Verse of the Day
“Pray in the Spirit at all times. Pray with all kinds of prayers, and ask for everything you need. To do this you must always be ready. Never give up. Always pray for all of God’s people.” — Ephesians 6:18 ERV
Lesson of the Day
Not everyone claims the lance of prayer to be a part of God’s armor, but prayer is essential in this fight. The sword of the Spirit is for close combat, but the lance of prayer lets you hit the enemy before he even gets close. Jesus did that in the garden and on the cross. He was praying and surrendering to the Father even while the battle was happening.
Jesus used His lance of prayer whether He called it that or not. Prayer is a powerful weapon to use before coming face to face with the enemy and the soldier’s lance was used in a similar manner.
Soldiers used their lance to hurl at an enemy from a distance. Our lance of prayer is a lot like that, if used effectively. The scripture says, “Pray in the Spirit at all times. Pray with all kinds of prayers, and ask for everything you need.” Praying in the Spirit is being in tune with God. Remember all of the vital things we need to do in order to surrender to the Spirit. Scripture also says we must always be ready and never give up. That’s why we study the Bible and pray every day.
Now, as the scripture also alludes to, there are different types of prayers. The main ones with titles are adoration, thanksgiving, confession, supplication, intercession, prayer of faith, prayer of agreement, and praying in the Spirit. Supplication is the one people mix up with intercession — supplication is asking for your own needs, intercession is standing in the gap for someone else, prayer of faith is the James 5 kind, the one for healing, and prayer of agreement is the “where two or three agree” prayer. We will focus on a few different types of prayers in the days to come.
Encouragement
Prayer is so vital to our Christian walk. Prayer changes things. It brings us face to face with God through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. We must use it as a weapon. In my opinion, it’s the second greatest gift that Jesus gave us. Salvation crushed the devil’s head and prayer is like a road block to protect us from the present and from the future. I would even go as far to say that prayer gives us superpowers in a sense. There will be times when you pray for something to happen and it does. There will be times when you pray for something not to happen and it doesn’t. I’m not saying that we can fly and pick up buildings, but I am saying that through prayer you will feel like you’re floating on a cloud and you will have the strength to get through each and every storm.
Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, we are honored to have this opportunity to speak with You. You are an amazing God and You do amazing things for us. Thank You for all that You do. May You bless each of us and guide us through our prayers. Teach us how to pray with power. Give us the power of the Holy Spirit as we fight this war with You. Forgive us for anything that we may have done to disappoint You Lord. Show us our ways and give us clean hearts so that we can please You. In Jesus Christ’s name we pray amen.