May 26, 2023

Prayer is not easy for me. I’m not sure it’s meant to be. In Ephesians 6, St. Paul describes the spiritual battle we as Christians face. He tells us that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (V. 12). In other words, we are engaged in something far bigger and more sinister than we usually imagine. He continues by describing the spiritual armor we need if we are to successfully engage such demonic powers: Truth, righteousness, the Gospel, salvation, faith, and the Word of God, all of which by the way, describe Jesus Christ. He himself is our armor. 

It would be understandable if after such words Paul gave a blow-by-blow account of what engaging spiritual powers looks like. THAT would make quite a blockbuster action/adventure film! But Paul does no such thing. After telling us about our true enemies and about the weapons we have to engage them, he immediately says, “praying at all times in the Spirit…” Spiritual warfare is more than casting out demons; it occurs every time we drop to our knees in prayer. Prayer isn’t just “He walks with me and talks with me; and tells me I am his own.” It’s more than a means of obtaining comfort and peace. It is a fight to the death, a struggle, a wrestling that wrings from us every bit of energy we have. When Jesus prayed in the Garden, the spiritual battle was so intense he “sweat great drops of blood.” 

We put on the armor so we can pray. We need truth in prayer because the devil is the father of lies, and uses our feelings against us. We need righteousness because the devil is all too willing to remind us of our shortcomings. We need the Gospel because we are always tempted to approach God on the basis of our own good works. We need salvation because we are sinners. We need faith because it rarely looks like things are going our way. We need the Word of God because our own words are insufficient for the magnificence and glory of the Eternal One.

Prayer is not easy. It’s hard work that must be done for the salvation of the world. And like any soldier who engages in battle, there are casualties and carnage. Those who are serious in prayer will be scarred by the fight, but will also know the heartbeat of God himself.