Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

Ephesians 6:17-18 (NIV)

In one of my grad school seminars, we carefully studied Ephesians 6:10-20. My professor, a brilliant, world-renowned scholar, believed that this passage commends a purely passive approach to spiritual warfare. He argued that all of the armor in 6:10-20 is defensive, even the sword. “What do we do when we put on the armor?” he asked one day in class. “Nothing! We just stand there. Standing firm is what we do. That’s how we fight.”

At this point I raised my hand nervously. “I have to disagree,” I said. “There is something more for us to do here, something vital. Verse 18, as you know, is not separate from the armor passage. It is all part of the same argument, the same sentence beginning in verse 17. So when we have put on the armor, we don’t just stand there passively. We do something active. We pray. We pray with all kinds of prayer, all the time, for all people. Prayer is how we fight.”

When I finished my comment, the room was quiet, filled with tension because I had so plainly disagreed with my professor. He looked at me intensely and stroked his chin thoughtfully. “You may be right,” he said finally. “I haven’t seen that before.” On the outside I appeared to take his positive response in stride. Inwardly, I was cheering. I had not made a fool of myself. I might even have helped my professor to see Ephesians 6 in a new way.

Most translations of Ephesians make it difficult for anyone to see the necessary connection between God’s armor and prayer. English translations begin a new sentence with verse 18 (. . . which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit . . . ). Most, like the NIV, even start a new paragraph with verse 18. But the original Greek of this passage reads quite differently. A more literal translation would be, “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit . . . praying in the Spirit at all times.” The Greek participle meaning “praying” is dependent grammatically on the imperative “take.” In other words, once you’ve put on the armor of God, here’s what you do: Pray! You pray often. You pray in all sorts of ways. That’s how you fight the battle when wearing God’s armor.

In future devotions we’ll examine in detail exactly what Ephesians 6:18-20 teaches us about prayer. We learn more about how exactly we’re to fight in God’s battle. For now, I simply want to underscore the truth of this passage—a truth often ignored. Once we have put on the armor of God, we have a clear battle strategy. We have our marching orders. We are to pray. And pray. And pray.

Something to Think About:

How does your understanding of this passage from Ephesians change when you realize that verse 18 is not a separate sentence or paragraph, but is a connected part of what has gone before?

How does thinking about prayer as spiritual warfare impress you?

Something to Do:

Since prayer is so important for spiritual warfare, make a commitment to add an additional time of prayer to your spiritual disciplines this week.

Prayer:

Gracious God, well, now I’m fighting! At least that’s the implication of what I have learned today from Ephesians. What I’m doing right now doesn’t seem like warfare. It seems more like a conversation. But I take seriously what Ephesians teaches. Help me to learn to see prayer more truthfully and fully. And, dear Lord, help me to pray. Teach me to pray! Amen.

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