Ephesians 6:18-20

Ephesians 6:18-20

Through every prayer and supplication while praying in every season in the Spirit – and while keeping alert into the same thing in every perseverance and supplication regarding all the holy ones and on my behalf – in order that a word should be given to me in the opening of my mouth to make known in boldness the mystery of the good news, for the sake of which I am an ambassador in chain in order that I should speak boldly in it as it is necessary for me to speak.  

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

After we discuss the weapons and armor of God, we come to a section of prayer – albeit a fairly confusing section in the original Greek!  Paul reminds the Ephesians to pray for all the saints as well as himself.  He reminds them to pray in supplication – a fancy word for prayer that is a plea for either yourself or another person.  Paul knows that when it comes to the spiritual battle the only thing we can bring to the table is prayer.  God equips us.  He provides the grace and the strength and the Word and the salvation and everything else.  What is left?  We can pray, aligning our will to God.  We can pray, asking God for that which is important to us.  When compared to all the other weapons and armor of God, prayer seems like such a small thing.  But in reality, prayer is one of the most powerful elements of our spiritual life.

Do you value prayer?  What about prayer is easy to value?  What makes prayer easy to not value?

Second Thought:

Paul also speaks about being in chains.  We know that Paul suffered much in his pursuit of Christ.  People argued with him almost incessantly.  People rejected what he said a lot.  People had him arrested when they could.  They beat him when they could.  On more than one occasion people planned for a reason to kill him.  He suffered adversity for Christ to say the least.

What adversity do you suffer in Christ?  How do you face such adversity?

Third Thought:

Something interesting comes out of Paul’s statement of being in chains.  Notice what he asks the Ephesians to pray about.  He doesn’t ask to be kept from persecution.  Yeah, I’m going to confess that was a really humbling sentence to write.  What he asks about is to have the courage to speak boldly.  Paul isn’t looking to avoid persecution at all.  Rather, he is asking to be able to speak truth and let persecution come if it must.  Now there is a humbling perspective to ponder for this day.

Why is it humbling to hear Paul’s request for prayer so that he might speak more boldly?  Do you genuinely desire to speak more boldly?  If so, what do you need to have happen in order to make that a reality?

Passage for Tomorrow: Ephesians 6:21-24