“Always Praying In All Ways” – Christopher S. Esty
“praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—” —Ephesians 6:18 NKJV
This verse essentially provides us with an outline for prayer. Take note of the following keywords:
*Praying
- always
- in the Spirit
- being watchful to this end
- with all perseverance
- for all the saints
Praying Always
The idea of ‘praying always’ indicates that prayer isn’t merely a routine that is limited to a particular time or place; rather, it is a way of life, as when you pray you are being mindful of the things of God. That is, you are acknowledging His presence within your life while having no desire to escape His will. Of course, you can’t seek to do His will without acknowledging Him first. So, whenever you do what He asks you are essentially demonstrating that you are in fellowship with Him. Hence ‘praying always’ doesn’t always mean you are on your knees or folding your hands, but that your life is in agreement with God’s will.
In The Spirit
Do we always follow God? Obviously not! If we did we wouldn’t sin. Yet we seem to have a greater inclination to yield to temptation than we do to seek God’s will for our lives. This is where praying in the Spirit comes in: for by the Spirit we are not only given guidance in how to walk with God; we are given strength to resist that which opposes His will for us. For to pray in the Spirit is to allow God to enlighten our thoughts and illuminate our lives; it is to listen to God and do what He says.
Being Watchful to this End
‘Being watchful to this end’ has to do with knowing what end to look for and how to move towards it. Indeed, the Bible is our instruction manual for life; it tells us how to live, and what it means to love. That is, it expresses God’s will for us and reveals His character. Unfortunately, there is a lack of interest among many who claim to believe in Jesus to study the Bible. Sure, many will pick it up and read it from time to time, but only in a shallow manner–they don’t want to learn how to swim in deep water. And because they don’t use the Bible for its intended purpose they fail to discern the voice of God.
Yet these people will spend hours watching television or playing video games, wasting precious time away on self-serving pursuits that would have been better spent learning how to exercise faith in God. Such people are more interested in being entertained than they are in learning how to seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness. And it is no wonder that they are confused and discouraged about life. They spend more time looking at the things of this world than they do in being watchful of the things of God.
With All Perseverance
The prefix ‘per’ denotes the idea of being in the midst of something. Therefore, perseverance indicates that one is in the midst of a ’severe’ situation. Many have lost hope in God as a result of encountering such situations. Yet the Scriptures give us instruction to persevere in Christ, which means we should expect to face hardships of all kinds. We shouldn’t assume that just because life gets a little difficult to bear that it is a sign that God isn’t there, or that He doesn’t care. To the contrary, such hardships should be taken as a sign that God knows what’s going to happen before it happens, and what to do about it even before it takes place. After all, He made it very clear that believers would face hard times as a result of serving Him–because we are not of this world. Nothing takes God by surprise. And we shouldn’t be surprised either when life gets a little heated. Instead, we should understand that no matter what happens God will prevail, because God is in control. Hence we need to remain faithful to Him in all things, praying with all perseverance, as in due time we will find peace and rest for our weary souls.
For All The Saints
Not only should we pray for others; we should make it known to those for whom we are praying that we’re there for them. In other words, we need to put our words into practice. Of course, it’s good to intercede for others. But keep in mind that God already knows what we need before we ask. Therefore, praying for others is more than speaking words; it’s about making connections with them, to encourage them, and to help them along the way to the path of God’s righteousness; it’s about walking with them; not away from them.
Incidentally, the word ‘all’ tells us a lot too: it tells us that we shouldn’t show partiality when it comes to opening our arms to those who have opened their hearts to Jesus Christ. It is quite tragic when people allow personal tastes and preferences which have nothing to do with morality to get in the way of seeing people as Jesus sees them. When people need a holy embrace they’re often given a cold-hearted shove instead. The enemy relishes such moments!
Listen, Satan has a counterfeit for everything that is good. And his counterfeit for intercessory prayer is criticism (the destructive kind). Instead of complaining about others and gossiping we should be lifting them up in prayer. Granted, there will be things that we’ll see in others that we won’t like or agree with; nevertheless, we should never let that keep us from exemplifying the love of Jesus Christ in our interactions with them. After all, Jesus died for sinners; not saints. And it would be well for us to remind ourselves of that every day! For if we truly have a desire to pray always, then we will always seek to walk even as Jesus walked.
This article can also be found and read at http://www.thebiblepost.com/outline-for-prayer
