We have been spending time in the book of Ephesians,
and we're closing out a little piece on the armor of God.
So we're in Ephesians 6, verses 10-20 this morning.
We're going to be focusing on verses 18-20.
And all along here, we have been learning that we have an enemy,
that the devil is real.
And though he's already been defeated at the cross,
Jesus triumphed over him.
Through his death and resurrection.
God put all things under the feet of our King Jesus,
including the devil and his demons.
Even though that's true, he's still on the run.
He's on the prowl, 1 Peter 5.8.
And he's looking to do us ill.
Doubt.
Distraction. Distortion. Division.
Deceptive tactics to destroy.
Anyway, in Ephesians 6, verses 10-14,
four times we're told to stand.
Stand firm.
Remember, Ephesians is all about walking.
Walk, walk, walk, walk, walk.
Walk. Live your life.
Walk, walk, walk, walk, walk.
Walk in a manner worthy of the Gospel.
Walk, walk, walk.
Ephesians 6, 10.
Stand.
Take a stand.
Stand firm against the schemes of our enemy.
And God has provided strength for us
to stand firm.
This armor.
And Paul very intentionally chooses battle imagery.
We are in a spiritual guerrilla warfare.
And in order to stand firm,
we've got to put the armor on.
We've got to put on the belt of truth
that Christ is everything.
It's all about Him.
That's the truth of the matter.
We've got to buckle on
the breastplate of righteousness.
We've got to call to mind by prayer
that yes, my sin has been imputed to Christ
and Christ's righteousness
has been imputed to me.
I'm completely forgiven
and totally accepted in God's sight.
Amen.
I lace up
the high top cleats
of the Gospel of peace
that make me immovable.
God is for me.
In Christ.
I take up the shield of faith
and with it,
I intercept and extinguish
the fiery darts of the evil one
looking to divide us.
He's looking to aim into gaps
into our unity.
The unity we have in Christ.
We've been given this helmet.
The helmet of salvation.
And it's God saying to us,
you are mine,
and when it's on,
we say,
I am yours.
Saved.
Forever.
And then finally,
we take up that living,
lethal,
and legendary sword
of the Spirit,
the Word of God.
It's all about Christ.
I mean,
He wielded it.
And now we wield it,
and we cut to pieces
destructive deceptions
of the devil.
Armor on.
Now,
imagine,
Woodman's on a Saturday morning.
Talk about a war zone.
One of the sisters from our church
is there.
She's pulled up in her minivan,
and she has three kids under four.
She gets out of the minivan,
and she is decked out
in the armor of God
from head to toe.
She's pushing that Woodman's cart,
kids hanging off
at like a jungle gym,
and as she's going down
the cereal aisle,
you see her mouth moving.
You think she's looking for Cheerios.
You think she's reading
kind of nutritional charts.
But you know what she's doing?
She's praying.
I-94,
Wednesday morning,
southbound.
A middle-aged man
squeezed into his Honda Civic.
decked out in armor.
And as you drive by him,
you notice that his lips are moving.
He's on a direct line to heaven.
Student walking down the hallway
of Tremper High School.
Maybe it's not Tremper.
Maybe it's Bradford
or Indian Trail.
Harborside.
Lakeview.
Maybe it's not high school.
Maybe it's middle school.
Lance.
Washington.
Lincoln.
Christian Life School.
Maybe it's not a school.
Maybe you're homeschooled.
You're walking down the hallway
in your house.
But you're a student
with your armor on.
And if you were to walk
by this student,
you couldn't help but notice
that they're saying something
under their breath.
And they're not gossiping.
They're making supplication.
They are asking God
for boldness
to walk in their school
for the glory of Jesus.
If you would look at Ephesians 6,
18-20,
we read this.
Praying at all times in the Spirit
with all prayer and supplication
to that end,
keep alert with all perseverance,
making supplication for all the saints.
And also for me,
that words may be given to me
in 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.
In order for us as Christians
of Christ the King Church
to stand firm against the devil's scheming,
we must pray.
We must pray.
There's five points
I want you to see this morning.
The last four are right out of the text,
but here are the five points.
First,
we must pray with all of our hearts.
Second,
we must pray all the time.
Third,
we must pray all kinds of prayers.
Fourth,
we must pray with all perseverance.
And fifth,
we must pray for all the saints.
Why?
To experience God's spiritual strengthening
so that we can stand firm
against the schemes of the devil.
United we stand.
Let's stand firm.
Let's pray with all our hearts.
What is prayer?
Prayer is not complicated.
It's actually very simple.
What prayer is,
is simply entrusting your soul to God.
Oftentimes,
prayer is a verbal communication
of our hearts' trust in God.
And it comes in many forms.
But what I want you to think about this morning
as we get going here is this.
Prayer is depending on God.
Prayer is the way we trust God.
Prayer is the way that we cry out to God.
And so,
prayerlessness
is independence from God.
It's a lack of trust in God.
A lack of ongoing dependence on Him.
And if you're like me,
I am,
I'm tempted to self-sufficiency.
My prideful tendency to self-sufficiency
will make me prayerless.
Because essentially,
I'm trusting in myself.
So what prayer is,
is essentially trusting actively
in our God.
Calling out to Him
over and over and over again.
That little,
this first point is
pray with all your heart.
And if you replace that word pray
with trust,
it's trust God with all your heart.
Like Proverbs chapter 3,
5 and 6.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart.
And lean not on your own understanding.
But in all your ways,
acknowledge Him
and He will make straight your paths.
Pray to your God with all your heart.
Lean not on your own understanding.
Trust Him.
As we trust God,
what we will find
is that God,
as we pray,
refocuses us.
As we pray,
He reframes us.
As we pray,
He is able to revive us.
As we pray,
He's able to restrain us.
Are you praying?
Are you actively trusting God?
Are you seeking Him?
The second thing I want you to see
is we're to pray all the time.
We see that right in this passage.
Verse 18.
Praying at all times
in the Spirit.
Praying at all times.
Now,
we all have regular times of prayer.
I mean, as a church,
this morning,
we've already prayed multiple times.
Our small groups pray
every time they get together.
Families get together and pray.
If you're a family like mine,
we pray for all of our meals.
Sometimes it's just rub-a-dub-dub,
thanks for the grub,
and dive in.
But often on mornings,
we pray together as a family
and we entrust ourselves
to God for the day.
It's really simple.
And then there's this thing
called private prayers.
Personally praying to God.
Private praying is part of a
spiritual wartime mentality.
Here's why.
We need to pray all the time
because the battle is raging all the time.
We must be vigilant in our praying.
Personal praying,
a vibrant personal prayer life
will help you stand firm
against the devil.
This morning,
I really want to help you
with this.
I want to get concrete.
So here's a suggestion
of how to pray
throughout your day.
Beginning your day
with private prayer.
Trusting God from the get-go.
Starting your first inclination
towards Him.
Maybe you pray through the armor.
May you call to mind
that first belt of truth
that today it's all about Jesus.
Jesus.
That's who I'm living for.
I'm not sure what your
beginning of your day is like
if you have a calendar
on your phone
or if you have a calendar
or a schedule
that you keep pen and paper
or if you keep it up
in your head
and you just know
what's going to happen that day.
But can I encourage you
to start your day this way?
Take a couple minutes
and pray through your day.
Just think about
what's going to happen today
and you entrust yourself
in this day to God.
You're looking to Him.
You are laying it before Him.
Begin your day
with private prayer
and then throughout the day
pray.
It's kind of like urban warfare.
It's kind of like going
to house to house.
Kind of situation to situation.
Appointment to appointment.
Phone call to phone call.
Email to email.
One after the other.
And you're kind of
covering everything with prayer.
You're laying down prayer cover.
Oh God, I got this meeting.
I'm about to walk into it.
Lord, I don't know
what's going to happen
but whatever happens, God,
may I be a light for you.
May I be wise.
May I be gracious.
May I be truthful
and honest.
God, I'm entrusting myself
to you now
as I walk into this meeting.
Or, God, I know this meeting
is going to be antagonistic.
God, would you help me
to respond in such a way
that's forgiving
and tender and gracious.
God, as you pick up your phone.
God, this is going to be
a hard phone call.
I pray that, Lord,
you would help me
make this phone call
and preserve the unity
that you've purchased in Christ.
as you're typing out an email.
Oh God, I pray that this email
would find this person
or these people,
that this would be
a blessing to them.
That it would build,
it wouldn't tear down.
God, as my family
relaxes this afternoon,
would you help us
to relax in such a way
that honors you?
You're just kind of praying
from one thing to the next.
Praying at all times.
Essentially, you're saying this.
Oh God, help me.
Help me, help me.
Help me with this.
Help me with that.
Help me with this.
Give me strength.
Close of the day.
You're laying down on your bed.
Thank God for your day.
Thank God for what
He's done that day.
Thank God for His faithfulness
to you.
Thank God for specific ways
He has met you
and sustained you.
And then you sleep
the sleep of the Beloved.
Psalm 4.8
In peace,
I will both lie down
and sleep
because you make me
dry inside you.
God, I trust you.
Now this is throughout
the day, right?
What happens when you
wake up in the middle
of the night?
What happens if you
can't fall asleep
because you're anxious?
Well, you pray.
Sometimes you need to
sleep with your helmet
of salvation on.
Reminding yourself
again and again
that I am yours.
I am yours.
God, you're for me.
God, make straight
these paths.
Here's something
that happens
on a somewhat
frequent basis here.
God wakes somebody up.
God wakes somebody up
by putting someone else
on their mind
at 3 a.m.
You awake,
awaken,
and there's someone
on your mind.
You're being prompted
by the Spirit of God
to pray for them.
Maybe you don't know what,
but you lay it down.
You lay down,
cover.
Oh God,
I pray for this person
right now.
I don't know why.
I don't know the circumstances,
but God,
would you strengthen them?
Would you give them
what they need?
Help them.
So regular times of prayer.
We're to pray
all the time.
Now, could you imagine
us as a church
if we're praying
more and more frequently
like that?
Do you know what happens?
God moves.
I'm not sure
if you noticed this,
but there's a little
prepositional phrase
that we're to pray
all the time
in the Spirit.
Did you guys notice that
in verse 18?
In the Spirit.
He's not speaking of
praying in tongues.
It's not what he's
talking about there.
What he's talking about
is this.
Paul is saying
pray all the time
with prayers
that are prompted
and guided
by the Holy Spirit.
Prayers that are directed
by the third person
of the Trinity.
Prayers that are
being prompted
by God living in you
and seeking to unite
us together
as a church.
Pray in the Spirit.
These are upwards
and outwards
prayers.
Prayers that are
seeking to glorify Christ.
Prayers that are
seeking good
for others.
Here's some examples
of prayers
not in the Spirit.
Ready?
Lord, give me
a ton of money
so that I can get
a ton of stuff.
Amen!
It's not of the Spirit.
It's of the flesh.
Lord, keep my wife
from finding
out about
about my secret.
It's not of the Spirit.
It's of the flesh.
Lord, would you just
bail me out this
one last time
and I'll give you
anything!
It's not of the Spirit.
Here's examples
of praying in the Spirit.
Lord, I confess.
I confess.
I spoke
in anger.
I confess.
God, help me.
I need to love
this person.
Lead me.
Strengthen me.
Lord, provide wisdom
for my son.
Provide wisdom
for my wife,
for my husband,
my friend.
God, unite us
as a church.
If your praying
is marked
by the fruit
of the Spirit,
love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness,
goodness, gentleness,
faithfulness,
and self-control.
If your praying
is marked
by the fruit
of the Spirit,
you know what?
You're praying
in the Spirit.
You're praying
in prayers
prompted and guided
by the Spirit
of God.
You know what?
Praying in the Spirit
is another way
of saying
we're depending
on our God.
our prayers
are dependent
on God.
So the question
we will need
to ask is this.
Are you praying
with greater
and greater frequency?
Praying all times.
And are you praying
in the Spirit?
Are your prayers
prompted
and guided
by the Spirit
of God?
When we pray
like that,
God builds.
God unites.
He pours out
His Spirit
in greater,
greater measure.
So,
we're to pray
all the time
in the Spirit.
The third point is
we're to pray
all kinds of prayers.
Do you know
who Bubba Gump is?
from the movie
Forrest Gump?
There's this one
scene in the movie
where Bubba
is listing out
the various kinds
of shrimp
and ways
to prepare shrimp.
You know
what I'm talking
about.
Barbecue shrimp,
popcorn shrimp,
shrimp stir fry,
and he goes on
and on and on
for like a minute.
There are all kinds
of prayers
and ways to pray.
Prayers of adoration
where we adore
our God.
Prayers of thanksgiving.
We give thanks.
Prayers of lament
where we pour out
our hearts.
That can get kind of
messy and uncomfortable.
But we're being
honest with God.
Prayers of confession.
Prayers of petition.
Prayers of supplication.
Then there are
corporate prayers.
There are small group prayers.
There are family prayers.
Private prayers.
There are standing up prayers.
There are sitting down prayers.
There are kneeling prayers.
There are hands raised prayers.
There are hands folded prayers.
There are closed eye prayers.
And then there's the open eye prayer.
Do you know what I'm talking about?
There are shouted prayers.
And there are sung prayers.
There are whispered prayers.
And of course,
there are the unspoken prayers.
What all these prayers have in common
is communicating one's soul's dependence
on God.
If you're born again,
you're going to want to pray.
The Spirit of God in you
is compelling you to pray.
Cry out,
Abba, Father.
Romans chapter 8.
There are different kinds of prayers
for different seasons of life
and different states of souls.
That's what makes the Psalms
so sweet to Christians.
The Psalms are a collection of prayers.
A variety of prayers.
All aimed at God.
So what we see here
in Ephesians 6 is this.
Praying at all times in the Spirit
with all prayer
and supplication.
To that end,
keep the Lord with all perseverance
making supplication.
So we're to pray
all kinds of prayers,
but there's one kind of prayer
Paul kind of narrows in on.
And that's that word supplication.
Do you guys use the word supplication
every day?
What is this supplication?
Well, the key word in it,
it's the word supply.
See the words supply and supplication?
And so when we make supplication
for one another,
we're asking God to supply a need.
We're asking God to meet a need.
To bring comfort or courage or clarity.
And so there are many different kinds of prayers
and many different ways to pray,
but what we're being exhorted to here
is to make supplication for one another.
To make supplication for yourself,
to make supplication for others.
To ask God to meet needs.
I want to help you this morning
in a way to make supplication
for yourself and others.
So I want to show you a way to pray
that combines both praying
and reading your Bible.
And in order to do that,
I need you to turn to Psalm 86.
So would you turn there please?
What I'm about to show you is,
the fancy name is
Prayerful Meditation of Scripture.
I call it
making David's prayer my own.
So if you turn to Psalm 86,
I want to show you a way
to make supplication for yourself
that combines both reading your Bible
and praying.
And so what we'll essentially do is,
we'll swing the sword of the Spirit
by praying in the Spirit.
Is everybody in Psalm 86?
There's the title,
Great is Your Steadfast Love.
And then it says,
A Prayer of David.
Do you see that?
Here's what you need to do in your mind.
You need to cross out David
and put in your name.
So what we're going to do here
is make a prayer of David
into a prayer of Mike
or a prayer of Ginny
or a prayer of Katie
or a prayer of Jasmine or Matt.
So that's what we're going to do here.
Another way to think about it is this.
Think about this prayer
as a jacket that David is wearing.
And what we're going to do
is we're going to take off
this jacket of Psalm 86
off David
and we're going to put
our own body into it.
We're going to make it our own.
This is going to become ours.
And so I'm just going to show you
a way to do this
in order to equip you
and serve you
and how to make supplication
for yourself.
You ready?
Here's all it is.
You start reading.
Incline your ear, O Lord,
and answer me
for I am poor and needy.
And then you pray.
God, I am poor and needy.
I can't get through today.
I'm dependent on you.
Apart from you,
I can do nothing.
You have the strength
that I need to do.
Without you,
I'm vulnerable.
Without you,
I'm unable.
I'm limited.
I'm a creature.
I need your help.
It goes on to say,
preserve my life
for I'm godly,
savior, servant,
who trusts in you.
You are my God.
There's the helmet
of salvation.
You are my God.
I belong to you.
I'm yours.
Verse 4,
gladden the soul
of your servant
for to you, O Lord,
do I lift up my soul.
O God,
make my soul happy today.
And you know
where I find happiness?
I find my happiness
in Christ
that he's imputed
his righteousness to me.
Praise be to God.
Verse 8,
there is none like you
among the gods, O Lord,
nor are there any works
like yours.
Jesus,
it's all about you.
You alone are God.
And so here we are.
Within one minute,
we have
offered ourselves
to the Lord,
made supplication
for ourselves,
using Scripture,
prayers that are already
in our Bibles.
It's a very satisfying,
helpful way
to make supplication
for yourself.
And then making supplication
for others.
In the book of Ephesians alone,
in Ephesians chapter 1,
in Ephesians chapter 3,
there are prayers
Paul prays
for this Ephesian church.
And then in Colossians chapter 1,
there's another prayer.
He prays
for the Colossian church.
And you know
what he's praying for?
He prays for strength
for these churches.
And so when it comes
to praying for one another,
let's pray that God
would strengthen us
with his might.
We can pray these prayers.
I'm guessing some of it,
I've prayed Ephesians 3
for many of you,
that God would,
by his Spirit,
strengthen your inner man,
that Christ would dwell
in your heart
by faith,
that you would know
the love of God
in Christ Jesus
and you would be filled
with the fullness of God.
What a joy it is
to pray that to each other.
So let me ask you a question.
Are you praying
all kinds of prayers?
Are you making supplication
for yourself and others?
Are you swinging
the sword of the Spirit
by praying in the Spirit?
Fourth point,
we are to pray
with all perseverance.
We are to pray
with all perseverance.
We read this in verse 18.
Praying at all times
in the Spirit
with all prayer
and supplication,
to that end,
keep alert
with all perseverance.
To that end,
praying,
making supplication.
To that end,
persevere.
Stay alert.
That word,
those words,
keep alert,
mean to be watchful.
In Mark 14,
it's very interesting.
This is the same thing
Jesus tells His disciples
in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Stay awake.
Keep alert.
Pray that you might not
be led into temptation.
The Spirit's willing,
but the flesh is weak.
Stay awake.
Keep alert.
Be watchful.
I have this thing,
I call it
PASTAR.
P-A-S-T-A-R.
It's like radar.
It's,
you become aware
of something.
There's a blip
that comes up
and you're like,
okay,
I need to pray for that.
I need to be aware
of that.
I need to
maybe bring God's Word
to bear on that
for someone.
but it's a watchfulness
and PASTAR
is not limited
to PASTAR's.
If you're a Christian,
you've got PASTAR.
Watchfulness.
Being aware of others.
Knowing other people's needs.
Being alert
against the schemes
of the devil.
But what we're told here
is that we're to keep alert
with all perseverance.
It's telling us
how we are to
stay awake.
How we are to
keep alert.
Persevering prayer
protects us
from falling prey
to the devil.
Persevering prayer
protects us
from falling prey
to the devil.
So we pray aware
and we persevere
in our praying.
It does take effort.
It does take concentration.
It does take
ongoing dependence.
But here's the effect.
God uses it
to build us.
Help us to trust Him.
So we persevere
in our praying
for each other.
When someone,
a couple's going
through a hard spot
in their marriage,
we persevere
in praying for them.
Pray it all the way through.
We pray
in a persevering way
for people
with hardened hearts.
We pray it
all the way through.
We pray.
We ask.
I'm going
for provisions
over and over
and over again.
We persevere.
When I was in high school,
I went on a short-term
mission trip
to the Dominican Republic.
And it turns out
when we got there,
I didn't know this
until I got there.
And it was the thing
that stuck.
There was a man
who had been praying
for 10 years
that God would send
a team
to help build
an orphanage
because there was
a need to care
for orphans
in Santa Domingo.
And lo and behold,
here I am,
a junior in high school.
I show up
and I meet this man
who's been praying,
persevering in his prayers
for 10 years.
Nelson Medina.
It struck me.
Persevering.
What persevering prayers
can reveal
is our motives.
It can show us
why we're really praying.
They can purify.
What persevering prayer
also produces
is unity.
When we're able
to say to one another,
brother,
I'm praying for you.
I'm in it with you.
I'm praying daily
for you regarding this.
Over two years,
brother,
I'm praying for you.
Stay in time, brother.
I'm praying.
Are you praying?
Are you watchful
in your prayers?
Are you persevering
in your prayers?
The last thing,
last point is
we are to pray
for all the saints.
We must pray
for each other.
We see that
at the end of verse 18,
making supplication
for all the saints.
Now, I don't know
about you
what your experience is,
but there can be
a lack of meaningful prayer
when we gather together,
especially in our small groups.
And this lack
is not a lack
of willingness
to pray for each other.
It's a lack of willingness
to share our lives
with each other.
Not wanting to be
fully honest.
Not willing to
bring struggles.
Have you ever been
in a small group
when the prayer,
time to pray at the end,
leader asks me,
anybody have any prayer requests?
And there's someone
who says,
everybody,
would you pray?
Would you pray
for my great aunt?
She's got just horrific breath,
and it's just dividing
the family.
It's chewing us up.
Pray, move in her heart
that she would brush her teeth.
Lord, please!
So you're hearing that,
and it doesn't sit.
It's dissatisfying.
Because everybody
in the room knows
that there are things
that this person's
dealing with
that are more significant
and closer to home
than what they're sharing.
We can be unwilling
to share.
And there is a group
of people ready
and eager to pray.
We've been all
in that situation,
haven't we?
Having something
on our hearts to share,
but reluctant,
embarrassed,
maybe too prideful.
We need to humble ourselves
in order to effectively
pray for each other.
In order to know
each other well,
we've got to be willing
to open our lives up
to one another.
God will unite us
as we humble ourselves
and pray meaningfully
for one another.
So when we talk about
praying for all the saints,
there's a step
where we need to be
willing to be prayed for.
We need to entrust ourselves
to one another
and to God.
We've been sending out
a weekly prayer update
as a church,
usually on Tuesdays,
and the purpose of it
is really to be praying
for one another,
to build each other up,
to make supplication
for one another,
to know what's going on
in each other's lives.
It's just a little way
to do that.
I'm encouraging you
to take advantage of it.
In verses 19 and 20,
Paul specifically asks
for prayer
and it's very instructive.
What's most interesting
is what he asks for.
And so let me just say this.
Do you remember
Paul is writing in prison,
house arrest,
he's writing in Rome,
he's literally chained
to a Roman soldier.
That's verse 20
while you read
an ambassador in chains.
And it's very interesting
what he requests.
He doesn't ask for comfort.
He asks for boldness.
Do you know
what he was waiting for?
He was waiting
to go before Caesar
to give reason
for the hope
that was in him.
And so he prays,
he asks the Ephesians,
he does this with Colossians,
he does it across
all of his letters
to ask people to pray
that he would have boldness
to proclaim
to the powers that be
that Christ is risen
and that Christ is reigning
and that Christ is calling
all to him in repentance.
He prays for boldness
because he's mission-minded.
He asks for boldness
because he's got
a spiritual wartime mentality.
If the apostle
is willing to ask
for prayer,
we must too.
So are we wise enough
to know our own need
for God's strength?
Are we humble enough
to ask our friends
to pray for us?
To pray for boldness?
So here are two questions.
Friends,
when was the last time
you asked another Christian
to pray for something
that was near to your heart?
In other words,
when was the last time
you asked someone
to pray for something
that was risky for you?
When was the last time
you asked another Christian
to pray for boldness
for you?
To witness?
Paul is modeling
something for us here.
Not only does he
models praying
for the saints,
Ephesians 1,
Ephesians 3,
he's modeling
asking for prayer
from the saints
to be strengthened,
to stand firm.
I'd like to ask you all
on behalf of Samir and Daniel,
would you be praying for us?
We're not apostles,
we're just elders.
Would you pray for us?
That we be bold,
wise,
gracious,
focused,
mission-minded.
In conclusion,
we're to pray
with all of our heart,
we're to pray all the time,
we're to pray all kinds
of prayers,
specifically supplication,
we're to pray
with perseverance
all the way through,
we're to pray
for all the saints,
we're to ask for prayer.
But I want to close
by pointing you
to Ephesians 3,
verses 19-20.
Actually, 20.
Paul just prayed
for the Ephesians,
and he says this,
Now to him who is able
to do far more abundantly
than all that we ask
or think,
according to the power
at work within us,
to him be the glory
in the church
and in Christ Jesus
throughout all generations
forever and ever.
Our God is able
our God is mighty.
Our God is powerful.
And so we stand firm
against the schemes
of the devil
by praying together.
We must pray.
And it's united
that we stand.
Let me pray for that.
God in heaven,
would you help us
to pray?
Would you help us
to express our dependence
on you
and our interdependence
with each other
by praying more and more?
God, I pray
that you'd give us courage
in opening our lives
with one another,
that we would be willing
to entrust ourselves
in such a way
that we would be praying
more and more meaningfully
for one another.
God, we know
that the enemy of our souls
does not want us praying,
does not want us
depending on you.
So God,
would you give us
a heart
to pray more and more
for the name of Jesus?
Amen.