that,

God builds.

God unites.

He pours out

His Spirit

in greater,

greater measure.

So,

we're to pray

all the time

in the Spirit.

The third point is

we're to pray

all kinds of prayers.

Do you know

who Bubba Gump is?

from the movie

Forrest Gump?

There's this one

scene in the movie

where Bubba

is listing out

the various kinds

of shrimp

and ways

to prepare shrimp.

You know

what I'm talking

about.

Barbecue shrimp,

popcorn shrimp,

shrimp stir fry,

and he goes on

and on and on

for like a minute.

There are all kinds

of prayers

and ways to pray.

Prayers of adoration

where we adore

our God.

Prayers of thanksgiving.

We give thanks.

Prayers of lament

where we pour out

our hearts.

That can get kind of

messy and uncomfortable.

But we're being

honest with God.

Prayers of confession.

Prayers of petition.

Prayers of supplication.

Then there are

corporate prayers.

There are small group prayers.

There are family prayers.

Private prayers.

There are standing up prayers.

There are sitting down prayers.

There are kneeling prayers.

There are hands raised prayers.

There are hands folded prayers.

There are closed eye prayers.

And then there's the open eye prayer.

Do you know what I'm talking about?

There are shouted prayers.

And there are sung prayers.

There are whispered prayers.

And of course,

there are the unspoken prayers.

What all these prayers have in common

is communicating one's soul's dependence

on God.

If you're born again,

you're going to want to pray.

The Spirit of God in you

is compelling you to pray.

Cry out,

Abba, Father.

Romans chapter 8.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

There are different kinds of prayers

for different seasons of life

and different states of souls.

That's what makes the Psalms

so sweet to Christians.

The Psalms are a collection of prayers.

A variety of prayers.

All aimed at God.

So what we see here

in Ephesians 6 is this.

Praying at all times in the Spirit

with all prayer

and supplication.

To that end,

keep the Lord with all perseverance

making supplication.

So we're to pray

all kinds of prayers,

but there's one kind of prayer

Paul kind of narrows in on.

And that's that word supplication.

Do you guys use the word supplication

every day?

What is this supplication?

Well, the key word in it,

it's the word supply.

See the words supply and supplication?

And so when we make supplication

for one another,

we're asking God to supply a need.

We're asking God to meet a need.

To bring comfort or courage or clarity.

And so there are many different kinds of prayers

and many different ways to pray,

but what we're being exhorted to here

is to make supplication for one another.

To make supplication for yourself,

to make supplication for others.

To ask God to meet needs.

I want to help you this morning

in a way to make supplication

for yourself and others.

So I want to show you a way to pray

that combines both praying

and reading your Bible.

And in order to do that,

I need you to turn to Psalm 86.

So would you turn there please?

What I'm about to show you is,

the fancy name is

Prayerful Meditation of Scripture.

I call it

making David's prayer my own.

So if you turn to Psalm 86,

I want to show you a way

to make supplication for yourself

that combines both reading your Bible

and praying.

And so what we'll essentially do is,

we'll swing the sword of the Spirit

by praying in the Spirit.

Is everybody in Psalm 86?

There's the title,

Great is Your Steadfast Love.

And then it says,

A Prayer of David.

Do you see that?

Here's what you need to do in your mind.

You need to cross out David

and put in your name.

So what we're going to do here

is make a prayer of David

into a prayer of Mike

or a prayer of Ginny

or a prayer of Katie

or a prayer of Jasmine or Matt.

So that's what we're going to do here.

Another way to think about it is this.

Think about this prayer

as a jacket that David is wearing.

And what we're going to do

is we're going to take off

this jacket of Psalm 86

off David

and we're going to put

our own body into it.

We're going to make it our own.

This is going to become ours.

And so I'm just going to show you

a way to do this

in order to equip you

and serve you

and how to make supplication

for yourself.

You ready?

Here's all it is.

You start reading.

Incline your ear, O Lord,

and answer me

for I am poor and needy.

And then you pray.

God, I am poor and needy.

I can't get through today.

I'm dependent on you.

Apart from you,

I can do nothing.

You have the strength

that I need to do.

Without you,

I'm vulnerable.

Without you,

I'm unable.

I'm limited.

I'm a creature.

I need your help.

It goes on to say,

preserve my life

for I'm godly,

savior, servant,

who trusts in you.

You are my God.

There's the helmet

of salvation.

You are my God.

I belong to you.

I'm yours.

Verse 4,

gladden the soul

of your servant

for to you, O Lord,

do I lift up my soul.

O God,

make my soul happy today.

And you know

where I find happiness?

I find my happiness

in Christ

that he's imputed

his righteousness to me.

Praise be to God.

Verse 8,

there is none like you

among the gods, O Lord,

nor are there any works

like yours.

Jesus,

it's all about you.

You alone are God.

And so here we are.

Within one minute,

we have

offered ourselves

to the Lord,

made supplication

for ourselves,

using Scripture,

prayers that are already

in our Bibles.

It's a very satisfying,

helpful way

to make supplication

for yourself.

And then making supplication

for others.

In the book of Ephesians alone,

in Ephesians chapter 1,

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

in Ephesians chapter 3,

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

there are prayers

Paul prays

for this Ephesian church.

And then in Colossians chapter 1,

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

there's another prayer.

He prays

for the Colossian church.

And you know

what he's praying for?

He prays for strength

for these churches.

And so when it comes

to praying for one another,

let's pray that God

would strengthen us

with his might.

We can pray these prayers.

I'm guessing some of it,

I've prayed Ephesians 3

for many of you,

that God would,

by his Spirit,

strengthen your inner man,

that Christ would dwell

in your heart

by faith,

that you would know

the love of God

in Christ Jesus

and you would be filled

with the fullness of God.

What a joy it is

to pray that to each other.

So let me ask you a question.

Are you praying

all kinds of prayers?

Are you making supplication

for yourself and others?

Are you swinging

the sword of the Spirit

by praying in the Spirit?

Fourth point,

we are to pray

with all perseverance.

We are to pray

with all perseverance.

We read this in verse 18.

Praying at all times

in the Spirit

with all prayer

and supplication,

to that end,

keep alert

with all perseverance.

To that end,

praying,

making supplication.

To that end,

persevere.

Stay alert.

That word,

those words,

keep alert,

mean to be watchful.

In Mark 14,

it's very interesting.

This is the same thing

Jesus tells His disciples

in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Stay awake.

Keep alert.

Pray that you might not

be led into temptation.

The Spirit's willing,

but the flesh is weak.

Stay awake.

Keep alert.

Be watchful.

I have this thing,

I call it

PASTAR.

P-A-S-T-A-R.

It's like radar.

It's,

you become aware

of something.

There's a blip

that comes up

and you're like,

okay,

I need to pray for that.

I need to be aware

of that.

I need to

maybe bring God's Word

to bear on that

for someone.

but it's a watchfulness

and PASTAR

is not limited

to PASTAR's.

If you're a Christian,

you've got PASTAR.

Watchfulness.

Being aware of others.

Knowing other people's needs.

Being alert

against the schemes

of the devil.

But what we're told here

is that we're to keep alert

with all perseverance.

It's telling us

how we are to

stay awake.

How we are to

keep alert.

Persevering prayer

protects us

from falling prey

to the devil.

Persevering prayer

protects us

from falling prey

to the devil.

So we pray aware

and we persevere

in our praying.

It does take effort.

It does take concentration.

It does take

ongoing dependence.

But here's the effect.

God uses it

to build us.

Help us to trust Him.

So we persevere

in our praying

for each other.

When someone,

a couple's going

through a hard spot

in their marriage,

we persevere

in praying for them.

Pray it all the way through.

We pray

in a persevering way

for people

with hardened hearts.

We pray it

all the way through.

We pray.

We ask.

I'm going

for provisions

over and over

and over again.

We persevere.

When I was in high school,

I went on a short-term

mission trip

to the Dominican Republic.

And it turns out

when we got there,

I didn't know this

until I got there.

And it was the thing

that stuck.

There was a man

who had been praying

for 10 years

that God would send

a team

to help build

an orphanage

because there was

a need to care

for orphans

in Santa Domingo.

And lo and behold,

here I am,

a junior in high school.

I show up

and I meet this man

who's been praying,

persevering in his prayers

for 10 years.

Nelson Medina.

It struck me.

Persevering.

What persevering prayers

can reveal

is our motives.

It can show us

why we're really praying.

They can purify.

What persevering prayer

also produces

is unity.

When we're able

to say to one another,

brother,

I'm praying for you.

I'm in it with you.

I'm praying daily

for you regarding this.

Over two years,

brother,

I'm praying for you.

Stay in time, brother.

I'm praying.

Are you praying?

Are you watchful

in your prayers?

Are you persevering

in your prayers?

The last thing,

last point is

we are to pray

for all the saints.

We must pray

for each other.

We see that

at the end of verse 18,

making supplication

for all the saints.

Now, I don't know

about you

what your experience is,

but there can be

a lack of meaningful prayer

when we gather together,

especially in our small groups.

And this lack

is not a lack

of willingness

to pray for each other.

It's a lack of willingness

to share our lives

with each other.

Not wanting to be

fully honest.

Not willing to

bring struggles.

Have you ever been

in a small group

when the prayer,

time to pray at the end,

leader asks me,

anybody have any prayer requests?

And there's someone

who says,

everybody,

would you pray?

Would you pray

for my great aunt?

She's got just horrific breath,

and it's just dividing

the family.

It's chewing us up.

Pray, move in her heart

that she would brush her teeth.

Lord, please!

So you're hearing that,

and it doesn't sit.

It's dissatisfying.

Because everybody

in the room knows

that there are things

that this person's

dealing with

that are more significant

and closer to home

than what they're sharing.

We can be unwilling

to share.

And there is a group

of people ready

and eager to pray.

We've been all

in that situation,

haven't we?

Having something

on our hearts to share,

but reluctant,

embarrassed,

maybe too prideful.

We need to humble ourselves

in order to effectively

pray for each other.

In order to know

each other well,

we've got to be willing

to open our lives up

to one another.

God will unite us

as we humble ourselves

and pray meaningfully

for one another.

So when we talk about

praying for all the saints,

there's a step

where we need to be

willing to be prayed for.

We need to entrust ourselves

to one another

and to God.

We've been sending out

a weekly prayer update

as a church,

usually on Tuesdays,

and the purpose of it

is really to be praying

for one another,

to build each other up,

to make supplication

for one another,

to know what's going on

in each other's lives.

It's just a little way

to do that.

I'm encouraging you

to take advantage of it.

In verses 19 and 20,

Paul specifically asks

for prayer

and it's very instructive.

What's most interesting

is what he asks for.

And so let me just say this.

Do you remember

Paul is writing in prison,

house arrest,

he's writing in Rome,

he's literally chained

to a Roman soldier.

That's verse 20

while you read

an ambassador in chains.

And it's very interesting

what he requests.

He doesn't ask for comfort.

He asks for boldness.

Do you know

what he was waiting for?

He was waiting

to go before Caesar

to give reason

for the hope

that was in him.

And so he prays,

he asks the Ephesians,

he does this with Colossians,

he does it across

all of his letters

to ask people to pray

that he would have boldness

to proclaim

to the powers that be

that Christ is risen

and that Christ is reigning

and that Christ is calling

all to him in repentance.

He prays for boldness

because he's mission-minded.

He asks for boldness

because he's got

a spiritual wartime mentality.

If the apostle

is willing to ask

for prayer,

we must too.

So are we wise enough

to know our own need

for God's strength?

Are we humble enough

to ask our friends

to pray for us?

To pray for boldness?

So here are two questions.

Friends,

when was the last time

you asked another Christian

to pray for something

that was near to your heart?

In other words,

when was the last time

you asked someone

to pray for something

that was risky for you?

When was the last time

you asked another Christian

to pray for boldness

for you?

To witness?

Paul is modeling

something for us here.

Not only does he

models praying

for the saints,

Ephesians 1,

Ephesians 3,

he's modeling

asking for prayer

from the saints

to be strengthened,

to stand firm.

I'd like to ask you all

on behalf of Samir and Daniel,

would you be praying for us?

We're not apostles,

we're just elders.

Would you pray for us?

That we be bold,

wise,

gracious,

focused,

mission-minded.

In conclusion,

we're to pray

with all of our heart,

we're to pray all the time,

we're to pray all kinds

of prayers,

specifically supplication,

we're to pray

with perseverance

all the way through,

we're to pray

for all the saints,

we're to ask for prayer.

But I want to close

by pointing you

to Ephesians 3,

Ephesians 3:19–20

verses 19-20.

Actually, 20.

Paul just prayed

for the Ephesians,

and he says this,

Now to him who is able

to do far more abundantly

than all that we ask

or think,

according to the power

at work within us,

to him be the glory

in the church

and in Christ Jesus

throughout all generations

forever and ever.

Our God is able

our God is mighty.

Our God is powerful.

And so we stand firm

against the schemes

of the devil

by praying together.

We must pray.

And it's united

that we stand.

Let me pray for that.

God in heaven,

would you help us

to pray?

Would you help us

to express our dependence

on you

and our interdependence

with each other

by praying more and more?

God, I pray

that you'd give us courage

in opening our lives

with one another,

that we would be willing

to entrust ourselves

in such a way

that we would be praying

more and more meaningfully

for one another.

God, we know

that the enemy of our souls

does not want us praying,

does not want us

depending on you.

So God,

would you give us

a heart

to pray more and more

for the name of Jesus?

Amen.

Amen.