Alright, Ephesians chapter number 6. And tonight we wrap up our series on the whole armor of God. Hope it's been a help to you. And I think tonight will undoubtedly be a help to us all. As we were singing about prayer a while ago, a quote came to my mind. I don't remember who said it. But it was some great preacher, okay, it wasn't me, but he said, all my failures are prayer failures. That's about the way we feel sometimes, don't we? We feel like we don't pray near enough, and when we do, sometimes maybe our faith is small, and we don't pray with faith. One of the most important parts, though, of being in a battle is to be in constant contact with the commander-in-chief. The commander-in-chief can see things. that others cannot see, things that you can't see when you're on the battlefield. It's especially true in our day with the satellite images and all that kind of stuff, and all the people that serve under the president that bring in the information on those things. It's important to stay in contact with the commander-in-chief, and that's the way it is with our God. He knows the battle better than we do. He sees what we cannot see. And the last part of the armor that He has given us, praise God, is the ability to pray. The ability to take our needs before Him. Look at verse number 18. Pray always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching therein, too, with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." And we're going to read a little bit more here. Paul requests prayer for him. He says, "...and for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in bonds, that therein I may speak boldly as I ought to speak." Paul realized the great power of prayer and requested that the folks that he was writing this letter to would pray, take this avenue of prayer and apply it to him. Now, you've got an outline there. It's not a long message tonight, but there's a lot of scripture that I'm going to quote. There's a few places that we will turn to. But it's important tonight to look at these things. First of all, when should we pray? It says praying always. Praying always. I'm afraid there's some times when maybe we should be praying that we're not. Okay? We decide we're going to try to do things ourselves. Or we figure maybe, well, we'll see how things work out and then we'll pray. Well, we should pray always. Luke 18, verse number 1. Jesus was speaking to His disciples and He spoke a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray and not to faint. We have a tendency to wait until we faint before we pray. We ought to pray. Psalm 86, verse 3, Psalmist David penned these words. He said, Be merciful unto me, O Lord, for I cry unto Thee daily. David was a praying man, and prayer was important to him. Psalm 55 and verse 17. Again, this is David. The evening and morning and at noon will I pray and cry aloud and he shall hear my voice. He shall hear my voice. He was a praying man. Romans 12, verse 12, we know that Paul was a praying man. He told the Roman church that they should be continuing instant in prayer. Continuing instant in prayer. What do I mean by instant in prayer? I kind of get a picture of what I heard, Dr. John R. Rice was. Dr. John R. Rice, if you would go up to him, if he was in a meeting, whatever the situation, and you said, Dr. Rice, I want you to pray for this and so. He would immediately stop what he was doing and pray. Don't ask him to pray if you don't want him to pray right then and right there, because that's the way he was. That is continuing instant in prayer. Being able to pray in an instant. Being able to pray in the moment. And what a blessing that was in the Roman church life for them to know that Paul was encouraging them to continue interested in prayer. The Colossian church, he told them to continue in prayer. And watch in the same with Thanksgiving, Colossians 4, to continue in prayer. Sometimes we pray, but we don't continue. We'll pray and say, well, that's enough. Well, you know, I think sometimes the Lord wants to know how urgent we really believe that it is. Are you really trusting Him? Are you really looking to Him? Or are you just going through a formality? And may God help us to not just go through a formality of prayer, but to see it for the help that it is. Philippians chapter number 4 and verse number 6 says, Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer, in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. What should we pray for? Well, in everything. You know, there's a lot of times that we say, well, you know, this warrants praying, but according to Scripture, We ought to be praying more. There are more things we should be praying. And Paul, of course, in 1 Thessalonians 5, 17 told the Thessalonian church to pray without ceasing. That is, don't quit. Pray. And that's the same thing, continuing in prayer. So that is when should we pray. Praying always. The second thing we see here, how should we pray? Praying always, and here's how, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. All prayer. Well, what kind of prayers are there? Well, you'll notice that when I begin my prayers, most always, I can't tell you 100% of the time, but I may slip up and not do it, but I try to thank the Lord for something. Thank you, Lord, You being the great God that you are, you'll hear me pray. Usually when I open in prayer, I'll begin with thanking Him and praising Him for something that's going on. Why is that? Because we need to be praising the Lord. We need to be thankful for that that He gives to us. We don't want to get where we just come to Him requesting all the time and not acknowledging His goodness in our life. It's great to shower thanksgiving and praise to Him. Romans 1 verse 8 and 9, Paul told the Roman church, he says, First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all. We need to thank the Lord for one for another, don't we? He says, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers. In other words, every time that Paul prayed, the Romans got prayed for. They had to be encouraging to that church. They were really having a problem that Paul had not visited them yet. It's not that Paul hadn't tried. He was hindered. But it ought to have been an encouragement to them to know that even though Paul could not make it there, that he was praying. He was mentioning them always in his prayers. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 16. He told the church at Ephesus, he says, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. Two churches. Talks about that he prayed for. And of course, what we just read in Philippians 4, 6, that we're to be careful for nothing but in everything my prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. With thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known unto God. So thanksgiving is an important part. Hebrews 13 verse 15, By Him, talking about Christ, therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. That is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name. There's a lot to praise God for. each and every day. I mean, when I drive up to Walmart and I get a good parking place, I say, thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord, for being kind to me, especially if my hip is giving me issues that day. And it seems to be getting issues more and more. I can't even lay on my left side anymore right now because of the pain in the hip. And that's my favorite side to lay on, is my left side. So I've been kind of hindered recently with all of that. But thank God, even in the midst of that, thank God that I'm not in pain all the time. I'm not in pain tonight, standing before you. I'm able to stand and I'm able to preach. The Lord has given me unction. Thank God for that. Ephesians 5 and verse number 20. Paul said, giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Giving thanks always for all things. How can we give thanks for all things when it appears that not all things are good? Romans 8, 28. We know that God's going to work it toward our good. We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose. So, we pray with thanksgiving and praise. Second of all, we pray with confession of sin. That's important. As I've said many times, keep short accounts with God. You know, as you go to the Lord in prayer, Think about, am I on praying grounds right now? Is my prayer going to get higher than the ceiling? Or am I just talking to the wind? Our sin can hold us back from being able to pray like we need to pray. We know that David had an issue in his life. He talks about it in Psalm 32 and verse 5. to acknowledge it unto the Lord. He says, I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah. We're to pray with supplication for oneself. I'll have you turn to Psalm 3 here. Psalm 3. And we see that The psalmist here was having oppression. It's a picture of the oppression of sin. That was his son that was oppressing him. He was fleeing from Absalom when he wrote this. But we see that he was praying for God's deliverance through this. I think of this, if you're having trouble, whether it's somebody or whether it's something in your life, Think about prayer from deliverance over the power of sin. Look at Psalm 3. The Lord, how are they increased that trouble me? Many are they that rise up against me. Many there be which say of my soul, there is no help for him in God. Selah. But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me. my glory, and the lifter up of my head. I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and He heard me out of His holy hill. I laid me down and slept. I awaked, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me round about. Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God, for Thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheap foam. Thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly. Salvation belongeth unto the Lord. Thy blessing is upon Thy people. Selah. So, you know, he was praying for his own personal needs. There's nothing wrong with that. You know, we need to get over the idea that we think that we've got to be able to do it ourself. We need the Lord's help in this world. And the darker this world gets, and it's getting pretty dark, it's already dark and it's getting darker, and we need God's help and we need to make sure that we're praying for our needs that we cannot really handle with stuff that is happening in this world without the Lord's help. Pray for wisdom. For wisdom. James 1.5. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that He give it to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him. Do you ever have a situation where you just don't know what you need to be doing? I don't know which way I should turn. I don't know what decision I should make here. But that's wisdom that you're looking for. You need God's wisdom. And make sure that you're praying for that wisdom from Him. Whether it be deliverance from temptations, from sickness, from trials, from afflictions, or whether it simply be a need of wisdom because of sin's effect on our ability to make decisions, listen, it is all deliverance from the power of that sin that has on our daily lives. And then there's another type of prayer. Pray with supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks for others. Look at 1 Timothy chapter number 2. 1 Timothy chapter number 2. And verses 1 through 4 here. Paul is encouraging Timothy in his prayer life here. And he's giving him the exhortation. In 1 Timothy 2 verse 1, I exhort, therefore, that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and for all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of our Savior, who will have all men to be saved and come to knowledge of the truth. We know that our nation's in a world of hurt. We just know that. We've talked about that. We've pointed out the Lord's judgment beginning to happen in our land. And we need to pray for those that are in authority. And there's a lot of them that need Jesus, that don't have Jesus in their life. And there's a lot that need direction. They're trying to figure things out on their own. They got their own ideas of how things ought to go instead of God's ideas. And if we don't pray for those that are in authority, don't be surprised if our freedoms that we've enjoyed since, I've enjoyed the whole time that I've been around since 1956. As they happened even before then, don't be surprised that we lose some of those freedoms. And we need to make sure that we have a priority of prayer when it comes to our nation and the leaders of our nation. And when we talk about leadership, we're talking about it at all levels, the federal, state, local, they're all important. an article about how important that the school board elections are. You say, well, you don't have anybody in schools. Those school board elections are not that critical. Well, they are, because that's a springboard for higher office. And I'd be surprised how many started and were given the inroad into leadership that sprang them to a place where they're at and they're making decisions that are going against what we have enjoyed in this land of ours. And we need to pray for those that are lost. Paul prayed for his nation. He said in Romans 10, 1, Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. It broke his heart that they had turned from the Lord Jesus Christ, by and large. I mean, there were some believers among, and when he would go, when he was on his missionary journeys, where he would begin at would be in the synagogues. And the reason he began in synagogues, and not only because the gospel was to the Jew first, and also to the Greek, but also, he was really concerned about his brother. And so he prayed for them. And he would go there, preach to them when they would reject, and you'd get some folks saved maybe, but when they by and large would reject, then he'd go to the Gentiles, preach to the Gentiles. and start churches there. Pray for those that are lost. Pray for those that are saved. Colossians 4 verse 12, it was spelled by the name of Epaphras, who was a praying Philip. He says, Epaphras, who is one of you? In other words, he had been part of the church at Colossae, and he said, Patris, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, salutes you, listen, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. When he left Colossae, his heart did not leave Colossae. He had a heart for the people there in that church because he had been a part of that church. And so he labored fervently for them in prayers that they would stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. In Acts chapter number 12, verse number 5, we know that Peter was in prison. He was kept in prison, but it says that prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. And I don't know how much faith that some of them were praying in, because when he came knocking on the door, and it was him, the lady that answered the door couldn't hardly believe it was him. They were surprised to see him there. We ought not be surprised when God answers our prayer, but we ought to pray for those that are saved, that are going through trouble. That's a privilege that we have, and we can glorify God in those prayers When we pray for those that are lost to get saved and they get saved, we praise God. When we pray for those that are saved that are going through trouble and God delivers them out of the trouble, we can give praise to God, amen? And so we need to pray with supplications, with prayers, with intercessions, and giving you thanks for not just the leadership in our country, but those that are lost and those that are saved. Then another kind of prayer is just praying in communion with God. Walking with God. It's not just an Old Testament concept. I ain't walk with God. Noah walked with God. Walking with God is walking in step with Him. If you're walking with somebody, you have to be walking in the same direction. You're not walking with somebody if you're walking the opposite of what they're walking. He was walking with God, both of those, Enoch and Noah both. Walking in step with God. And the psalmist, he said, stand in awe in Psalm 44. Stand in awe and sin not. Commune with your own heart upon your bed. And be still, Selah. Communion, listen, can be defined as you talking to God and God talking to you. Amen? And that's a good thing. When you're laying in bed and you're having difficulty going to sleep, start talking to God. Amen? And sometimes God will lay on your heart. to pray for someone. It happens a lot. It happens a lot more lately. When you have trouble staying asleep at night, you wake up in the middle of the night. So we're up to God. Somebody needs me to be praying for them. And I'll go through the list in my head to go through different people come to mind that need prayer and pray for them. So pray in communion with God. Pray in the Spirit. Jude 1 verse 20. But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost. Listen, praying in the Spirit is praying out of a heart and soul that is indwelt, illuminated, and filled with the Spirit. Not enough just to be indwelt by the Spirit. The Spirit needs to have control. He needs to give us illumination in our life of the things that we need to be praying for. So we need to be indwelt and illuminated and filled with the Holy Spirit if our prayers are going to be what they ought to be. It's also praying in the power of the Holy Spirit. And the only way, of course, to be full of the power of the Holy Spirit is to be empty of other things. Amen? And praise the Lord for that. Galatians 4 verse 6. He says, And because you are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. And it repeats again in Romans 8.15 that says, For you have not received the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Realize that our position in the Lord Jesus Christ gives us that ability to go to the Lord in prayer. We've got the Holy Spirit living within. And He allows us, He causes us to cry out to our Heavenly Father. And sometimes we get to where we don't know how to pray. We just do. It seems like a lot more lately. Lord, how do I pray in this particular situation? Well, we've got help even from the Spirit in that. Romans 8 verse 26 and 27. It says, Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities. For we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searches the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. You know, sometimes when we say, well, y'all don't really know how to pray. Well, we've got to help her. And what a blessing that is. Understand when we pray, we pray to the Father. We pray through the Son. We're praying in His name. Let me just pause here and expand on that in His name. In His name is talking about, it's not just tagging our prayer, in Jesus' name I pray. It's more than that. It's praying according to Jesus' will. You can't pray in His name and pray for something that's contrary to Him. So, prayer to the Father. Prayer through the Son in His name. And prayer is by the Spirit. And of course, we need to watch with all perseverance. That last part of of our passage there in Ephesians 6.18, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, watching thereto with all perseverance and supplication for all things. Why should we be watching? We should keep on guard, shouldn't we? Because Satan is looking to attack our prayer life. He doesn't want us to pray. And He will get us discouraged. And if we don't keep guard, if we don't watch with all perseverance, we will fail in our prayer life. So when are we to pray? Always. How are we to pray? In all prayer and supplication. These different types of prayers are all important. Now trust me, you'll take the study help that I've given you tonight and think about when you go to pray, To begin, it's a good idea to begin with thanksgiving and praise. You never go wrong starting out with thanksgiving and praise. And confession of sin. And then, once those things are out of the way, then you can come and pray for yourself. You can pray and intercede for others. You can pray in communion with God as you walk with God. Praying in the Spirit and watching with all perseverance. What a blessing it is to know that God has provided all that we need in order to do what He says there in verse number 10 of our text. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. And he goes on there to talk about the whole armor of God that we've been dealing with for a number of weeks now. Because it's the only way standing strong in the Lord and in the power of His might and putting on the whole armor of God. It's the only way that we can stand against the wiles of the devil. Amen? Alright, let's pray. Father, we just thank You tonight for this avenue that You've given to us to come before Your throne. Lord, help us to not take it lightly. Lord, help us to see that it needs to be a necessary part of our day. In fact, it's good to begin our day with prayer because we don't know what we're going to face that day. Satan wants to catch us off guard. Lord, we need to be clothed and we need to be ready for whatever attacks that he may bring our way so that we can, Lord, walk with you in a way that is pleasing to you. Lord, help us with these things. None of us are adequate in and of ourselves to have a prayer life that is pleasing to You. We need Your help in that. And thank You for the Holy Spirit that helps us. Even when we don't even know how to pray, He helps us with our prayer life. What a blessing that is. Help us to, Lord, stay in the Word of God and stay clothed the whole armor of God that we might be able to withstand in the evil day. We know that these days are evil, that we are called to live in right now. And Lord, help us to see that. Help us to understand this spiritual battle that's going on and the great need to stay in contact with You, our Commander-in-Chief. And Lord, just help us with