Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.             Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 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 saints. (Eph.6:13-18)

This will be my last word on this key passage from Ephesians 6 for a while but I wanted to look at the last and greatest weapon in God’s arsenal – prayer. After listing truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation and the word of God as weapons and armor with which to do battle in the spiritual realm, Paul calls on us to pray – not only to pray but to pray in the Spirit. So what does it mean to pray in the Spirit?

Paul gives us an indication of what this means in his letter to the church at Corinth. In his discussion of spiritual gifts he says, “So also you, since you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the edification of the church. Therefore let one who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. What is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also. Otherwise if you bless in the spirit only, how will the one who fills the place of the ungifted say the “Amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying” (1 Cor. 14:12-16). In this context, Paul is clearly giving direction on the practice of praying in tongues – a spiritual language given by the Spirit that even our own minds don’t understand unless God gives us a gift of interpretation as well. Paul speaks about praying out loud in a tongue to give a blessing and calls that blessing “in the spirit” or “in the Spirit” depending on your understanding of the context.

Jude instructs us, “But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God” (Jude 20). John tells us that he was “in the Spirit” on the Lord’s day when he received the book of Revelation (Rev. 1:10). This idea of praying in the Spirit as a spiritual weapon suggests that we should be praying in tongues as well as praying by direction of the Holy Spirit. Paul encourages us when he says, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express” (Rom.8:26). I believe the Spirit intercedes or prays for us even when we are unaware but also when we engage with Him as we pray in tongues. Jude tells us that as we pray in the Holy Spirit there is something about the process that builds us up and strengthens us spiritually.

In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul states that he would pray both with the spirit (tongues) and with the understanding, which is our typical way of praying, and in this passage he seems to encourage both in the life of every believer. However, the overall theme of his statements in Ephesians 6 is to pray every kind of prayer and to persist in prayer not only for our own needs but also for all the saints.

As a weapon, our prayers not only activate the power of heaven but they also direct the power of heaven. Without our prayers, little power is appropriated and little power is directed. The early church was a praying church. The leaders ministered in prayer, the people met often to pray and fast, and when they did the power of heaven shook the earth. The church grew and when Rome crumbled into dust the church still stood. Above all else we must pray for that is the ultimate weapon in spiritual warfare. So pray in all kinds of ways about all kinds of things but keep on praying until hell bows the knee to Jesus in the lives of individuals and nations. Be blessed and please be in prayer of our nation and the Lord’s churches in this nation.