Exhortation to Prayer (part 4)

(Ephesians 6:11, 18) Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil….praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

As Paul reminded the Ephesians, we live out our lives amidst a pitched battle. A battle whose ferocity demands that we daily dress ourselves in the armor of God, determinedly take up the weapons of the Sprit and diligently pray without ceasing lest we fall under the repeated assaults of our enemy. Elsewhere Paul reminds us that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but spiritual, and mighty for the pulling down of strongholds and for bringing the whole world into joyful submission to Christ and his commands. Prayer is one such weapon, and perfectly necessary if we are to “stand against the schemes of the devil.”

As we considered last week, Satan has indeed been cast out of heaven. He has been thrown down to the earth and deprived of his access to the Lord our Judge and thereby deprived of his ability to accuse us. He has been stripped of his power to deceive the nations and to delay the angelic messengers. The devil is a defeated foe, conquered, at least in principle, in the cross of our Savior Jesus Christ, or as John put it in Revelation 12, overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony.

But he is still a “roaring lion” as Peter warns us, still seeking those whom he may devour. And so, while it is true that he has been bound, or greatly curtailed in his ability to harass and deceive us, still he wields enough power to necessitate the daily donning of God’s armor, and a disciplined use of prayer. As Luther put it, “The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him. His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure. One little word shall fell him.”

If we would stand, and not fall, in the midst of the fray, then we must learn to pray, and we must actually pray, there is no other way. Our enemy is fierce, but easily enough dispatched by the “one little word” offered up to God in prayer by the most insignificant saint. The church today lacks this sort of victory, not because she lacks a promise of divine protection and provision, but simply because she refuses to claim the same in prayer. We do not have because we do not ask. The devil doesn’t flee from our presence, not because we lack the wherewithal for his defeat, but simply because of our faithless refusal to “resist him” in humble prayers offered up to the Lord of armies in Jesus’ name.

It is time for us to get on our knees, to bow our heads, lift up our hands and fight. For there, in prayer, is the victory of Christ’s kingdom and the vindication of the saints. We pray because there is a devil, but we pray with a promise of victory over him and his minions surely in hand...So, come let us worship the Lord together!