If you have your Bibles, I want you to turn to Ephesians chapter 6.
Ephesians chapter 6, people that know what they're doing in the kitchen
have special touches that just set off a dish and make it right.
Somebody confessed to me between the worship hours
that today they were going home and serving an experiment with a stow-bought cake.
Wow. I said, that's the stuff you do at home.
Don't bring that stuff to church. You bring the good stuff to us.
Sometimes folks do stuff like that and they don't tell you what they do.
It's a secret. They don't want you to know how good, how they got what they got.
The secret formula for Coca-Cola is 130 years old
and it sits in a vault at the Coca-Cola Museum in Atlanta.
KFC's original recipe is a secret.
11 herbs and spices.
And I thought Heinz 57 had 57 ingredients,
but I found out that J.H. Heinz' favorite number is 5
and his wife's favorite number is 7.
And that's where they came up with the name.
So I know Dawn's grandmother's secret recipe was bacon grease.
And she served bacon grease with about anything.
And I'm convinced that you could pour bacon grease on something in the yard and eat it
and it would be good.
I haven't tried that and I encourage you not to try that,
but I'm just saying.
It's the secret sauce that makes one dish stand out from another.
Now I realize it is Christmas time and we're all ready,
but I got to finish what I start.
And so today I want to conclude a series on the real war.
Because folks, we're in a war that we can't see.
We see the evidence of it.
A war that is filled with battles that we need to win.
And our goal is to win every daily battle.
That's the goal, okay?
Now I will tell you that we were born in sin
and we're sinners by our own commission.
So we will not win every battle, okay?
You will fail.
But our effort is to win every daily battle.
At least as many as we possibly can.
And to be clear, the war has been won, thank God.
Christ won the war on the cross,
but now we're fighting skirmishes that we don't need to be fighting.
And we lose too many battles.
We've been talking about spiritually defending ourselves
and we talked about the offensive weapon being the word of God.
Now, what I want you to know today
is what will really set you off for victory.
It's what I call the secret sauce.
For context, I want to read Ephesians chapter 6,
beginning in verse 16, where it says this.
In all circumstances, take up the shield of faith
with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one
and take the helmet of salvation
and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.
Our key passage today,
praying at all times 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.
The secret sauce of spiritual victory
is consistent, heartfelt, dedicated,
life-surrendering prayer.
Like a secret sauce,
you need to make sure that prayer is part of your processes.
Now, how do we do that?
Well, this passage tells us how to do that.
First, it tells us to pray on all occasions.
When do we pray?
Do we pray in the morning?
Or do we pray in the evening?
Yes.
Both.
When we think we need to pray,
we pray.
When we don't think we need to pray,
we pray.
When we want to pray and feel like praying,
we pray.
When we don't want to pray
and don't feel like praying,
we pray.
When we feel strong in prayer,
we pray.
When we feel weak in prayer,
we pray.
Verse 18 says,
Praying at all times in the Spirit
with all prayer.
All prayer means that's the kind of prayer
you pray on your knees.
It's also the kind of prayer
you pray driving down the road.
It's the kind of prayer you pray
with your hands folded in front of you.
It's the kind of prayer that you pray
with your hands up in the air.
And I discourage you from doing
either one of those
when you're driving and praying.
Okay?
It's about praying publicly.
It's about praying privately.
It's about praying with loud cries.
It's about praying with silent whispers.
Pray prayers of praise
because of who he is.
Pray prayers of thanksgiving
because of what he's done.
Pray prayers of confession
because of what we've done.
Pray prayers of petition
for what we want him to do.
Pray prayers of intercession
for what you want,
who you want him to do it through.
and with.
We're to pray at all times.
It is to be an ongoing conversation.
1 Thessalonians 5, 17 says,
Pray without ceasing.
Now, that means
when a burdensome thought
crosses your mind,
give that to God.
When a hateful thought
crosses your mind,
give that to God.
When an impure thought
crosses your mind,
give that to God.
When an inappropriate thought
crosses your mind,
give that to God.
When a negative thought
crosses your mind,
give that to God.
2 Corinthians 10, verse 5,
says take every thought captive
to obey Christ.
I compared it a couple weeks ago
to playing the arcade game
Whack-A-Mole.
When them things popped up,
you hit them with a hammer.
When another one popped up,
you hit it with a hammer.
And the reality is
in our life,
we need to be whacking the moles
that come up with prayer.
When thoughts cross our mind
that don't need to cross our mind,
we take those thoughts to God.
We catch them.
We take them captive
to obey Christ.
When good things come,
give God praise.
When bad things come,
give that over to God.
Trust Him with it.
Don't wait until the evening
when that time comes.
Don't wait until the morning
when that time comes.
Don't wait until you get still.
There's great value
and very biblical value.
And the men that journey with me
on Tuesday mornings know
we've been over this again
and again and again.
There is a need in your life
to have a still time
with the Lord,
quietly,
alone,
with His Word in your lap
and seeking His face in prayer.
There is desperate need of that
in all of our lives.
It needs to be a habit,
a practice
that we do every day
that God allows us to.
But we also address the Lord
in an ongoing fashion.
I get confused these days
between who's crazy in the world
and who's got an earbud in.
When I'm in the store
and somebody's having
a full-blown conversation
with nobody
and I don't know
that they got something
in their ear
and they're talking to somebody
or maybe they're just
talking to themselves,
you know.
I want to help,
but it don't seem appropriate,
you know.
Whether verbal or not,
that's the kind of ongoing prayer
that we ought to have
with the Lord.
When things come up,
give them over to God.
I mean, prayer is about
taking time to be still
and alone and before the Lord.
However, it's also about
walking with Him
and talking with Him.
That's what praying
in the Spirit is all about.
Part of what praying
in the Spirit is all about.
Now, how do we do that?
Well,
the way it works is
we need to be filled
with the Holy Spirit.
Now, let me explain
something to you.
As a child of God,
if you surrender your life
to the Lord Jesus Christ,
you receive all the Holy Spirit
you're ever going to get.
Okay?
The Holy Spirit
in several things happen
when we're saved
and one of them is
the Holy Spirit
indwells us.
Okay?
So we have the Holy Spirit
in our lives.
But there are times
when we can be filled
with the Holy Spirit.
Okay?
It's kind of like a balloon
for lack of a better.
There's not a good illustration.
I'll promise you.
But it's kind of like a balloon.
It can be there,
but it can be deflated
or it can be inflated.
There's times when we walk
with the Lord faithfully,
obediently,
taking matters
that are not obedient
and laying them before Him
and asking Him to forgive us
and then walking away from Him
that He fills us
with His Holy Spirit.
We already got the Holy Spirit,
but we get filled.
Our balloon gets inflated,
if you will.
We're where we need to be.
I make it a practice
not to run out of gas
in my vehicle.
Okay?
Just don't do that.
I'm not going to do
the push of shame.
I'm not going to do it.
Okay?
But at the same time,
it's not always full.
And the reality is
that we always have
the Holy Spirit,
but we're not always
filled with the Holy Spirit.
Our lives don't reflect that.
And I wish
that by your attendance
this morning
that you'd just be
fully inflated
and leave here
filled with the Holy Spirit.
But the reality is
that's not what it's based on.
It's not based on
your appearance here.
It's not based on
your presence here.
It's not based on being
excited about the music.
It's not based on
enjoying the sermon.
All of those things
can play into it,
but the reality is
it's got to do
with your personal
relationship with Christ.
Where are you at
with the matters
that He's laid before you
that you know
you need to deal with?
What have you done
with that?
And when you walk
away from that,
God blesses such as that
and He'll fill you
with the Holy Spirit
of God.
You'll be filled.
The Holy Spirit
will take over your life.
You'll make good decisions
because you're not
leaning on yourself.
You're leaning on
the Holy Spirit
of God to do it.
You'll live more godly.
And that kind of
relationship,
you don't fall out
of relationship
with the Lord
when you're not
walking with Him
if you're a child
of God.
But you're not
filled with the Holy Spirit.
You're not making
good decisions.
You're not doing it right.
And so the challenge
for us is to keep that,
to be filled
with the Holy Spirit
and we're filled
with the Holy Spirit
when we take
God's Word in
and when we respond
obediently to it.
There's not a ritual
we can do with that.
It's a life.
We live for that.
And God loves us
regardless of our actions
but He does greater things.
Get this now.
He does greater things
in those
who are filled
with the Holy Spirit
of God.
He does greater things
in those
that are walking
obediently to God
that are conversing
with the Lord
about matters
that they need
to deal with
and are walking
away from the things
that become a hindrance
to them.
God blesses
such as that.
James 5, 16 says
the prayer
of a righteous person
has great power
as it's working.
But it does make
a difference
in what kind of life
we're living.
It does make a difference
if we're trying
to be independent
or we're being
dependent upon Him.
I want you to listen
to what happens
when we pray
in the Spirit.
Romans 8, 26, and 27
says this.
Likewise, the Spirit
helps us
in our weakness
for we don't know
what to pray for
as we ought.
You ever been there?
When you're in a situation
and you need to pray
about it
but you don't know
how to pray?
Maybe I'm the only one.
But for we don't know
what we ought to pray
for as we ought
but the Spirit
Himself intercedes
for us
with groanings
too deep
for words
and He who
searches hearts
knows what's
in the mind
of the Spirit
because the Spirit
intercedes for the saints
according to the will
of God.
Now for that to happen
we have to pray
in the Spirit.
That means not
pray selfishly,
not pray about
what I want
but pray about
what God wants
because prayer
is not about
trying to get
my will into heaven.
Prayer is about
getting God's will
into my life
and on earth
and God moves
in such prayers
as that.
He'll move
in the prayer.
He'll move
in the prayer.
The one that's
doing the praying.
So we pray
on all occasions.
The second thing
is we pray
with every effort.
He says keep alert
with all perseverance.
Now I want you
to think about something.
I want to ask you
something.
If someone's trying
to break into your home
and you are
at home
and you know
he's trying to do it
when do you
give up
and open the door
and let him in
to do whatever
he wants to do?
Well I don't.
Okay?
I don't.
I warn him.
I call the law
and then I introduce
him to my little friend.
Okay?
However,
I'm not going
to stand by
and let somebody
endanger my family.
It's not
going to happen.
And I want to
advise you
something.
We're in a war
and someone
is pursuing
your family
and you better
be on watch.
And I'm telling you
don't get weary.
Fight,
defend,
do it on your knees.
When Jesus
was praying
in the garden
right before
his arrest
he told his disciples
to watch and pray.
And you know
what they did?
They fell asleep
is what they did.
And in Matthew 26
verse 40 through 41
he says this.
And he came
to his disciples
and found them
sleeping and he said
to Peter.
And notice he's
talking to Peter.
Now why did he talk
to Peter about this?
Because they were
all sleeping apparently.
He says that
to Peter because
he knows Peter's
about to face
a huge temptation
that night.
The temptation
to protect himself
by denying Christ
and he falls to it
again and again
and again.
But he also
speaks to Peter
because he knows
that God's
going to use
Peter in a mighty way.
If you don't believe it
read the book
of Acts this afternoon.
Okay?
God's going to use
Peter in a mighty way
and Jesus knows that
so he speaks
specifically to Peter.
It relates to all of them
but he says
so could you not
watch with me
one hour?
Watch and pray
that you may not
enter into temptation.
The spirit indeed
is willing
but the flesh is weak.
Now when he's saying
watch there
he means prayerfully
prayerfully
be on your guard.
Paul says
to pray
with perseverance
steadfastness
don't let up.
Jesus left them
went back to pray.
Do you know
what they did
in the garden?
They went back
to sleep.
They went back
to sleep
their eyes were heavy
it was the middle
of the night
give them a break
but they went back
to sleep.
Listen
we may grow weary
but we can't
stop praying
folks.
Things may get tough
but we can't
stop praying.
Jesus tells a story
in Luke chapter 18
of a widow
begging a wicked judge
for justice
against her adversary
and he would not
respond.
And so the woman
just kept on
and finally
the judge
gave in
because of
her persistence
and Jesus
said
if a judge
that does not
fear God
or respect people
will change
his mind
and relent
don't you think
a loving father
will?
And then he
asked
when I return
will I find
such faith?
Now people
have a hard time
with Luke 18
because
they say
is he saying
that Father God
is like the wicked judge
that wouldn't
listen.
No that's not
what he's saying.
He's saying
if a godless man
will finally
respond to somebody
who pursues
how much more
will a loving father
do that?
Take your matters
to the Lord.
Take them in prayer.
Leave them with him.
Luke 18
1 says
that he told
that story
listen
so they would
continue to pray
and not lose heart.
That was the point
of telling that story.
In Luke chapter 11
he tells of a man
banging on a friend's door
in the middle of the night
wanting bread
for his family
and the man
didn't want to get up.
You know why?
Because they were
probably all
in the same bed
probably in some
big pallet
in that place
and he probably
had a baby
because if anybody
has a baby
they don't want
to get up in the night.
Don't mess with a baby.
I don't know
what his family
structure was
I'm just telling you
the man didn't
want to get up.
He had locked
the place down.
He had secured it.
He had everybody
bedded down.
He didn't want
to get up
and the dude
just kept knocking.
Why?
Because his family
was starving.
He wasn't asking
for a cup of sugar
he was asking
for bread
and the man
because he kept knocking
the man that was
in the bed
got up
and I want you
to listen to what
Jesus said
when he followed
up that story
you're familiar
with this probably
but I want you
to know the context
in which he says it.
It's in Luke 11
9 and 10
it says this
and I tell you
ask and it will
be given to you
seek and you'll find
knock and it will
be opened to you
for anyone who
asks receives
and the one
who seeks finds
and the one
who knocks
it will be opened.
We are in desperate
need to keep
spiritual watch
over our lives
over our loved
one's lives
and to pray
persistently
that God would
work and move
in our lives.
I don't understand
everything about
the economy of God
I trust it by faith
but I just have
to ask this question
what if we're
one prayer short
of the persistence
that God was seeking
and all I got
to say about that
is let's not be
let's not be
one prayer short
so pray with
every effort
also pray for
others
pray for others
the best way
to keep from
getting self-absorbed
about your own
pain and your own
worry is to
prioritize the
praying for others
because God blesses
intercessory prayer
intercessory prayers
are those prayers
that we pray for
other people
and intercede
on their behalf
and such prayer
puts us second
and puts the one
that we're praying
for first
when we take on
that concern
to the right place
to the throne
of God
and I'll just tell you
God blesses such as that
and if
we spend so much
time praying
for other people
that we run
out of time
and don't get
to our own needs
God's not
going to neglect
us
because we were
busy praying
for somebody else
I promise you
he'll provide
the devil would
much rather you
be concerned
about yourselves
he wants us
to want our way
he wants us
to look
out for ourselves
instead of prioritizing
the will of God
he wants us
to ask
well what's
in this for me
what do I get
out of this
nothing about
an attitude
like that
is godly
and it shows
up quickly
and the devil
uses those
attitudes
to divide
families
pray for
families
pray for
your family
pray for
other people's
families
families are
under attack
folks
families are
attacking each
other and they're
being attacked
all at the same
time
pray for
families
pray for
the church
I mean do you
think the devil
likes when a church
grows
do you think the
devil likes when we
reach people for
Christ
do you think he
likes when people
grow in the
Lord
do you think he
likes when we
preach on satanic
attack
we've poked a
bear folks
pray for the
church
Satan would
love for
selfishness to
come in the
way
selfishness takes
our mind off
what God wants
to do through
us and puts
our mind on
what's in it
for me and
God's plan is
bigger than me
and it's bigger
than you it's
bigger than all
of us it's
God's plan we
just get to be a
part of it we
just get to join
in so let's look
to him and pray
for the church and
and pray for this
nation
God's not done
with America I'm
convinced God's not
done with America
Jesus still saves
folks and pray
that God would
bring revival and
renewal to our
country and on
that note I want
you to notice how
Paul tells them to
pray he didn't ask
for them to pray for
his well-being he
didn't ask for them
to pray for his
ease he didn't ask
for him them to pray
for his comfort he
didn't ask for them
to pray that he'd
have his way no no
he asked in verse
19 that words may be
given to me in
opening my mouth
boldly to proclaim
the mystery of the
gospel so lastly
pray concerning the
gospel pray concerning
the gospel we are
quick to pray for
Christians to get
well man we spend a
lot of time trying to
keep Christians out of
heaven you know and
there's nothing wrong
with that there's
nothing wrong with
that but we spend a
lot of time praying
that Christians will
get well that they
won't hurt and that
they'll be healed and
there's nothing wrong
with that but I want
you to notice how
centered the message
that Paul gives them
is message of the
gospel Paul says pray
for boldness and he
describes it as the
mystery pray for boldness
and sharing the
mystery now what is the
mystery well this word
when it is used in the
New Testament it is
defined as either a
mystery or a secret and
that's two different
words in our language but
it's the same kind of word
in the Greek and it's
talking about the life
changing message of the
gospel of Jesus Christ
being a mystery or a
secret is it a secret no
however it's a mystery
because you don't
understand it until you
have it
years ago my family drove
out west I had seen
pictures of the Grand
Canyon all my life we had a
set of encyclopedias at the
house we didn't have
world book that was for
rich folks but we had
one and and when I when I
look in there I could see
those black and white
pictures of the Grand
Canyon I had seen
pictures of it I knew it
was big I knew something
about Paul Bunyan's axe and
all that stuff but I had
never been there before and
when I stood on the south
rim of the Grand Canyon and
looked across that thing
those pictures didn't
didn't measure up
wasn't a secret I knew where
it was but it was a mystery
because I had never seen
anything like that from a
picture it was different when
I experienced it in a
similar way the power of the
gospel is not known until it's
experienced now understand we
have a responsibility to share
the gospel with folks and
they're not going to
understand it they may submit
to it they may give their
heart and life to the Lord
Jesus but they're not even
going to know what they're
getting when they do it until
they have it
and Paul says we pray that I'll
have boldness to to share that
because it's a mystery that's hard
to fathom
Alejandro is a Peruvian
he was on mission to God
years ago this church took a
mission trip to Peru and led
Alejandro to the Lord and
Alejandro got on fire for the
Lord and he served the Lord
faithfully and when you give to
First Baptist Church there's a
line besides the Lottie Moon and
side squad program besides that
there's another line a
significant line in our budget
that's international missions
there's another one called North
American missions anything we
don't spend in those lines goes
toward Lottie Moon Christmas
offering but but those lines are
set up for us to partner with
missionaries on the field with
ministries on the field and to
subsidize those who go from our
church on mission trips over
there short-term mission trips
that's what it's set up for
Alejandro is supported through that
budget line because of his
faithfulness and he
when we go over there he
translates for us and
when we're not there he boats up
into the jungles to reach tribal
people and recently he baptized 18
people there
one man that was baptized was
formerly
a shaman that is that he was a
wizard of sorts that practiced
rituals of witchcraft he had
always challenged those that tried
to share the gospel around him
however one day someone gave him a
gospel track in his own dialect he
had never seen the gospel in his own
language customized to his dialect and
the simplicity and the clarity of the
gospel just jarred him it was like a
mystery reveal he tried to challenge
the man but the man just kept giving him
biblical answers and the shaman asked
him he said why don't you run away from me like
everyone else does and the witness said it's the
holy spirit who convicts sin it's not man man that does that and he said I will
continue to pray for you and in due time you will listen and you will obey and two weeks
later the shaman came back got saved and he was baptized among those with Alejandro
that my friend is the power of the gospel
and it's through the gospel that God unites all people from every tribe every people and every
language and it's a mystery how all of the things that we have done wrong can be put upon Christ and
taken off of us for all of eternity but that's part of the gospel
when Paul was writing this to the church of Ephesus he was about to face the Romans
and he knew that was coming
and the Romans thought that Christianity was just a sect of the Jews and Paul was going to boldly go
and proclaim that Christ is where our hope is
and it is only in Christ alone
and so he concludes this by saying I want you to pray
that I'll speak boldly and that God will give me the words
to say
my friend that's a good prayer to pray every time the words preached
because God works
in and through such prayers
whatever we try to do for the kingdom
we can't make it happen
we can't conjure that up
only God can do that
and we must rely upon him
and how we rely upon him is through prayer
faithful
selfless
gospel driven prayer
Adrian Rogers said this
Satan can't keep God
from answering our prayers
but he will keep us from asking
and I'll just tell you friend
a prayerless Christian
is a powerless
Christian
with every head bowed and every eye closed
I want to ask you this morning
if you've ever surrendered your life to the Lord Jesus Christ
you say well I don't know about all that
well we'd love to guide you in that
it is a mystery
you'll be amazed
when you meet the Lord Jesus personally
but if you've never done that
we're going to stand and we're going to sing in just a moment
and I want you to obey God
maybe everybody around you thinks you have
but you've never done it
quit worrying about what everybody else thinks
and make it right with the Lord
maybe you've done that privately
you've never done that publicly
and you want to come and acknowledge that
biblically through baptism
you come
we won't baptize you this morning
but we'll line it up
and set it up
you come
and acknowledge that publicly
maybe God's drawing you to this church
God's doing a move at First Baptist
I'm thankful for that
and so
God's leading you here
I encourage you to come
we guide you in that process
or maybe you just got stuff
you need to deal with
and you can deal with that
when we stand where you are
or you can deal with this altar
or
this pastor would love to pray with you
if you'd like for me to
I don't know what God's doing in your heart
but you'll never be satisfied
unless you follow it
so just be obedient
Heavenly Father I love you
and I thank you Lord
for your love for us
and I ask right now
that you'll work
and you'll move in our midst
as only you can
Lord Jesus
in Jesus name
Amen