Ephesians 6:18-24 Prayer

With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak... Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love.

"Pray at all times in the Spirit." 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, "pray without ceasing."

When I was in Bible College, we students debated the meaning of these scriptures. Being semi-educated and lacking much experience, we came to the consensus that it didn't really mean "pray without ceasing" because we would run out of things to say, but that we should pray consistently, or don't stop setting aside time to pray. As we understood it, we would have to stop praying so that we could go about our life.

In other words, we explained away the clearly stated truth of Scripture to rationalize what we couldn't understand.

The problem is that we didn't understand the nature of prayer. The inexperienced Christian sees prayer as a time to confess and offer petitions to God. When you pray, you pray for something or someone. This is one aspect of prayer, and we are told to do this. But what does he say? "With all prayer and petition". So we see that there is prayer that is not petition.

Praise is also a part of prayer. We are told in Hebrews, "Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name." [Hebrews 13:15 NASB] Again, we run into the problem of being able to sustain continual praise throughout the day.

Unless we learn to pray in the Spirit. It deserves reiterating that the context does not in any way refer to praying in tongues, but being in the Spirit while praying.

The Bible refers variously to "walking in the Spirit" ("But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh." [Galatians 5:16 NASB]) "Abiding in Christ" (“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me." [John 15:4 NASB]), and "Resting in Him" (“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30 NASB]

Since the Spirit of God lives in your heart, being in the Spirit is as easy as turning your mind toward Jesus and being aware of His presence. Christians stumble over the simplicity of it, because we expect it to be hard. But remember, His yoke is is easy, and His burden is light. He doesn't expect or want you to work hard at walking in the Spirit. It is God's grace freely given to you, and it is received by faith.

If you work hard at being in the Spirit, you will fail. All the fastings, deprivations, flagellations, and effort will come to nothing because they are all your effort, and of the flesh. You cannot know the Spirit through acts of the flesh, no matter how well intentioned. 

If you are a Christian, the Spirit of God is already in you. This is not something you worked for, earned or deserved. He is there by God's grace. To know Him, you have to stop trying to know Him. Rest in the fact that His presence is already with you. By faith, think about Him, and be aware of Him. The more you practice awareness of Christ in you, the easier and more natural it will be.

When you pray in the Spirit, fully aware of His presence, your prayers take on a new dimension as you interact with God, speaking to Him and waiting for His response. Your petitions will be guided by the Spirit in you, instead of relying only on a list on a piece of paper or in your mind. As you rely on the Spirit in your prayers, your faith in His answers will increase.

And when you run out of things to say, you can continue in silent communion with Him throughout the day, regardless of your activities, so your prayers never cease. If you are resting in God's presence, you don't have to speak to be in prayer.

If you are not in the habit of resting in the Spirit of God, I urge you to rest in Him, and let Him transform your life.