Pray in the Spirit

February 28, 2018

Pray in the Spirit

I am in chains now, still preaching this message as God’s ambassador. So pray that I will keep on speaking boldly for him, as I should.

Ephesians 6:20

Read: Ephesians 6:18-24

“Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere” (Ephesians 6:18). Paul closes his letter to the Ephesians with a call to prayer.  Prayer is the most difficult and the most misunderstood aspect of the Christian life.

Prayer is hard work. What Paul has in mind cannot be accomplished by a few minutes early in the morning as you try to pray with sleep still in your eyes, or a few minutes late in the evening when your body is longing for sleep. While that may be better than no prayer at all, it is like giving a hungry person a piece of stale bread. That may be better than no food at all, but it’s certainly not a substitute for a good meal.

Take time to reflect on whether your prayer life is consistent with the call to prayer Paul is making, and if not, why not? A good barometer of our prayer life is to measure our prayer requests over and against the prayers of Paul. Ephesians 6:19-20 is a good place to start looking:

“And pray for me, too. Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike. I am in chains now, still preaching this message as God’s ambassador. So pray that I will keep on speaking boldly for him, as I should.”

My Takeaway: The number one prayer request in the vast number of prayer chains circulated through our churches, are requests to change our circumstances. If Paul followed that model, his request quoted above would have been to be released from jail. Yet he prayed for boldness to keep proclaiming the Good News of Jesus. Abba Father, may this be my model for prayer!

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2018 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.