| Sword of the Spirit, which is the WORD OF
GOD Praying Always "Praying Always" Concluding this inspiring passage about God's armor, Paul wrote, "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" (Ephesians 6:18,19). Jesus did not tell His disciples, "IF you pray"! Notice: "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are; for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly" (Matthew 6:5,6). Jesus Christ prayed, and prayed, and prayed. He would fast and pray, crying out to His Father in heaven to strengthen Him for the monumental task He had to accomplish. He would be missing from His bed in the very earliest, dark hours of the morning when His sleepy disciples arose. They would find Him up on a hillside, deep in prayer. Many of David's Psalms are written in the form of a prayer to God. There are many examples of prayer in the Bible. When Elijah faced down the evil false prophets of Baal, His prayer lasted only about eleven or twelve seconds, yet great miracles occurred! Notice what happened: "And Elijah said unto all the people, How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Eternal be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. Then said Elijah unto the people, I even I only, remain a prophet of the Eternal: but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men...... (I Kings 18:21-40). Elijah then had them set up an altar; had them dress a calf and place it upon the stones. Then, he told them to cry out to their false god, Baal. They began shuffling around the altar, limping, cavorting (verse 26), performing ridiculous, ritualistic dances. Elijah chided them. He shouted, "Cry aloud! For he is a god! Either he is talking, or he is pursuing [hunting], or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awakened!" The Bible says "Elijah MOCKED them!" Many thousands of people today would be outraged at God's prophet Elijah! "Why, how dare you 'make fun' of these sincere ministers?" they would bleat. Why, doesn't the Bible say "Judge not?" they would wail. I have had a significant number of angry telephone calls and nasty letters over my more then forty years of radio and television broadcasting when I would mimic and mock the false prophets of Baal. The "wheezers and gaspers" who follow the same ridiculous cadence of shouting, moaning, gasping for breath, and putting a grunting "UH!" on the ends of their words; those who pace back and forth, holding the Bible like a limp rag; those who adopt the supercilious, sickly grin, and speak with a whisper; those who preach the false mythology of the pagan past; who speak like namby-pamby, weak, wimpish, wheedling, whining, pleading beggars—when I expose their antics, some are made angry at me! But Elijah mocked the ridiculous prophets of Baal! Elijah's name means "Yahweh [Jah] is God [El]." He was one of the most powerful prophets of all time. And God Almighty inspired Him to mock the prophets of Baal. Notice that immediately after Elijah's mocking challenge, they increased their ridiculous efforts. "And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with their knives and lancets [short spears, or swords], till the blood gushed out upon them" (verse 28). Even today, in some religions, people believe they can get their deity's attention if they lash their back or cut themselves! Finally, when they were exhausted, Elijah ordered the men to take twelve stones, signifying the tribes of Israel, and build an altar. Then, he had them dig a deep trench all about it. Then, he placed the wood and bullock atop the altar. Next, he had them fill four barrels full of water and pour it over the bullock, the wood, and the stones. He had them do it the second, and then the third time (verses 31-34). Now, notice: "And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said [this is his prayer! time it with a stop watch if you have one, and notice how brief it is!], Eternal God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am Thy servant, and that I have done all these things at Thy word. Hear me, O Eternal, hear me, that this people may know that Thou art the Eternal God, and that thou has turned their heart back again!" Following this brief, eleven or twelve-second prayer, which was delivered for their benefit, and as a witness against the false prophets, "Then the fire of the Eternal fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench! And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The Eternal [Yahweh, commonly pronounced Jehovah] He is the God; the Eternal, He is the God" (verses 30-39). As a result of Elijah's powerful prayer, a great miracle occurred. It resulted in the extermination of the false prophets of Baal, and the "turning back" of the children of Israel to the "fathers," Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their relationship with the true God. When Peter, John, and several of the other disciples were thrown in jail because they preached in the name of Christ, and after the high priest and his relatives had threatened them "that they speak henceforth to no man in this name," Peter and the others prayed to God. They prayed, "Lord, Thou art God, Which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: Who by the mouth of Thy servant David has said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against His Christ. For of a truth against Thy holy Child [or Servant—margin] Jesus, Whom Thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, For to do whatsoever Thy hand and Thy counsel determined before to be done. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto Thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak Thy word. By stretching forth Thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of Thy holy Child [Servant] Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spake the word of God with boldness" (Acts 4:1-31). There are many examples of moving prayer in God's Word—prayers made to God at a time of great danger, of great stress, and under great threat. When King Jehoshaphat knew that the Moabites and Ammonites had amassed a huge army against Israel, and knew they would not be able to stand against this massive host, he "feared, and set himself to seek the Eternal, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah" (II Chronicles 20:3). He gathered the people together after they had fasted and prayed. He "stood in the congregation of Judah, and Jerusalem, in the house of the Eternal, before the new court. And said, O Eternal God of our fathers, art not Thou God in heaven? And rulest not Thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? And in Thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand Thee? Art not Thou our God, Who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before Thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham Thy friend forever? And they dwelt therein, and have built Thee a sanctuary therein for Thy name, saying, If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in Thy presence (for Thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help. "And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom Thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not; Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of Thy possession, which Thou hast given us to inherit. O our God, wilt Thou not judge them? For we have no might against this great company that cometh against us: neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon Thee. And all Judah stood before the Eternal, with their little ones, their wives, and their children" (II Chronicles 20:1-13). Read the remainder of this beautiful chapter! The prophet of God told the people to go out in the vanguard of the army of Judah unarmed! They would go with songs to God! They would not go with swords and spears, but with prayers and singing! "And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Eternal unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but Gods .... Ye need not fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Eternal with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the Eternal will be with you .... And when they began to sing and to praise, the Eternal set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah, and they were smitten. For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir utterly to slay and destroy them; and then they had made an end of the inhabitants of mount Seir, every one helped to destroy another. And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped" (II Chronicles 20:15-24). This is one of the most stupendous miracles in the Bible! Here, a righteous king set himself to fast and pray, and commanded all the people to fast and pray. Then, they took the whole armor of God upon themselves. It was not the armor of a soldier, with heavy metal helmet, greaves, breastplate, shield, spear, and sword. No, they were wearing only their own everyday clothing! But they advanced toward the combined armies of three nations with prayers on their lips, and with songs in their hearts! God hear their prayers. He answered them by a mighty miracle, causing the allied enemies to become confused, and to attack each other! Your daily problems and mine are like those massed armies of the Moabites, the Ammonites, and mount Seir. Whether financial, mental, physical, or spiritual; whether of Satan and his evil world; whether of the sick, perverted false values of this sin-sick society; whether of our own weaknesses and compulsions of the flesh—we can advance toward our problems with a song in our hearts and prayer on our lips! We can take up, not guns and knives, but the whole armor of God our loins girt about with truth, our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; having put on the breastplate of righteousness and the helmet of salvation; and having taken up the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God! Then, so equipped, we must pray with all prayer and supplication in the spirit! Notice that after Paul explains all these wonderful weapons of our spiritual warfare, he asks that Christ's soldiers would pray for him, that "utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel!"
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