The belt of Truth. The breastplate of righteousness. The ready boots of the Gospel of peace. The shield of faith. The helmet of salvation. The sword of the Spirit. After the apostle Paul lists these important aspects of our spiritual armor, the armor of God, he reveals the power behind this armor: prayer (see Ephesians 6:10-20). For victory over Satan and sin, for victory in the spiritual realm, you must be continuously, consistently, and always in prayer.

We never say, "I breathed last night; I'm not going to breathe this morning." Neither should we do that spiritually speaking: "Well, I prayed yesterday; I'm not going to pray today." However, it can be easy to become bored or tired in prayer, especially if answers to prayer are long in coming or not what we hoped for. That is why Jesus instructed His disciples to pray and not give up praying (see Luke 18:1). In our spiritual warfare, we either pray always—or faint and suffer defeat.

After the breathtaking list of blessings that Paul outlines in his epistle to the Ephesians, he determined to bring a word of warning regarding the danger of these blessings. The danger in our Christian walk is much more real in times of blessing than in times of brokenness. You see, in times of brokenness, we realize our need for God, our frailty, and in our desperation we naturally walk closer to the Lord. But in times of blessing, there is a far greater temptation: self-sufficiency, complacency, and spiritual arrogance. We think, "My, I must be doing something right. That's why I'm blessed the way I am!" Therefore, Paul concludes his letter by pulling us down on our knees.

First, what does Paul mean when he says to "pray in the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:18)? It means we link our spirit with the Holy Spirit, our petition to His, our will with His. This is connected to the command to be filled with the Holy Spirit, meaning we submit to His will for our lives displayed in His Word. Then, as we obey, the Spirit will pray in and through us.

Because Jesus is on His throne in heaven interceding on our behalf, we can pray on all occasions and with all kinds of prayers. You have access to Him all the time. You can pray every waking moment, aware that Jesus is with you. When you are experiencing blessing, you can praise Him. When you encounter evil in the world, you can cry out for His righteousness and justice to rule. When you are sharing the Gospel, you can ask for His help, and He'll give it. Paul is saying that when your whole life is lived in constant communion with your heavenly Father in prayer, your life will become a prayer.

In his epistle, Paul also calls us to pray with all perseverance. When you pray continuously in the Spirit, you'll know how to handle the crises that will arise in your life. Why? Because you will know moment-by-moment reliance on your heavenly Father.

Remember: Paul gives these instructions on prayer in the context of spiritual warfare so that you will be prepared, properly bearing the armor of God. Because when you constantly pray for spiritual power and victory, when you constantly pray for God's glory to be manifested and His Kingdom expanded, when you constantly pray for God to take hold of your home, your neighborhood, your work environment, when you constantly pray for the lost to receive God's salvation, then you will know how to "take your stand against the devil's schemes" (Ephesians 6:11).

Finally, Paul directs us to pray on behalf of others. When you take great joy in interceding for others, you will be amazed at how God will take care of all of your needs. As Jesus promised, when we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, He will meet all our needs (see Matthew 6:33).

When Christians are concerned only with their personal problems and needs, they'll dig themselves into deep depression. Even secular psychologists have observed that when patients get involved in the lives of others and focus outside of themselves, they are better helped than when they focus only on their problems. Praying for others will open the floodgates of heaven with blessings, grace, mercy, and joy both for the person praying and the one being prayed for.

To close his letter, Paul pleads for prayer on his behalf (see Ephesians 6:19-20). He doesn't ask for personal, physical needs—though there's nothing wrong with those kinds of requests. Rather, he reveals his priority—the same priority of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul asks, "Pray that I may declare [the mystery of the gospel] fearlessly, as I should" (Ephesians 6:20). In Acts we read that Jewish leaders in Rome were visiting Paul, and he was sharing the mystery of the Gospel—how Jesus fulfilled all their Messianic longings from Genesis to Malachi. You don't think he was tempted to soften that message a little bit, water it down a little to make it more palatable for them? You better believe he was tempted. He wouldn't ask for prayer if he wasn't struggling with it.

The apostle Paul knew that when people were praying for his spiritual needs, praying for the Kingdom of God, for the glory of Christ, for the salvation of others, all his physical needs would be met. He trusted God and His will for his life. He knew that though he was in chains, it didn't change a thing about his standing before his Lord and Savior. He was an ambassador for Christ, prayerfully adorned with the whole armor of God. May we all be such warriors for Christ—living, breathing prayers for His glory.