Oakwood Community Church

“Prayer is the greatest untapped resource in the Christian’s arsenal against the enemy.”
Timothy Keller - Prayer

“We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12

1. Fight for God by praying at all times.

“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,”
Ephesians 6:18

1. Fight for God by praying at all times.

“Pray without ceasing.”
I Thessalonians 5:17

“To obey this exhortation means that, when we are tempted, we hold the temptation before God and ask for His help. When we experience something good and beautiful, we immediately thank the Lord for it.
When we see evil around us, we pray that God will make it right and be willing to be used of Him to that end. When we meet someone who does not know Christ, we pray for God to draw that person to Himself and to use us to be a faithful witness. When we encounter trouble, we turn to God as our Deliverer. In other words, our life becomes a continually ascending prayer, a perpetual communing with our heavenly Father.”
John MacArthur - his commentary on Ephesians

1. Fight for God by praying at all times.

“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord...” Acts 3:19

1. Fight for God by praying at all times.

“As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.” Nehemiah 1:4

1. Fight for God by praying at all times.

“Then the king said to me, ‘What are you requesting?’ So I prayed to the God of heaven.” Nehemiah 2:4

1. Fight for God by praying at all times.

“The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.” Proverbs 21:1

2. Fight for God by praying in the Spirit.

“Praying at all times in the Spirit...” Eph. 6:18

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,” Jude 1:20

Praying in the Spirit is to pray in dependence on the Spirit, in accordance with God’s Word.

Praying in the Spirit

1. I cannot pray in the Spirit if I have unconfessed sin in my life.

“If I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear.”
Psalm 66:18 (NASB)

Praying in the Spirit

2. Praying in the Spirit is to pray according to God’s will as revealed in His Word.

“...the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” Ephesians 6:17

Psalm 37:4
“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you His desires.

The more you pray in the Spirit, the more you are beholding the glory of the Lord. the more you are beholding the glory of the Lord, the more He is making His desires your desires!

3. Fight for God by praying alertly with all perseverance.

“...To that end, keep alert with all perseverance,” Eph. 6:18

3. Fight for God by praying alertly with all perseverance.

“Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Matthew 26:41

There can be no laziness or sluggishness in the fight against temptation.

“The devil ... departed from him until an opportune time.”
Luke 4:13

3. Fight for God by praying alertly with all perseverance.

“Jesus told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.”
Luke 18:1

3. Fight for God by praying alertly with all perseverance.

“Will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night?”
Luke 18:7

3. Fight for God by praying alertly with all perseverance.

“Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” Genesis 32:26