Praying Always
A Sermon on Ephesians 6:18
Scripture
18Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Sermon Description
What role does prayer play in spiritual warfare? In this conclusion of his sermons on spiritual depression, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones declares the prominent role prayer must have in a Christian’s life. In this sermon on Ephesians 6:18 titled “Praying Always,” he expounds upon the words of the apostle Paul, who told the church in Ephesus to pray at all times with all prayer and supplication. Dr. Lloyd-Jones tells why Christians pray and to whom they pray. He asserts that prayer is a test for all that they claim to believe. The high road of prayer is self-examination—that Christians would discover how weak and ignorant they are so as to drive them to God. Prayer is vital, essential, and necessary because Christians have a capable enemy in the devil; thus they continually need the armor and power of God to do battle. Jesus and the many saints that have come before proved that prayer is the supreme achievement of the soul. Dr. Lloyd-Jones encourages to “keep your armor bright!” Prayer leads to knowledge of God, which leads to love of God, which defeats the enemy.
Sermon Breakdown
- Prayer is essential to standing against the wiles of the devil. It is not an additional thought but part of the armor of God.
- The Bible emphasizes prayer constantly. The greatest saints were the greatest pray-ers. Prayer is the supreme achievement of the soul.
- What place does prayer have in our lives? Do we pray as much as we do other things like reading the news? We must pray without ceasing.
- Why should we pray? Because of the power and subtlety of our adversary, the devil. We do not realize this enough.
- Because of our own weakness and ignorance, even at our best. We tend to be self-satisfied and compare ourselves to those obviously below us. We must measure ourselves against the saints.
- To keep in touch with our leader, Jesus Christ, the captain of our salvation. We are in an army against the forces of evil.
- We need strength to use the armor of God. The armor itself is useless without strength and vigor to wield it.
- We need wisdom and guidance to use the armor properly. We need strategy and understanding of the enemy's devices. We have the mind of Christ through prayer.
- We must keep our armor bright through constant prayer. We must keep our spirits warm and alive. Prayer enlivens us.
- Prayer keeps us from being idle and gives the devil opportunity. Pray rather than sit vacant.
- Prayer leads to knowledge of God which leads to loving God. This defeats the devil. Temptations lose power when we are filled with loving God.
- God can deliver us directly from the enemy in response to prayer. He has done so in the past. Prayer leads to deliverance.
- All the armor of God should lead us to prayer. Each piece represents our relationship to God as children. This should drive us to prayer.
Spiritual Depression
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.