Sermon Series: The Doctrine Of The Kingdom Of God

Subject: Prayer: Life's Limitless Reach

Ephesians 6:18-20.
"Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit with all manner of prayer and entreaty. To that end, keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints (God's consecrated people). And [pray] also for me, that [freedom of] utterance may be given me, that I may open my mouth to proclaim boldly the mystery of the good news (the Gospel). For which I am an ambassador in a coupling chain [in prison. Pray] that I may declare it boldly and courageously, as I ought to do."

In our previous lessons, we have considered the various pieces of spiritual armor that Paul has admonished every believer to wear in this spiritual battle with the enemy of our souls...the devil. But, with all his shining armor, the soldier's equipment is not yet complete. There is one other vital thing to be named, and this the Christian warrior must take along with him, for his warfare will be hopeless if he leaves it behind. In his own power the soldier can do nothing against so great a foe. As he takes and puts on each piece of his armor and as he makes use of it in the battle he must pray for God's blessing and protection.
The Apostle makes a special point of it that the soldier’s communion with his general--the believer's fellowship with his God--should not be of just one kind.
Some people are always asking for things. Their entire prayer-life consists of that. But PRAYER--the first word is very general--should include not only cries for help but also confession of sin, profession of faith, adoration, thanksgiving, intercession.
Prayer-life should be definite, not just, "O Lord, bless all that awaits Thy blessing," which is a big order, but "supplications" or "petition" for the fulfillment of definite needs, a request for specific benefits.
In his Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan tells of Christian's weapon called prayer, which when everything else failed, would enable him to defeat the fiends in the valley of the shadows.

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Over a hundred years ago Charlotte Elliot wrote the words to this hymn:
Christian, seek not yet repose,
Cast thy dreams of ease away;
Thou art in the midst of foes;
Watch and pray.

Principalities and power,
Mustering their unseen array,
Wait for thy unguarded hours;
Watch and pray.

Watch as if on that alone
Hung the issue of the day,
Pray that help may be sent down;
Watch and pray.

This hymn points up the reality that victory over Satan and his hosts in the great spiritual warfare in which we are engaged demands unceasing and diligent commitment to prayer.
That is exactly what the apostle Paul says as he closes his appeal for Christians to put on the full armor of God.
Prayer is the closing theme of Ephesians, and though closely related to God's armor, it is not mentioned as part of it, because it is much more than that. Prayer is not merely another godly weapon, as important as those weapons are. All the while that we are fighting in the girdle of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, we are to be in prayer. Prayer is the very spiritual air that the soldier of Christ breathes. It is the all-pervasive strategy in which warfare is fought.
Jesus urged His disciples to pray always and not to lose heart (Luke 18:1). He knows that when the battle gets hard, soldiers easily become tired, weak, and discouraged. In the struggle with Satan, it is either pray or faint. Paul's closing admonition for believers to "pray at all times" is not accidental. Not only does it give final instruction about the believer's warfare but it is the climactic truth of the entire epistle, because prayer fills all of Christian life.
Prayer is the crescendo at the end of Paul's anthem of Ephesians!
No New Testament book so fully delineates the resources and blessings of the believer as does Ephesians. Throughout the book, Paul magnifies and expands the truth that he briefly mentioned in Colossians, "in Him you have been made complete" (2:10) and that Peter touched on in his second epistle, "His divine

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power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness." (1:3). Here is a monumental catalog of all that is ours in Jesus Christ.
Paul begins Ephesians with the comprehensive declaration that "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ...has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ: (1:3). He then proceeds to tell us that we are chosen, predestined, and adopted as God's children (1:4-5); lavished with His grace (1:6,8,2:7); redeemed and forgiven (1:7; 4:32); given the mystery of His will (1:9; 3:4-6); receivers of an inheritance (1:11); have been sealed with the Holy Spirit (1:13-14; 4:30); greatly loved by God (2:4; 5:25); made alive with new life (2:5-6); the workmanship of Christ created by Him for doing good works (2:10); given God's own peace (2:14); made one with Christ and with every other believer as His own Body (2:13-19; 3:4-6); made citizens of God's kingdom and members of His family (2:19); built into God's own temple and the dwelling place of His Spirit (2:20-22); given boldness and confident access to God (2:13); made powerful beyond our imagination (3:20); given the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (4:3); individually and uniquely gifted by Christ (4:7); blessed with specially gifted leaders to equip us in the work of ministry (4:11-12); taught by Jesus Christ Himself (4:20-21); given a new self in God's holy likeness (4:24); made light (5:8); offered the fullness of the Holy Spirit (5:18); given the instructions and resources to make all relationships with others what God intends them to be (5:21-6:9); and given God's full armor to make us invincible against Satan and his demonic forces (6:10-17).
After a believer contemplates that breathtaking list of blessings he possesses as an exalted child of God, Paul realizes the great danger that is likely to follow: temptation to self-satisfaction and spiritual arrogance. Paul has already given us the warning: "Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall" (1 Corinthians 10:12). The magnificent and boundless blessings described in Ephesians are so enriching that Satan will try to use them to turn our thoughts to ourselves as the blessed ones rather than to the One who gives us the blessings. In light of our immeasurable and wondrous privileges, we can easily begin to think we are adequate in ourselves and thereby lose the essential sense of dependence on God.

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Ephesians begins by lifting us up to the heavenlies, and ends by pulling us down to our knees! "Don’t think," Paul concludes, in effect, "that because you have all these blessings and resources that you can now live the Christian life without further help from God." God's armor is neither mechanical nor magical. We cannot simply take hold of it on our own and expect it automatically to produce supernatural feats. Our divine gifts-—marvelous as they are—-are bare without the divine Giver!
So Paul concludes: "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; 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." (6:18, 19).
PRAYER...
"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).
In my library is a book entitled; LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY by Alexander Whyte. I purchased the manuscript from a used book dealer some years ago. Inside the front cover is an interesting history. It was originally sold for $4.95, then resold for $2.50; then sold again for $1.95. Each price is marked through when resold. The book did not sell. So the shopkeeper marked it down to $1.00. No takers! Marked down again to the price of .50 cents...still no takers! In desperation, the price was once more scratched, and a new price of .35 cents was entered on the page. And finally, I came along one afternoon and found that valuable manuscript and purchased it for only 35 cents!
But the subject of prayer and the experience of approaching the throne room of the universe is much more valuable than 35 cents. For earth is at its very best, and heaven is at its highest, when men and angels magnify their office of prayer and of praise before the God of all creation.
Abraham prayed and brought God down almost to his own terms!
Elijah prayed and called down fire from heaven!
Daniel prayed and was saved from the lions!
Paul prayed and the prison walls were broken!
Luther prayed and the gates of Rome shook!
Knox prayed and Queen Mary trembled.
Wesley prayed and a great revival saved England.
Muller prayed and great orphanages were reared.
PRAYER CHANGES THINGS!

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If radio's slim fingers can pluck a melody from night, and toss it over a continent or sea--
If the petaled white notes of a violin are blown across a mountain or a city's din--
If songs, like crimson roses are culled from thin, blue air...
Why should mortals wonder if God hears and answers prayer?
Nothing lies beyond the reach of prayer, except that which lies outside the will of God!
One single lovely young lady concluded her prayers with a very modest appeal. "Lord, I’m not asking for myself, but please send my mother a wonderful son-in-law!"
It is related of Alexander the Great, that, on one occasion a courtier asked him for some financial aid. This great leader told him to go to his treasurer and ask for whatever amount he wanted.
A little later, the treasurer appeared and told Alexander the man had asked for an enormous sum, and that he hesitated to pay out so much.
"Give him what he asks for," replied the great conqueror; "he has treated me like a king in his asking, and I shall be like a king in my giving!"
Greatly grieved must be our God because of the smallness of our requests of Him!
Jeremiah 33:3 says: "Call upon Me and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not."
In the Hebrew Old Testament and in the Greek of the New, there are quite a number of different words translated in our English bible, by the one term "prayer." Confession, supplication, entreaty, intercession, thanksgiving, desire, adoration, praise, worship, meditation, outpouring of self, communion. PRAYER IS SIMPLY COMMUNING WITH GOD!
Briefly, please let me make some observations about prayer.
(1) The ground of prayer is the person or being of God. There is a specific reason why prayer is related to the person or being of God, and when men disbelieve, overlook, misunderstand, or underestimate the reason, then the purpose and place of prayer is lost, or at least diluted.
The Bible makes it very clear...sin has separated man from God and unredeemed man cannot pray to God! Psalm 66:18 says: "If I regard iniquity

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in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." Isaiah 59:1-2
"Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear."
This is man's tragic predicament! His estrangement from his Creator renders it impossible for man to talk to him except under circumstances that preserve both the holiness of God and His justice.
Hebrews 10:19-24
"Having therefore brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh; and having an High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith."
God Himself has ordained the only means by which He obligates Himself to man concerning prayer...This comes to man through the redemption which is in Jesus Christ. It is the shed blood of Christ on Calvary that makes it possible for God to hear and to answer prayer.
The only prayer a sinner can pray and be assured of heaven's answer is...GOD, BE MERCIFUL TO ME A SINNER!
(2) Our second observation about prayer simply follows that of the first...prayer is the privilege of the Christian. Luther wrote: "As it is the business of tailors to make clothes and cobblers to mend shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray."
Prayer is not an option...it is an obligation! To be a Christian without praying is no more possible than to be alive without breathing. Prayer is God's indispensable means by which the fulfillment of the divine will is made possible, and since God's plan for the world and the church presupposes prayer, Christians ought not bypass it or substitute other activities for it.
E. M. Bounds in his book on Prayer makes this observation: "The church has enough organizers, what it really needs is more agonizers."
God will not do for us without prayer what He has promised to do for us through prayer! This does not mean that God is powerless, nor does it rob Him of any of His divine attributes. It simply acknowledges that God in His eternal purposes has made the prayers of His people essential to the fulfillment of the Divine will.

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Prayer is important because God has commanded His people to pray.
"Pray without ceasing." (1 Thessalonians 5:17). "But the end of all things is at hand, be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer." (1 Peter 4:7).
Jesus commanded: "Watch ye therefore, and pray always." (Luke 21:36).
Jesus recognized the importance of prayer: "Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared." (Hebrews 5:7).
Prayer is important and necessary because its absence is the surest means of cutting oneself off from God, permitting the spiritual life to wither. Prayerlessness produces sterility of spiritual perception, a life without holiness, and a witness without power.
Prayer! Luke 11:5-8 records the parable of the friend who came knocking on a neighbor's door at midnight to borrow three loaves of bread. It is in this parable that Jesus reminds His followers that they must learn to importune God in prayer.
Archbishop Trench says: "We must not conceive of prayer as an overcoming of God's reluctance, but a laying hold of His highest willingness."
"Ask, and it shall be given you, seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." (Matthew 7:7-8).
But this promise follows the parable's teaching...Prayer that is answered is prayer with tenacity and confidence and persistence.
There is another observation about prayer...Expectancy is also of the essence of true prayer. It is the aspect of faith.
Mark 11:24 says: "All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them."
I know not by what methods rare,
But this I know, God answers prayer.
I know not when He sends the Word
That tells us fervent prayer is heard.
I know it cometh soon or late;
Therefore we need to pray and wait.
I know not if the blessing sought
Will come in just the guise I thought,
I leave my prayer with Him alone,
Whose will is wiser than my own.
"But without faith it is impossible to

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please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6).
James 1:6-7
"But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord."
Jesus said: "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you."
Faith is a two-sided coin. It not only believes that God is able, but that God is also willing.
1 John 5:14-15
"And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us; and if we know that He heareth us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him."
FERVENCY, SIMPLICITY AND EXPECTANCY...three simple, yet wonderful secrets to genuine prayer!
There is another very important aspect to prayer...All prayer, as well as all acts and thoughts of life, should have for their chief end...THE GLORY OF GOD!
"Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." (James 4:3).
And...God's Word teaches that prayer must be offered in the name of Jesus.
John 14:14 says:
"If ye ask anything in My name, I will do it."
Jesus knew that He was soon to leave His earthly followers. He gave them the responsibility of continuing to build the Kingdom of God among men. He entrusted to them the right to use His name. This was the right to draw upon the resources of His Kingdom to do this great work.
In conclusion, we came back to our text: "Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit with all manner of prayer and entreaty. To that end, keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints (God's consecrated people)."
Paul reminds us that our prayers are not only personal, but they should include all the Christians who are struggling in the battle! God help us not to be selfish in our prayers. The whole body of Christ is one body. And we need each other's prayers.