“If any of you should ask me for an epitome of the Christian religion, I should say that it is in one word – prayer.” —Charles Spurgeon
Prayer… we hear that word a lot. It’s all over the place in the Bible. You hear it in passing conversations. It’s preached about in sermons galore. When you hear that word, what comes to mind? What do you feel?
At the end of Ephesians 6, when Paul finishes talking about our spiritual armor and spiritual warfare, he concludes the list of our arsenal with this exhortation for prayer:
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. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should—Ephesians 6:18-20.
In the next couple of days, we are going to dissect this passage thought by thought. In the process, we are going to blow up some stereotypes and rip out some deeply entrenched misunderstandings. Looking at prayer from the perspective of who we are in Christ can radically alter our practice of prayer and transform our lives in powerful ways.
Listen, we have inherited a lot of ideas about prayer—what it is supposed to look like, how you are expected to do it, how often you think you should do it (but probably don't)… but when was the last time you really considered prayer as it relates to the other radical things that we know to be true about who we are in Christ and who Christ is in us?
Jesus, I'm curious! I take prayer for granted and do it according to what I've learned through traditions and the example of others. Renew my mind about prayer according to the truth of who I am in You, and who You are in me. Amen.
