Ephesians 6:18 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.
Sports psychology has blossomed. The best athletes get help with their thinking to improve their performance. The win the battle in their minds which helps them perform better in their chosen sport. They have found that if they lose the mental battle, the physical loss in the next step. And they don’t want to lose!
Whether we like it or not, we also have mental battles that need to be won. We have all, from time to time, gotten caught up in a train of thought that wasn’t helpful. Maybe it has been around the election results that your mind can’t seem to settle. The thoughts race and take over the moments that are meant for productivity.
Or maybe it is about financial security in these turbulent times, or the wellness of a loved one. We can all get caught up in mental gymnastics and miss our mission. We get sidelined because our head isn’t in the game.
In this part of the letter to the Ephesian church, Paul address the spiritual battle in which we are engaged. He likens our preparedness to a soldier getting ready for battle. The soldier gathers all his equipment, both defensive and protective, and the offensive weapons. Each has a purpose and function. And each one is at the disposal of the soldier to use as they please.
The helmet can be used as a shoe, but it isn’t very good at being a shoe. But the soldier can use it any way they want. But training has convinced the soldier of the rightness of each piece of equipment to the assigned task. They now understand how each furthers the cause of winning the battle. They know this by specific training events designed to enforce these norms.
Often in our translations of this passage a paragraph mark is placed after the sword of the Spirit, the word of God. But I think this is a mistake. Prayer is an important part of our preparation and participation in the battle. We need to be on the same frequency with all the members of our unit. We need to get the battle updates to prevent ineffective action.
We need to use every prayer in the book. We need to pray for all those who are also in the battle, the Lord’s people. And as the next verse indicates, we need to pray for our leaders. Paul wanted to be on their prayer list!
This level of prayer helped keep them alert, not like the disciples falling asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane. They aren’t the only ones who can get weary in battle. We all need each other’s prayers and encouragement.
So today, pray! Pray for those around you in the battle. Pray for our leaders. Pray that His will will be done!
The Arnold Journey 