AOG: Prayer
“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.”
The last thing that Paul instructs us to do in the scripture is pray. Prayer is what brings all the other pieces of armour alive. We’re able to use the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, effectively when we pray. Without it we are simply trying in our own strength, because prayer is the place where we get God involved.
“Prayer must buckle on all the other parts of our Christian armour, we must join prayer with all these graces, for our defence against these spiritual enemies, imploring help and assistance of God…” (Matthew Henry)
Praying Always
To pray always is to be in constant contact with God. And I guess this doesn’t mean that 24 hours of the day we are non-stop praying, but I was listening to a sermon and the pastor put it like this, “Our phone receiver to Heaven must always be left off the hook.”.
This is something that God has really been speaking to me about over the past 1-2 years especially - praying always. I think before I was very used to praying during my devotional times in the morning, and then leaving it there until the next day. However I remember having a conversation with someone and something they said to me really stuck with me and it was, “Khairah, invite Jesus into every part of your life.”. And this helped me to realise that prayer is a lifestyle it’s not just something I do at a set time, I need to be in constant communication with Jesus, inviting Him into everything.
So that means yes, we should have set time in a day that we dedicate to uninterrupted prayer, but then as well as that throughout the day we should involve God in everything through prayer. For example, for me now when I’m in the car on the way to uni, work, church etc I’ll invite God into my day through prayer. Instead of sitting thinking about all the things I need to do, I’ll pray and ask God to help me with whatever those things are that are on my mind.
And I guess for everyone this will look different depending on your life, but the key is just keeping the phone line open to God in prayer, let Him be the first that you run to at anytime in every situation. And I think when we make this a habit we begin to understand just how much we need God at all times. Like the more and more I pray and invite God into my daily situations, I see Him move for me even in the smallest of areas, and as He does I get more and more dependant on Him.
Like genuinely now I see the difference between the days where I just pray in the morning, and the days when I speak to God aside from my morning devotional time. And this isn’t in like a legalistic check box type of way, at the end of the day all prayer is beautiful whether just in the morning or evening or whenever - we all start somewhere, but it’s also beautiful to grow in our prayer lives so that we experience the depths of what He wants us to in Him. So that we walk beside Him everyday, so that He can show us just how much He can move for us in the slightest and biggest of matters.
So guys when you’re happy - pray. When you’re sad - pray. When you’re frustrated with someone - pray. When you’ve fallen short - pray. When you’ve skipped a day of prayer - pray again. When you’re planning for something - pray. When you’re scared - pray. When you feel great - pray. When you feel like rubbish - pray. The point is just pray.
With All Prayer
“The idea is all kinds of prayer or prayer upon prayer. We should use every kind of prayer we can think of. Group prayer, individual prayer, silent prayer, shouting prayer, walking prayer, kneeling prayer, eloquent prayer, groaning prayer, constant prayer, fervent prayer…”
This point - with all prayer, links to our last point of praying always because not every prayer that we offer will look the same depending on when, where, the season of life we’re in, who we’re with and around etc.
At different times of the day I doubt prayer looks the same, for example in the morning during prayer I most times will follow a prayer list so my prayer is more structured, whereas when I’m in the car praying I just pray whatever comes to my mind.
In different seasons our prayer wont be the same, often during harder times prayer sometimes comes with tears, and sometimes prayer is literally just thanksgiving. Sometimes prayer is with a group, often times it’s individual. The point here again is that we are to just pray, in every way it isn’t limited to a set formula.
With all prayer also means, as Matthew Henry calls it, the different parts of prayer: confession of sin, petition for mercy, asking, thanksgiving… When we pray there are different types of prayer we offer up, sometimes we’re repenting, other times asking and sometimes just thanking God - which I think is too easily overlooked yet so important.
Supplication
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7)
Supplication means to ask for something earnestly and humbly. And in our scripture in Matthew 7:7, Jesus tells us that when we ask we will receive and so when we ask we must also believe that He will give us what we ask for, when it is in accordance with His will. The Bible says in Hebrews 11:6, that when we pray we must believe that He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. Meaning that when we pray, we must pray believing that He has heard and will act!
I think that it is also important to note that the meaning of supplication is to ask with an earnest and humble heart.
When we ask for things a lot of the time if we don’t see God answer in the way we thought He would, it’s easy to get discouraged and draw back. But when I think about it that isn’t asking with a humble heart. Because when we ask for things, we must ask in faith believing that He will do what it is that we ask BUT also with a heart of humility that puts His will above our own.
Not everything we ask for is in line with His will, and sometimes it is His will but just not yet! So we must have a heart of humility when asking, that says God I’m asking and believing for this because I know that You are able but even if not I still trust that You know best and will bless me with even more than what I have asked for.
And with not everything that we desire being in line with God’s will we should pray that God will show us His will and align our hearts with His, so that we can pray in step with that!
Perseverance
1 Thessalonians 5:17, says, “pray without ceasing.”. In other words pray and don’t stop.
When we are praying for something, whether that’s for breakthrough, for healing, for a job, for a desire etc. We aren’t just to stop when we feel like God hasn’t answered or when we feel tired. We’re meant to keep going until something breaks. We need to have something about us that is like Jacob when he wrestled with the angel and said “I won’t let go until you bless me.” (Genesis 32:26). If we want to see miracles, we must persevere in prayer, we must fight in prayer until we see chains broken, until we see the answer.
“We must truly abide by the duty of prayer, whatever change there may be in our outward circumstances; we must continue in prayer as long as we live in the world.” (Matthew Henry)
For All The Saints
And lastly, we must pray for our brothers and sisters. When we pray for one another we are holding one another up. Throughout this life we go through different seasons, moments when we’re strong, moments when we’re not and so it’s important to be there for one another in prayer to keep one another going.
Praying for others also helps you to take your mind off yourself, and soon our own issues don’t even seem all that deep. And when we involve ourselves in praying for others, when you see their breakthrough and miracle you’re able to believe God for yourself!
Before ending I just wanted to share this thread that I came across the other day which I thought was so powerful…
Anything not covered in prayer is vulnerable.
Prayer is not optional - it’s protection.
If you don’t pray over it, don’t be surprised when the enemy preys on it.
What you fail to cover in prayer, you’ll end up carrying in pain.
Prayer covers what your presence can’t - God goes where you cannot go.
Prayer is not a backup plain, it’s the battle plan.
Prayer is not wasted words; it’s warfare that wins silently.
Prayer is your first line of defence and your greatest weapon of offence.
Un-prayed areas are unguarded gates - leaving room for the enemy to enter.
Prayer is the difference between being exposed and being equipped.
Nothing fortifies your future like consistent prayer today.
And that’s it guys! Day 7 done, I really pray that this has blessed you guys. See you guys on the blog, byeee :)
“Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.” (Psalm 116:2)