Persistent Prayer

I was going to write about fear today, since Halloween is on Saturday…but I realized I couldn’t abandon my talk on the armor of God without one important aspect.  I know we’ve finished putting on every piece of armor, but there’s one specific instruction that Paul gives us after explaining the armor.  And that is to pray.  Here it is in Ephesians 6, verse 18:

Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

Notice that your instructions aren’t just to pray sometimes–like “God help me out of this terrible situation.”  Those are called foxhole prayers.  Instead, Paul calls us to pray at all times and on every occasion.  That means praying in the morning, in the afternoon, and at night.  Before meals, after meals, and between.  At work or in the car.  At the gym or at school.  Anywhere and everywhere, pray.

And don’t just pray for yourself.  Pray for others as well, because there are many of your brothers and sisters in Christ struggling at every moment of every day, fighting battles of every degree.  It is good to pray for yourself, but also pray for them.  Prayer is so incredibly powerful; I can’t even put it into words.  Your prayers are important.  To God and to others.  That communication with Him brings you closer to Him and helps fight battles that others can’t fight on their own.

And pray persistently.  Persistence is “continuing to do something or to try to do something even though it is difficult or other people want you to stop (Merriam-Webster).”  So even though it might be difficult to pray in all situations (or even difficult just to finish a prayer!), keep pushing through.

Prayer in and of itself is a discussion for another day, as it is an immense and multi-faceted topic.  But today I just want to encourage you to pray.  Pray for yourself, but also pray for your friends, your families, your acquaintances, your enemies.  You never know what they could be going through this moment.

If there is anything you are struggling with today that needs prayer, please share it in the comments below.  I’d love to be able to pray for you today.