We Must Pray and Stay Alert in Prayer

Well if you would take your Bible turn back to Ephesians 6. Like I said earlier in our scripture reading we'll be in verses 18-20. I will reference the other verses that we read earlier verses 10-17 and I will mention a few other verses throughout the message. Now here in the verses that are before us that would be verses 18-20. It is obvious that Paul moves from language about armor and battle and war to language about prayer and keeping alert and prayer. We need to ask a question or two here. Is this teaching on prayer connected to all of the teaching about the believer being dressed for battle in the armor of God?

Or is this teaching on prayer completely different, completely independent? Now if you do some study on your own, I know some of you do, you will see that there are different opinions and positions here but most all the scholars say that all of this teaching is related. Most all the scholars say that all of this teaching is connected. Prayer is certainly not included as one of the pieces of God's armor but prayer in staying alert in prayer is certainly a part of the believer being dressed in the full armor of God and engaged in the battle and the war which is the true Christian life.

Prayer and always staying alert in prayer is even vital to the success of the believer in the battle and in the war which is the Christian life. Now take a step back with me and notice how all of this fits together. From verses 10-17 we have seen that Paul was basically about two things. First he was calling these believers to walk in victory in the battle and the war which is the true Christian life. We can really see that especially in verses 11-12. And then second he was calling these believers to be dressed for this battle and war by being dressed in the full armor of God. We see that especially in verse 13.

And then here in verses 18-20 we will see that Paul is about doing two basic things. First he was calling these believers to prayer and to be alert or stay alert in prayer. Now why? For the life and for the power and the direction that the believer needs in the war. And then second he was calling them to prayer and to be alert in prayer for others. Now why for others? So that certain others would have this life, this power and this direction that they need in their battle and in their war. Now I have thought a lot about what I'm about to say especially Friday. I've meditated on this all day.

For us to really see the importance of what Paul is teaching here we need to realize just how different we would approach all of these things. If we were writing this letter or if I was writing this letter I would not transition into teaching on prayer after verses 10-17. I would call the believer to walk in victory in the battle and the war which is the true Christian life. Then I would call the believer to be dressed in the full armor of God for the battle and for the war. But right after verse 17 I would send all of these believers right into the fight. I would be like that soldier in the cavalry in a John Wayne movie.

I would blow charge on my bugle and I would send these believers right into the war. Why not? They are all called. They are all equipped for the battle. Isn't that right? They have the full armor of God. Why not just send them right off into battle? Now right here you might be saying, "Pastor I don't think I've ever seen a John Wayne movie." Maybe I need to preach on that. You need to go watch a few. But that's not what Paul does.

After his instructions about the believers battleground and walking in victory in the war and after his instruction about the believer being dressed for battle in the full armor of God, the believers armor, Paul then moves to show these believers where their power, where their direction and where their life comes from. And he shows them that their power and direction in life comes from the Spirit of God through prayer. And why does Paul do this? Because Paul knows that the called and the equipped believer who does not have power, who does not have direction and life from the Spirit of God, they will be defeated before they ever begin.

I love what John MacArthur says here and I'm quoting, "God's armor is neither mechanical or magical." Let that sink in. God's armor is neither mechanical or magical. We cannot simply take hold of it. That would be the armor on our own and expect it to automatically produce supernatural feats. He goes on to say, "Our divine gifts," that would be the armor marvelous as they are or bear without the giver, capital G giver, who is the giver, God. So this leads me to the title of the message. It comes right out of the verses. I title this, "We Must Pray and Stay Alert in Prayer." We must pray and stay alert in prayer.

Now this is how we will divide or I will divide our verses. We will look at three observations or three major points of teaching. Point number one, the call to prayer. Point number one, the call to prayer out of the beginning of verse 18. And then number two, the call to always stay alert in prayer. That's in the middle of verse 18. And then the call to pray for others. That is in verse 18 and verse 19 and verse 20. So, let's get right into our verses. We've already read the verses in our scripture reading. So, number one, the call to prayer. This is Paul's call to prayer.

Now I said earlier that some say that prayer is a part of the armor of God. John Gill calls this the last weapon of the armor, which I think is incorrect. As a matter of fact, language scholars will tell you that it doesn't allow for that. So, prayer is not a weapon and it must be seen as so. But prayer must be seen as the attitude and the approach the Christian soldier must take in engaging in the battle. And this attitude and approach in prayer is to God in all of these things. Now a question, what happens to the Christian soldier who does not approach the battle of the Christian life in this kind of prayer?

Well, it's rather simple, defeat. Defeat. Albert Barnes says, "No matter how complete the armor, no matter how skilled we may be in the science of war, no matter how courageous we may be, we may be certain that without prayer we shall be defeated. God alone can give the victory. And when the Christian soldier goes forth armed completely for the spiritual conflict, if he looks to God by prayer he may be sure of a triumph." So, the point here is this. Yes, we must be dressed in the full armor of God and ready for the war which is the true Christian life. Yes, we must be equipped, skilled, and even courageous.

But without prayer there is no power. Without prayer there is no direction. Without prayer there is no life. There is no victory, only defeat. So, let's look at this call to prayer. First Paul says we should pray at all times. We should pray at all times. Look at verse 18. It's really easy. Praying at all times. Now this is simple. Paul is saying that prayer should be continuous, not occasional. He is saying that prayer should be constant, not sporadic. He is saying that prayer should be habitual, not unusual. Now this may seem obvious and it is, but this flew right into the face of the common practice of the Jews in Paul's day.

In Paul's day the Jews had scheduled times of prayer three times a day, morning, midday, and evening. And for any Jew who read this book or heard this letter, when Paul said that prayer should be continuous, this was a strange thing. That is because they had become so ritualistic in their prayer. But the question I have for us is this. Are we not like the Jews? We may not have three times of prayer in the day in a ritualistic way, but do we not have certain times of accepted and expected prayer and then in between we just kind of forget?

Here we need to see that if we are going to be soldiers, truly equipped for the war of the Christian life, we have to cultivate hearts of constant prayer. Now here I want to give you a little pastoral instruction. You need to have times of prayer. You need to have structured times of prayer. You need to have a place or places of prayer. Yes, you should be disciplined and you should have times and places where you pray. But when you learn how to pray truly in the Spirit, which we'll get into that in a moment, when you learn how to pray in the Spirit in these structured times of prayer, then and only then can you be one who prays constantly.

Now you might say I'm going to plug a particular event in the life of the church and I am. On Tuesday mornings we meet at 6 AM a group of us, men to pray. Men you need to be here for that. Prayer many times is called rather than taught. And I have seen men be around other men who know how to pray and it's demonstrated right before them and they're gripped by that and God uses that and I believe God could use the men of our church praying to impact you. And then second Paul says we should pray in the Spirit. Look at verse 18, "Praying at all times in the Spirit." Now first off let me clear up any misconceptions here.

To pray in the Spirit does not mean that we speak in tongues. Our charismatic friends are off there. This does not mean that we're charismatics either and we cannot let the gross error of some keep us from the Holy Spirit in teaching like this. I know I've said this many times through the years when I was in seminary I had a professor that would tell us, he'd say, "Boys," I don't know why he called us men, "Boys we cannot let the Pentecostals and the charismatics make us afraid of the Holy Spirit." And he's right. Now what Paul is saying here is simple, but it is very profound.

To pray in the Spirit means to pray in communion with or in personal connection to the Spirit. This means to pray in connection to the Spirit and under the control of the Spirit. I love what William Barclay says. He says, "Let the Spirit be the atmosphere in which you pray." I like that. "Let the Spirit be the atmosphere in which you pray." Now to me there are certain things we need to understand to really get at what this means for us. This is personal. The Spirit is not a thing. The Spirit is not an influence. As a matter of fact I don't even like saying, "The Spirit." The Spirit is a person. He is God and He is personal.

He is not a thing, an influence for good, or an impersonal force for good. He is personal. And second, this is relational. As a born again believer the Spirit lives within us. So we know the Spirit and the Spirit knows us. The believer has a personal relationship with the Spirit. Paul clearly teaches this fact in Romans 8, 9-11. But listen to verse 10. Paul says, "However, you are not of the flesh, but in the Spirit." Capital S. "If indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you, but if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him." And then also this is authoritative. The Scriptures clearly teach that the Holy Spirit is God.

And the Scriptures teach that the believer is to be filled with, guided by, and controlled by the Spirit. We know this verse. Listen to verse 18 of Ephesians chapter 5. "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with, be guided by, be controlled by the Spirit." Now earlier I said that this was simple, but I said that it was profound. Webster's dictionary defines profound as "difficult for one of ordinary knowledge or intelligence to understand." Now let me explain what I'm getting at here. We need to see that for the new believer or the immature believer, this is difficult to understand, this prayer in the Spirit.

And for those believers who do not know how to pray, this can be difficult to understand. But for those of us who have walked with God for some time, and for those of us who know how to pray, we get it. Even if our prayer life is stale, we understand it. We know what it is like to pray and to pray in communion with the Spirit, under the leadership of the Spirit, even guided by the Spirit. Now let me give you an example here. Most everyone here knows the story of how we moved as a church. We relocated. That's a rather odd and unusual story. Most churches split and fuss and fight. We did not.

And as the Lord was burdening me in those early years about the future of our church and where we were in our location, and the fact that we were in a corner in so many ways, we didn't own the property, the building was in very bad shape, we didn't have room to expand. The community in many ways was dead and dying. And all of us came mostly from Brookhaven. And we began to pray and I began to pray about possibly moving. And there were many, many obstacles that were before us. And I sought godly examples. And I sought godly advice. Some of the most influential men of my life encouraged me to move and move now.

But as I came back and I began to look at our circumstance in prayer, we had obstacles that I could not move and I just began to pray in the spirit, being controlled by the spirit. Although I got good advice, I didn't do what they said. I listened to the spirit and I prayed and I waited and I waited and I waited. And Brother Keith can attest to that. He was a part of that. And I trusted in the spirit and I'll let the spirit move those obstacles. You see, I was praying in the spirit, in communion with the spirit and under the control of the spirit. And as I prayed during those times, God even changed my prayer.

And then third, Paul says we should pray a variety of prayers. Look back at verse 18, praying at all times in the spirit with all prayer and supplication. Here the ESV says we should pray with all prayers and supplication. The New American says we should pray with all prayer and petition. And we need to see what this is. This is more than casual prayer and more than one kind of prayer. Actually, Paul is speaking of two types of prayer. First, when he calls these believers to pray with all prayer, he is speaking of prayer in general.

And this would include all types of general prayer, private prayer, public prayer, personal prayer, prayer with family, prayer with brothers and sisters in the church. Simply this is prayer in general or all kinds and types of prayer in the spirit. And then second, when he calls these believers to pray with supplication or petition, he is speaking of specific requests. And this would include any and all types of requests when the believer prays, petitions for ourselves, petitions for others, petitions for our families, petitions for our brothers and sisters in Christ, petitions for our church.

Simply this is specific prayer or any and all kinds of requests in prayer at all times in the spirit. And notice all of this is related. These prayers and petitions should be in the spirit at all times. And my question for you and for us is this. How is our prayer life in general? And how is our prayer life in specific in certain areas, especially requests for others? Do we come to our Lord real quickly when we have petitions for ourselves, but yet we somehow forget about our brothers and sisters in Christ? I cannot help but mention one of the needs in the life of our church, Evan and Devon and baby Allie Jane.

I usually call her AJ because Evan called her AJ. Should we not be bringing those petitions before the Lord? Should we not be bringing those petitions before the Lord for our brother, for our sister, for Allie Jane and for all of those needs, spiritual, emotional and physical? Yes. So look at what, so look at Paul's call. He calls these believers and he is calling us to pray at all times in the spirit or guided and controlled by the spirit. And he calls us to pray this way in all of our prayer and in all of our petitions. Now, before we move on to the call to keep alert in prayer, remember our context.

This kind of prayer is to be our attitude and our approach as we engage in the battle in the war, which is the true Christian life. And as we are dressed in the full armor of God, ready for the battle and in the war, we are to be on our knees in prayer so that we can have the power, so that we can have the life and the direction that we need for the war, otherwise defeat. Kind of used my imagination yesterday and today kind of pondering over these things. You know, if a soldier had on all of this armor and they did, I would imagine it would have been hard for them to kneel.

But for us, it's hard for us to kneel not because of the armor, but because of our flesh and our sinfulness. Is it hard for us to kneel? If it's hard for us to kneel, we're in defeat, not victory. So Paul's call to prayer. And then number two, we see the call to always stay alert in prayer. Paul gives us this call to always stay alert in prayer. Look back at verse 18, really the second part of the verse.

The English standard reads, "Praying at all times in the spirit with all prayer and supplication to that end, keep alert with all perseverance." Now the New American is the same as the ESV, but the King James says, "Watching with all perseverance." And here Paul is taking this call to prayer to another level. He is showing these believers that much more is expected in their prayer life and this certainly applies to us. First, he calls us to keep alert in prayer. This term, "Keep alert." The King James uses the word "watching." This simply means to be awake, to be watchful, and even to be diligent. I like what Albert Barnes says here.

He focuses on the positive and I'm quoting, "Watching for opportunities to pray, watching for the spirit of prayer, watching against all those things which would hinder our prayer." Let me repeat that. Barnes says this means watching for opportunities to pray, watching for the spirit of prayer, watching against those things which would hinder our prayer. I like what the scholar William McDonald says here. He focuses on the negative. He says, "There must be vigilance in prayer. We must watch against drowsiness, mind-wandering, and preoccupation with other things." Let me repeat that. McDonald says, "There must be vigilance in prayer.

We must watch against drowsiness, mind-wandering, and preoccupation with other things." So this is a call to keep alert, to be watchful, and to even be vigilant in prayer. And this is a call against being distracted, apathetic, and lazy in the call to prayer. For us this morning, I want to borrow what Barnes says here and ask us a few rhetorical questions, personal questions. Are we watchful and vigilant for opportunities in prayer? Opportunities is not the circumstance with Evan and Devin and Allie Jane an opportunity for us to pray. You know, in our small groups, one of the things we do is study God's Word together, of course.

But a part of small group ministry is, is we get together and we share life with one another. We share everything about life with one another. As we get to know each other, and as we walk with the Lord beside each other, we share our lives with one another. And as we are in small groups, not just in the class, but as we are connected with those in our small groups, do we not see opportunities for us to pray for our brothers and sisters? Are we alert and vigilant for the leadership and the guidance of the Spirit in our prayer? Now listen, this is where it gets experiential.

As we're praying, it is the Spirit of God sometimes that prompts us, that burdens us, that beckons us to pray for certain things. I have a pastor friend of mine who is dealing with the fact that he has a son that's lost and needs Christ. I've only met the young man once and it was just for a moment. But you know, every now and then, sometimes multiple times throughout the day, his name and his face and his circumstance will come to my mind. Is that a coincidence? No. I attribute that to the Spirit of God bringing him into my mind and into my heart. And I pray for him and I submit to that.

So are we alert and vigilant for the leadership and the guidance of the Spirit of God in our life in prayer? And are we watchful and alert for those things that can rob us of our alertness and our vigilance in prayer? This requires discipline and death to flesh. And to borrow what McDonald says here, "Does drowsiness, mind wandering, and the preoccupation with other things undermine our ability to be watchful and vigilant in prayer?" Look, folks, if we are watchful and vigilant with so many things in the world, we are preoccupied there. We might not even have the strength and the ability to devote ourselves to prayer as we should.

So we see he gives us the call to be alert. And then second, he calls us to persevere in prayer. Now, in the original, this is an unusual word. It is only found in one place in the New Testament and it's right here. But the meaning is simple and what is taught here is found in other places in the New Testament. This perseverance simply means the unremitting continuance of certain things. This simply speaks of an uninterrupted action. And here Paul is speaking of uninterrupted prayer or a ceaselessness in prayer. Jesus spoke of this kind of prayer in Luke chapter 11. We know that teaching very well.

About once a year or so, I always come back around to prayer in Luke 11. And there Jesus called his disciples to do what in prayer? To ask and to seek and to knock as they prayed. And he called them to always and to continue to ask and seek and knock. Jesus spoke of this kind of prayer in Luke chapter 18 when he taught on refusing to give up in prayer. And my question for us is this, do we persevere in prayer? Or do we pray diligently for a time and then we lose our diligence and then we forget? And do we see that this is a call not only to persevere in prayer, but perseverance in being alert and watchful and vigilant in prayer.

And for many of you, this is new. And this is a completely different approach to prayer. And you need to see how biblical this is and how you need it. Every now and then I will mention Christian biography and Christian example. And we need that. We need that in the pew and sometimes we need it in a book or an example before us. I would challenge you to pick up a good biography on the famous George Mueller. George Mueller was famous for his ministry to orphans. Many of you do not know that in his later years he retired from the ministry that he had with orphans when he was in his 70s.

And he started a new career and he preached all over the world from his 70s into his 90s. How about that kind of retirement? But what I challenge you to do is read and take note of his perseverance in prayer. He persevered and he's a great example of perseverance. So, look at what, look at Paul's call here. He called these believers and he is calling us to pray. Yes, but this is a call to pray with all watchfulness and vigilance, but not for a season. This is a call to pray with all watchfulness and vigilance with great perseverance never giving up. One of my favorite Bible examples is the story of Hannah.

In my personal Bible study time this morning, not pretending to preaching, I went back and I read and read many times 1 Samuel chapter 2 in the story of Hannah. She is a great example of perseverance in prayer and she is also a great example of praying in the spirit and you will see what the Spirit of God called her to pray, taught her to pray and even changed her prayer to be in line with the will of God. So, we have Paul's call to always, always stay alert in prayer. And then last, number 3, the call to pray for others. Paul gives us a call to pray for others and we see this at the end of verse 18 and verse 19 and 20.

We will read those verses here in a minute. But before we read the verses and before we dig into who Paul is calling these believers to pray for, we need to remember who was involved in all of these things. The background, the context of this teaching. Paul was writing to a church, the church at Ephesus. So, here we have a church with real people and real problems. These were real men, real women, real children, real young people, real families, real people. And Paul was writing as he was because they truly needed all of this teaching. And we see who was writing these things. It's obvious, it's Paul.

So, here we have Paul as well who had personal issues as well. He was in prison while he wrote this letter. And he mentioned certain needs that he has in his circumstances while he was in prison. Now, what is my point here in this? Paul was in prison and he had real needs. The Ephesian church was comprised of real people with real struggles. We don't know who they were, but they had real needs. And after Paul called them to pray so that they would have life and power and direction in the battle that is the Christian life, he then called them to pray for certain people. He even called them to intercede for certain people.

Now, let's look at the verses. We'll see it at the end of verse 18, verse 19, and verse 20. Let's read the verses. I'll go ahead and read all of verse 18. Praying at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication to that end keep alert with all perseverance. Notice the shift. Making supplication for all the saints and also for me that words may be given to me and opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the Gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains that I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak. Now, notice what Paul is saying here. First, he calls them to pray for all the saints. It's very clear in the verse.

Paul calls them to pray for all the saints. And this would certainly be all of the saints, all of their fellow soldiers who were in the battle and who were in the war. That is the true Christian life. Now, think back to all that we learned about the Roman soldier that went into battle. And one thing we must remember is this. No matter how well that soldier was trained, no matter how equipped he was, no Roman soldier could go into war alone. He was completely and totally dependent on his fellow soldiers. And it is the same here for the believers in this local church.

Fellow soldiers or fellow brothers and sisters in the war of the Christian life were and are dependent on one another. Isolationism in any way, shape or form cannot be accepted because it leads to defeat. It always leads to defeat. MacArthur has some good insight here. I'm quoting. He says, "The greatest thing we can do for another believer or that he can do for us is to pray." That is the way the body of Christ grows spiritually as well as in love. When one member of the body is weak, wounded or cannot function, the other members compensate by supporting and helping strengthen it.

He goes on to say, "The spiritually healthy person is devoted to the welfare of others, especially fellow believers." Now look church, especially members of Grace Life Church, Brooke Avon. It is our responsibility to pray for one another. It is your responsibility to care for the needs of your fellow soldiers. We must not be a church where only a few care for the spiritual needs of others. I know I ask questions quite a lot when I teach and preach, but I don't want you to let these pass you by, contemplate these questions and answer them. What happens when a brother or a sister in this church is weak, weary, wavering and even wounded?

Think about that. Answer it in your mind. What happens when a brother or a sister in this church is weak, weary, wavering or even wounded? What happens when a brother or sister in this church cannot stand and stand firm like we've learned? What happens when a brother or a sister in this church cannot stand and stand firm as they should? What happens when a brother or a sister cannot fight in the Christian life as they should? What happens? The answer is a little different than you think. You suffer. You suffer. We suffer. We all suffer because we are dependent on one another. And again, small groups. It's not just for Bible study.

It is the place, it is the arena where you should get to know one another, where you should become connected. It is the arena in which you should develop lifestyles, Christian lifestyles, where you are dependent on one another exactly like we see here. Yes. And Luke Church, if we have any form of isolationism, we are in sin and we are setting ourselves up for defeat. And we are setting up our brother and sister for defeat as well. If we have any form of isolationism, we are setting up our brother and sister for spiritual weakness and possibly defeat because they need us. And listen to your pastor here. Think about it.

This takes love for one another. You can't do this if you don't love one another. This takes entrusting yourself to one another. Think about that. This takes entrusting yourself to one another. You can't do this unless you entrust yourself to one another. This takes entrusting others. Yes, you can't do this unless you trust others and you entrust yourself to others. And this takes being vulnerable, vulnerable because you just might be let down or hurt. You might be, but this is God's way and this is the way that God is calling us to live. And then second, Paul calls them to pray for him.

Let's go back and read those verses because I don't want us to miss this. I'll start with verse 18, "Praying at all times in the spirit with all prayer and supplication to that end, keep alert, watchful with all perseverance, making supplication for the saints and also for me that words may be given to me and opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains that I may declare it boldly as an alt to speak." Here Paul puts himself on the same plane as all of the other saints in the church at Ephesus. You see that? He is saying that he is just like them.

He needs intercessory prayer just like they do. Now why? It's the apostle Paul. Even though he was an apostle, he knew that it was only God that could enable him to fulfill his role in his responsibilities as an apostle. So he calls on the saints in the Ephesian church to pray for him. And notice how he asked them to pray that he would be released from prison, that he would be out of his shackles. Did he ask them to pray that he would be free to continue his apostolic ministry out of prison? No, he did not. Notice that he asked them to pray for two things.

First, that words would be given to him by God and that he would be able to boldly or fearlessly proclaim the gospel. Remember his situation. Think about it. Remember his circumstances. He was in Rome all alone. All had forsaken him and he was a prisoner. But although he was in chains, Acts 28, 30-31 tell us that he was allowed to preach the gospel. So Paul was asking them to pray that God would give him the words to proclaim the gospel boldly, fearlessly, even as if he was not even in chains.

And then second, that not only he would be successful in his witness, but also that he would have victory in his difficult circumstances that were certainly the will of God. Now think about it. Think about it. He was in shackles by and for the will of God. But even though he knew those things, Paul was human too. And he needed their prayer so that he would have victory in the specific battle that he was in. Now before I move on from Paul's request for prayer, look at how he saw himself. He said that he was an ambassador in chains. The King James says bonds.

In Paul's day this word ambassador was used of a representative of the emperor, which was a very, very important position with very important responsibilities. This means that Paul saw himself as Christ's ambassador. The world saw him as a prisoner and even as a criminal. But he knew he was Christ's ambassador sent by Christ in a very important position with a very important responsibility to preach the Gospel even to the highest Roman officials in the land. And right here there are two lessons we need to see from these verses.

First, if we are living a spirit-filled life, a spirit controlled life, no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in, we must see that we are to be Christ's ambassador. And we are to take the message of the Gospel to those that he puts before us. It doesn't matter if your job is terrible. It doesn't matter if things are going difficult in your family. Whatever circumstance you're in, you are to be Christ's ambassador. We are to be Christ's ambassador. But the second lesson is this. If the Apostle Paul needed prayer for God to help him in his role and his responsibilities associated with his role, then your pastor certainly needs prayer.

Your pastor definitely needs prayer. I ask you to please pray for me. Please pray for me. I need Christ in my life. I need God to work in my life. I cannot do what God's called me to do in my own strength. I need him. And all of the leaders in our church need him. We need God. If the Apostle Paul needed prayer, we certainly need prayer. Leaders of the church. So Paul calls them to pray for others. Now, as I move away from the verses, remember the title of the message. We must pray and stay alert in prayer. We must pray and stay alert in prayer. And look, church, all this teaching from verse 10 to 20 is vital. This is vital.

This is critical if we're going to live the victorious Christian life. And when I say the victorious Christian life, I'm not talking about like the Charismatic say. We have been called to walk in victory in the battle in the war, which is the true Christian life. We have been called to be dressed in the full armor of God so that we would be equipped for the battle in the war. We have been called to prayer and to stay alert in prayer because the life, the power, the direction that we need for the war comes from God through prayer. And if we do not pray, defeat. And if we do pray the way we're instructed here, victory.

And we have been called to prayer and to stay alert in prayer for our fellow soldiers, our brothers and sisters. And we have been called to stay alert in prayer for our spiritual leaders. That is because we are in desperate need of one another in the Christian life. And if we do not pray in this way, defeat. And if we do victory, so we must pray and stay alert in prayer.