This morning we are concluding the book of Ephesians with Paul giving us instructions on prayer.
"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests." (Ephesians 6:18a) Paul says it's always the right time for prayer. Yesterday he spoke on the subject of being attired in our battle armor at all times, and today's advice is closely related to that, because if there ever is a right time to pray it's before going into battle...and we are always in battle because our enemy the devil is at war with the human race. It's always the right time to pray, and it's a good thing, because sometimes we don't know anything to do about our situations except pray about them.
Sometimes we wonder if certain subjects or situations are okay to pray about. Paul assures us we can pray about anything and everything in our lives. We don't have to sort our problems into categories of "big enough to bring to God" and "too small to bring to God". Nothing is too big or too small to bring to God! Lift up the names of your sick or spiritually lost loved ones in prayer, but also pray over your workday. Pray about troubled relationships and pray about lost car keys. Pray about financial needs and pray over your sick pets. As an animal lover I am often surprised and dismayed when a few people in the church laugh at the idea of praying for animals. I don't doubt that David prayed for the safety of the sheep he shepherded, and King Solomon said, "A righteous man regards the life of his animal." (Proverbs 12:10) So go ahead and pray about everything in your life, whether big or small, whether people laugh at you or not, because our loving Father cares about the things we care about. Those of you who are parents are interested in everything about your children, right? God is the same way!
Since we are to pray about all things, Paul says, "With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people." (Ephesians 6:18b) The Apostle Peter said a similar thing about being on the alert because we have an enemy who wants to drag us into sin and do us harm. (1 Peter5:8) Though we aren't meant to live in fear, if we don't stay "prayed up", we may not be able to stand against sudden and unexpected temptations or troubles. We are to pray not only for our own strength to stand, but also for our fellow believers.
Some of us grew up with the idea that our prayers should always be on behalf of others and never for ourselves, but Paul's next words prove this isn't so. "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, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should." (Ephesians 6:19-20) There's nothing wrong with praying for ourselves or requesting prayer for ourselves. Even the Lord Jesus prayed for Himself on the night before the crucifixion, and I think He probably prayed for Himself every time He retreated to spend time with the Father. In my opinion, being God didn't make the trials and temptations of Jesus easier to bear; I think being God made them more difficult to bear because He had to restrain His power. When troubles come into our lives, we'd do anything to make them go away. We'd turn our circumstances around in an instant if we had the power to do it. Jesus had the power to make His troubles go away but He had to refrain from doing so. When we take the humanity away from Christ we take away a great deal of the glory that is due Him, because He too needed time alone in prayer to ask for physical strength and to obtain emotional and spiritual comfort from the Father. If Christ needed to pray for Himself, you don't ever have to feel guilty about praying for yourself.
Now Paul goes into his concluding remarks. "Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing. I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you." (Ephesians 6:21-22) Paul is in prison in Rome awaiting his trial before Emperor Nero. He is not free to visit any of the churches he founded, so he's sending Tychicus to the Ephesians with his letter and with news about everything happening in Rome. Tychicus will visit with the Ephesians for a while and then bring news back to Paul about how everyone is doing at Ephesus. It took a lot of time for letters and news to travel back and forth in those days. Imagine what men like the Apostle Paul could have done with the technology we have today! He could have reached thousands of people at a time with the gospel message. He could have sent an email to the pastors of churches he'd founded and would have had swift replies about how things were going. We have no excuse in our day to not be at work getting the gospel out to others. We have methods of outreach available to us that the apostles never dreamed of.
"Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love." (Ephesians 6:23-24) I'm going to use Paul's example and conclude our study of the book of Ephesians like this: Peace to all of you, my brothers and sisters in Christ. May your hearts overflow with the Father's love and with the love of our Savior and Redeemer. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ bless your lives in every way. Amen!
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