The Whole Armor Of God - Praying Always...

Finally brethren, Praying... (wait); It does not say that! No it goes more like this: "Above All, Praying Always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;" Eph 6:18. You may notice that I added Above All to the first of this passage; it belongs there! I am simply amazed by the way this has all played out; because Paul could have started the whole book on the premise of prayer. Prayer is the substance of our faith; what?, you might be saying; Application; Application; Application; this whole thing that I have been doing over the last week, is to show the application of the Whole Armor of God in our lives. Prayer is the glue that holds it all together! Please try and follow what I am saying here: God does not change; He is the same yesterday, today and for ever; but we do change, daily, sometimes multiple times a minute. If there is anything that causes us to be constantly drawing close to God, it is prayer. Throughout the book of Ephesians, Paul only mentions prayer one time; verse 1:16, "Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers"; yet this whole spectacular Book is based on the abilities we have in Christ through prayer; he just does not say prayer specifically until verse 6:18. It is as if he is building up to this powerful crescendo; "Praying always with prayer and supplication in the Spirit". Let's recall what some definitions of "Above All" are: Besides all this, Power, Authority, Shout Out, On account of, In connection with something that takes place, and on and on. Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of this not seen." Have you ever, ever given any thought to what that actually means! Don't you see, that everything that really, really matters, takes place in the spiritual realm; and the spiritual realm is entered into through prayer. Did I make any sense to you in what I just said? Let me try to give you a picture of what I mean; (I asked my wife if I could use her as an example, and she did not say no, so here it goes); If you were in the condition that my wife is currently in; where you could not move or speak; but yet if you could still pray, you could move mountains. Jesus said in Matthew 17:20 & 21 in answer to the disciples asking why they could not cast a demon out of a certain man; "Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove: and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goes not out but by prayer and fasting". So let me ask you, How is faith demonstrated? It is demonstrated by prayer!!! Okay, okay, okay; maybe you need me to better explain. What do you do when you pray? Are you thinking? Do you know the answer yet? Still thinking? The answer is: 'You Are Talking To God'; "duh", you say, "I know that". Now let me ask you again: How is our faith in our God demonstrated? Paul gives us this spectacular epistle; where he details how we are seated in Christ; how we are to walk in Christ; how we are able to stand in Christ; how we are able to be Strong in The Lord and in the Power of His Might; how we are to put on The Whole Armor of God; how we are to be living out Truth; how we are to be living out Righteousness; how we are to be living out the Gospel; how we are to be trusting God to protect us by the Shield of Faith; how we are to be knowing and believing in the power of Jesus as the Helmet of Salvation; how we are to depend on the Holy Spirit to deliver us by the Sword of the Spirit; and how, finally, he reveals, it is all brought about through prayer. How did you receive God's gift of salvation in the first place; you prayed. How did you receive the filling of the Holy Spirit; you prayed. How will you be able to be strong, stand, walk in Christ, or take the spiritual battle; you pray. God gave me this illustration this morning: You have labored earnestly to order the car of your dreams; beautiful leather seats, custom pearl white paint job, with flames on the sides, electrical convertible top, custom wheels that sparkle in the sunlight, it even has little pillow dice hanging from the rear view mirror. Then your car arrives, oh what a glorious day; you slide into those leather seats, adjust your rear view mirror, give your dice a little flick as you look at yourself in the mirror, stick the key in the ignition as you pump the gas pedal a few times, and then you turn the key; nothing but a click. There is something missing in your car, it's called an engine; prayer is the engine for the power we possess in Christ. He has given us this spectacular life in Him; to be victorious in not only the physical world that we walk in, but also the spiritual world that we confront the powers of darkness in; and it is all powered by prayer... Prayer being the substance of faith; Romans 5:1 & 2, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom we have access by faith into the grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the Glory of God". Having Done All To Stand; Therefore Stand... (next, "Supplication")