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PRAYER ROOMS

• 9am – Tuesday, online only

PRAYER GUIDE

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvationand the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.¹⁹ Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Ephesians 6:10-20

You cannot fight a physical war without a physical map. And you cannot fight a spiritual war without a spiritual map. Last week, we discussed Paul’s worldview map, which he shares with the church in Ephesians 6. We, the people of God, are in a spiritual battle, not against flesh and blood, but with the rulers, powers, authorities of this dark world, with the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 

But a map, though necessary, is not sufficient to fight a battle. We also need a battle plan. Going into battle without a plan is a recipe for disaster. In Ephesians 6, Paul gives us the battle plan we need to engage in spiritual warfare. The plan is Jesus.

We wage war against the powers (archei) and authorities (exousia) of this dark world. These are the same powers and authorities Jesus has already defeated. In Colossians 2, Paul tells us that Jesus, “having disarmed the powers (archei) and authorities (exousia), he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” The same powers we fight against have already been defeated by Jesus on the cross. Moreover, in Ephesians 1, Paul tells us God “raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule (archei) and authority (exousia)…” 

So, our battle plan must take into account the fact that our opponents have already been defeated by Jesus on the cross and are at present under his authority. What then is our plan? It is to stand upon Jesus’ victory. We do not fight an offensive war, we take our stand on the ground Jesus has already conquered, and we hold the line. Four times in the passage, Paul instructs us to “stand” or “take our stand.” The Greek word is histemi, from which we get the medical word “antihistemines.” In the same way the body mounts an immune response to a virus or allergen, our job is to stand, on Jesus’ victory and against the schemes of the enemy, who is already defeated. 

When we do spiritual warfare, we are not fighting in our own strength. All we are doing is clothing ourselves in God’s strength, taking our stand on Jesus’ victory, and applying his victory to the areas of brokenness, pain, and evil around us. We speak the Name and victory of Jesus over broken bodies, communities, families, systems, -isms. We claim the triumph of Jesus over the powers and principalities and we remind them and ourselves that Jesus has triumphed, is triumphing, and will triumph over every force of darkness on earth and in the heavenly realms. 

We do not have the power or authority to dislodge evil from this world or battle it in the heavenly realms but Jesus does. He has disarmed the powers and authorities (Colossians 2) and given his armor to us (Ephesians 6). We put on his armor and take our stand. That is how we fight the battle.

For Prayer/Reflection:

• What is your level of awareness of the implications of Jesus’ victory on the cross? 

• What are you standing on or trusting in when you pray? Is it Jesus? Or something else? What does it mean in prayer for you to stop putting your faith and trust in yourself or your own words as the grounding for your prayers…and to start standing on the victory of Jesus alone. 

• What is evil or brokenness at work, in your life, body, family, community. What are the -isms that you see oppressing you or others in the human systems you encounter around you? 

• Lay claim to the power of the death and resurrection of Jesus to bring healing and restoration to all things. Fully in eternity, but also in part on this side of the renewal of all things. Speak the Name of Jesus and claim the victory of Jesus in these areas. 

PRAYER ROOMS

• 9am – Tuesday, online only

PRAYER GUIDE

The Armor of God

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit,which is the word of God.

¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.¹⁹ Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Ephesian 6:10-20

In this passage, Paul writes to the church with a rousing exhortation to conclude his great Epistle. He evokes the image of a Roman battalion. Calling them to put on their armor and stand their ground. Over the next few weeks we will mine this passage for insight about how we can pray and engage in spiritual warfare. 

Let’s start this week by looking at Paul’s worldview. A worldview is a mental map of the world. And as we all know from every movie. You can’t fight a war without a map. In order to engage in spiritual warfare we need an accurate mental map. 

Most of us are using the wrong map, and this is why we are not fighting well. Or fighting at all. After all, the greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing the world he didn’t exist. 

NT Wright tells us that every worldview must answer four primary questions.

• 1. Who are we?
• 2. Where are we?
• 3. What is wrong?
• 4. What is the solution?

Paul gives us his worldview in this passage. Who are we? We are the people of God. Where are we? In a world at war. What is wrong? Humanity has rejected God’s leadership and evil has insinuated itself inside every human heart, human culture and structure, and is lurking in the heavenly realms reinforcing these patterns of sin and death in the world. What is the solution? We must take our place in the battle, clothing ourselves in God’s armor, and taking our stand on Jesus’ victory.

Most of us have a very different worldview than Paul? Who are we? We are tired parents. We are struggling students. We are democrats or republicans. We are plumbers or teachers. Where are we? Living in America. What is wrong? Any number of things. Climate change? Politics? The Patriots. What is the solution? I don’t know, I just need to get through the week.

The invitation for us to start is to recognize where we really are. We are in the midst of a spiritual battle, which Jesus has already won, but which we need to enforce and implement. We are to take up our stand against the enemy (yes…there is one) but putting on the armor of God, taking our stand, and praying the word in the Spirit.

Let’s engage that battle this morning.

For Reflection:

What is your worldview? Who are you? What is wrong? What is the solution? Allow the Holy Spirit through Paul to give you an accurate and full mental map of present reality.

Pray for yourself and for the rest of the church to wake up and be activated in prayer, and to recognize the desperate need for and importance of prayer in this time.

Pray for yourself and the church to be fully clothed in the armor of God, truth, righteousness, assurance of salvation, faith, the readiness to share the gospel, and the knowledge of the word of God and the ability to pray the word of God.

Pray for Jesus’ victory on the cross to be applied to and extended to various places of brokenness around us, in our families, neighborhoods, workplaces, and our cities.

PRAYER ROOMS

• 9am – Tuesday, online only

PRAYER GUIDE

Psalm 132 

A song of ascents.

1 Lord, remember David
    and all his self-denial.

2 He swore an oath to the Lord,
    he made a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob:
3 “I will not enter my house
    or go to my bed,

4 I will allow no sleep to my eyes
    or slumber to my eyelids,5 till I find a place for the Lord,
    a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.”

What we think of when we think of God is the most important thing about us. So Who is your God? What is he like? 

Does your God want us to do better? Try harder? Does He want our money? Our time?

David understood that God’s deepest longing is for us to host his presence. 

God wants us to be his home, walking temples. 

What do you want most? What is most important to you in life? Is it safety, security, entertainment. Do you want your kids to succeed? Do you want to be liked? Do you want to be famous? Successful? Upwardly mobile? Do you want to travel? To take a vacation? To get a massage? To have a drink? Get married? 

That is the second most important thing about you. This is why David is smack dab in the middle of the Bible and why the Bible is full of his prayers. 

God wants us to want what David wanted. To host his presence.  Soren Kierkegaard said, “purity of heart is to will one thing.” David only wanted one thing. “one thing I have asked of the LORD, this only do I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life and to seek him in his temple.” (Psalm 27)

Our invitation is to join David in his resolve to host God’s presence. To make that the primary objective of our lives. To resolve. 

This month, we are focusing on prayer. Our hope is that everyone takes a next step to deepening their prayer lives and prayer practices – with the end goal of living lives of prayer without ceasing. Whereas David could never build a house for the LORD, we have the ability to do what David longed to do. But we need David’s resolve.

For Prayer:

For our own prayer lives and walks with God – that God would lead us to new habits, disciplines, and rhythms of practicing his presence, moving toward prayer without ceasing.

For children in the church to grow in prayer and in praying while they are doing other things like walking. 

For home churches to grow in seeking God together in prayer and to be spaces of mutual accountability and fanning the flame of intimacy with God. 

For Heart spaces and other prayer and worship spaces to lead people deeper into the heart of God.

For the church of God, Sanctuary especially, to be filled with people who are walking tabernacles, practicing daily fellowship and moment to moment dependence on the Holy Spirit.