“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints…” – Ephesians 6:18 KJV

What I find to be most intriguing about this verse is that it essentially provides us with an outline for prayer. Take note of the following keywords:

• Praying always
• In the Spirit
• Watching
• Perseverance
• For all saints

Having said that, I will now briefly expound on these thoughts. May the following words prove to be helpful to you as you seek to discover how one ought to pray to God.

Praying Always

The idea of ‘praying always’ indicates that prayer isn’t a routine limited to a particular time or place, but a way of life. For when you pray you are being mindful of the things of God. Thus, you not only acknowledge His presence, but also reveal that you have no desire to escape His will. Of course, you can’t seek to do His will without acknowledging Him first. So, whenever you do what He asks, you essentially demonstrate that you are in fellowship with Him; that is, you reveal that you are communing with Him. Therefore ‘praying always’ doesn’t always mean you have to be on your knees with folded hands; a life that is in agreement with God’s will is a continuous act of prayer.

In The Spirit

Do we always follow God? Obviously not! If we did we wouldn’t sin. Yet we seem to have a greater inclination to yield to temptation than we have a desire to seek God’s will. This is where praying in the Spirit comes in: for by the Spirit we are given guidance in how to walk with God, and strength to resist that which opposes His will for us. Hence praying in the Spirit has to do with allowing God to enlighten our thoughts and illuminate our lives; it’s about listening to God and doing what He says.

Watching

‘Watching’ has to do with knowing what end to look for and how to move toward it. Indeed, the Bible is our instruction manual for life; it tells us how to live, and what it means to love. Moreover, it expresses God’s will for us and reveals His character. Unfortunately, there is a lack of interest in studying the Bible, even among those who claim to believe in Jesus. Sure, many will pick it up and read it from time to time, but only in a shallow manner, not desiring to learn how to swim in deep water. It’s no wonder that so many are having trouble discerning the voice of God these days.

Yet these people will spend hours watching television or playing video games, wasting precious time away on worldly pursuits. Such time would have been better spent learning how to exercise faith in God. People like this are more interested in being entertained than they are in learning how to seek God. It is no wonder that they are confused and discouraged about life. They spend more time looking at the things of this world than in being watchful for the things of God.

Perseverance

Interestingly, the prefix ‘per’ denotes the idea of being in the midst of something. Couple that with ‘severe’ and you arrive at the conclusion that ‘persevere’ indicates that one is in the midst of a ‘severe’ situation. Yet to persevere one must not be in a static condition; rather, they are active. So, perseverance essentially has to do with weathering a storm, so to speak. Or to put it another way: perseverance is what happens when you go through a storm with the understanding that storms don’t last forever.

Adversity isn’t a sign that God isn’t present or that He doesn’t care about what’s happening within your life, but proof that He knows what’s going to happen before it happens. After all, Jesus did say that we would have tribulation in this world (John 16:33). Nothing takes God by surprise. And we shouldn’t be surprised about these things either. If we believe in God then we should expect things to heat up at times. For all who seek to live a godly life will suffer persecution (2Timothy 3:12), and persecution can manifest itself any many forms.

But no matter what happens, God will prevail. For just as He knows the end from the beginning He is in control of the future (Isaiah 46:9-10; 55:9-13). So, if you are going through hardship, don’t give up, but remain faithful to God in all things, praying with all perseverance. In due time you will find complete peace and rest for your weary soul, if you endure to the end (Matthew 24:13).

For All Saints

Not only should we pray for others, if at all possible, we should make it known to them that we are praying for them by becoming an answer to prayer. In other words, we need to put our words into practice. Of course, it’s good to intercede for others. But keep in mind that God already knows what we need before we ask. Therefore praying for others is more than just speaking words; it’s about making blessed connections, to encourage those for whom we are praying to remain faithful to God. Moreover, it’s about walking with them, not away from them, to make it known to them that they are loved, and are therefore not alone.

Incidentally, the word ‘all’ tells us that we shouldn’t show partiality when it comes to opening our arms to those who have opened their hearts to Jesus Christ. Indeed, it is a tragedy when people allow personal preference to get in the way of seeing people as Jesus sees them. When people need a holy embrace they’re often given a shove of indifference instead. The enemy relishes such moments!

Listen, Satan has a counterfeit for everything that is good. And his counterfeit for intercessory prayer is criticism (the destructive kind). Instead of complaining and gossiping about others we should be lifting them up in prayer. Granted, there will be things that we’ll see in people that we won’t like or agree with; nevertheless, we should never let that keep us from exemplifying the love of Jesus Christ in our interactions with them. Jesus died for sinners, not saints. It would be well for us to remind ourselves of this daily.

Conclusion

Every aspect of prayer, as noted in this article, should be applied to our lives. Like pieces of a puzzle, we must put all of these things in their proper place if we desire to see what God wants to show us. Let’s be diligent to ask God to help us to put the pieces in their proper places, so that we may see what He wants us to see and show the world what it means to walk with Jesus–always praying in all ways.