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And Pray

             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. (Ephesians 6:18)

 

Normally, a discussion of the armor of God ends with the sword of the Spirit, but the first word of today’s verse is, “And,” which makes it part of the list. Could it be that praying in the Spirit is one way we wield the sword of the Spirit?

Prayer is one of the things with which I struggle. You can’t really put it on a table and examine it. People have different formulae for it. But how would you like it if every time you got together with someone, they had the same conversation with you? “Let me pull out my shopping list and tell you want I’m going to buy at Walmart today…” What if every time that person mentions someone you both know, the person has to give a detailed description of who the person is, where they live, and their life history? “Did you hear about Mary, who has been struggling with her disobedient son for the past three years? Last month her sister got divorced and moved in with her, and this week she tripped over the edge of her driveway and broke her arm…”

But when Jesus taught His disciples about prayer, He taught them in terms of us. “Give us this day…forgive   us our trespasses…” And when Paul discussed prayer in the passage above, he said that we’re to pray for all the Lord’s people. Jesus prayed for Himself, and Paul asked for prayer for himself, so it’s not that we’re not to pray for ourselves, but I find myself praying “Lord, teach me to pray and how to pray.” If we’re to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths, and love our neighbors as ourselves, and if we’re to pray for all the Lord’s people, maybe the place to start is by praying more for other people - and comforting them thereby.

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