PRAYING ALWAYS???

 


Today, we are going to spend some time to wrap up our series on THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD!!!

This is what the last verse says!!!



Ephesians 6:18 (KJV) Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints




I remember the first time that I ever studied this scripture!!!  




My first thought was, “How in the world could I possibly pray ALWAYS?”  I mean isn’t that like saying that you have to pray every moment of every day?




Hmmmmmmm……………

That is a good question!!!  Well, hold on to your hats and let’s see if I can make this scripture easier to understand and do!!!!

Let’s look at this verse again in the King James Version!!!




I want to know exactly what God is saying when I study a verse!!!




Now, as I read Eph. 6:18, I saw a word that I did NOT know!!!   And that word is “SUPPLICATION”.




So, let’s find out the meaning of supplication.       

supplication

1. the act of supplicating

2. a humble entreaty or petition; prayer

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003



sup·pli·cate

sup·pli·cat·ed, sup·pli·cat·ing, sup·pli·cates

1. To ask for humbly or earnestly, as by praying.

2. To make a humble entreaty to; beseech.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. So, from what these dictionaries show, Ephesians 6:18 is saying, Pray all the time, humbly asking and urgently making your requests known to the Lord in the Spirit.  Be careful to watch at all times and pray for all of God’s people.

With this in mind, let’s go ahead and look at a few more scriptures. 

We can see that God considered Adam HIS friend!!!  And HE spent time with Adam!!!




We see in Genesis, where God visited with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day!!!!  God came and spent time with them each day!!!




Genesis 3:8-9 (NKJV)


⁸ And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

⁹ Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”




And we also know that God spent time with Adam when we read that HE brought ALL of the animals to Adam and helped him name them.  Do you really think that Adam could think up all those millions of names on his own? 

Genesis 2:19 (NKJV) Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.

I wonder if we truly realize how much God loves us???  He loved Adam so much that he wanted Adam to have someone to love and share his life with!!!



Genesis 2:20-24 (NKJV)

²⁰ So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.

²¹ And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. ²² Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.

²³ And Adam said:

“This is now bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.”

²⁴ Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

And did you know that God called Abraham his friend???



James 2:23 (NKJV) And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God.

And Jesus called us HIS friends!!! 



John 15:15 (NKJV) No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.

God even refers to us as friends, because we have come to HIM through FAITH in HIS SON!!!

Colossians 1:19-22 (NCV)


¹⁹ God was pleased for all of himself to live in Christ.

²⁰ And through Christ, God has brought all things back to himself again—things on earth and things in heaven. God made peace through the blood of Christ's death on the cross.

²¹ At one time you were separated from God. You were his enemies in your minds, and the evil things you did were against God.

²² But now God has made you his friends again. He did this through Christ's death in the body so that he might bring you into God's presence as people who are holy, with no wrong, and with nothing of which God can judge you guilty.




I can just hear someone asking, “So, what does ALL this have to do with praying at ALL times???”

Let me explain!!! 



Did you notice that in Colossians chapter 1, it says, “²⁰ And through Christ, God has brought all things back to himself again—things on earth and things in heaven. God made peace through the blood of Christ's death on the cross.

²¹ At one time you were separated from God…”




You see, when Adam (and Eve) sinned, they were thrown out of the garden.  The special fellowship that Adam and Eve had with God was broken and they were separated from God.  And because of their sin, all men were separated from God!!!




It took Jesus’ death on the cross-HIS PAYMENT FOR ALL OF OUR SINS-to close that gap that sin had caused between God and man!!! 




That’s why the scripture says that through HIS DEATH, we were able to come back to God!!!! 

 


And now because we accept Jesus as OUR LORD AND SAVIOR, we can have the same fellowship that Adam had with God!!!





We can now spend time with God and HE is waiting for us to strike up a conversation or read HIS WORD, so HE can talk to us!!!!





PRAYING is simply talking and listening to GOD!!! 




Some folks say praying is  talking to GOD, but that sounds a little one-sided, doesn’t it???  GOD WILL TALK TO YOU, IF YOU WILL LISTEN!!!




And if you talk to God and listen for HIS voice at ALL times, then that means you are doing it throughout the day!!!!




So, to me Eph. 6:18 really means that throughout the day, I bring ALL my needs, cares and requests to my friend, God, and we talk them over and then HE helps me figure them ALL out!!!!  HE helps me understand what I should do in each and every situation!!! 





PRAYING is simply talking and listening to GOD!!! 




Some folks say praying is talking to GOD, but that sounds a little one-sided, doesn’t it???  GOD WILL TALK TO YOU, IF YOU WILL LISTEN!!!




And if you talk to God and listen for HIS voice at ALL times, then that means you are doing it throughout the day!!!!




So, to me Eph. 6:18 really means that throughout the day, I bring ALL my needs, cares and requests to my friend, God, and we talk them over and then HE helps me figure them ALL out!!!!  HE helps me understand what I should do in each and every situation!!! 




And you know what???




GOD TELLS ME TO LEAVE CERTAIN PROBLEMS AND SITUATIONS WITH HIM AND HE LETS ME KNOW THAT IF I TRUST HIM, HE WILL FIX THEM!!!! 




Now, does that sound so hard???




After ALL that is what friends do!!!  Friends talk to each other on a regular basis and discuss their troubles!!!  They share good times and bad times!!!

Most of our friends would like to fix things for us, but they can’t!!!




Isn’t it wonderful to have a friend like GOD, who can fix things for us!!!!