by Pastor Dave
I want to spend time on just one aspect of the armor of God. While they are all important, this morning God made this one close to my heart. Verse 18 (ESV) …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.
Prayer is important. Communication is important. I was hired by someone to tear down an old porch and build a new one. I looked things over and began. I tore down the old porch and then I built a new one. I built it in the image of the old porch. Job done, I got paid and moved on. A week or so latter, I noticed someone different working on my newly constructed porch. Curious, I talked to the owner. The issue was not in my workmenship but was in the vision they had for the porch as opposed to my vision. I did a good job and they were satisfied with my work but not with the end result. The old porch had no railings around it and it had narrow steps. I built the new one like the old one. The customer wanted railings and wide steps.
The problem was I did not communicate with the customer and find out what they wanted. I needed to do it their way and not my way. Isn’t that often how we are with God? We want to work for God and build His church but we do not communicate with Him to see what He wants and how He wants it. Prayer is communication. In the list of all the armor of God, none of it is effective if we are not using it properly. None of it is effective if we are not in communication with our commander.
We are in a battle daily and we need to be in prayer daily. Notice that in this verse prayer is mentioned five times (praying, in the Spirit, prayer, supplication, supplication). All the other armor is mentioned once. We need to be people of prayer, seeking God and bringing others before the Throne of God. Prayer is important. You can build your spiritual life according to your vision or you can build it according to God’s vision.