Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; -Ephesians 6:10-18
Natural things and spiritual things often work the same way. Just like with some natural things, there are times that some spiritual things have to be prepared for before you can accomplish them. If you are going to be proficient at spiritual things you have to prepare for them. For example, with some things in prayer you can’t run in and charge towards them like a bull breaking loose from the pen. Why? When you run into these spiritual things, if you’re not prepared for them, the devil is going to eat your lunch.
The apostle Paul told us in Ephesians 6 that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. We wrestle against principalities and powers and so forth. He then goes on to talk about putting on the whole armor of God. Then you get down to verse 18 and he says “praying always.” All of that is preparation for prayer. Putting on the whole armor of God is preparation for your prayer life. Verse 18 comes after verse ten and so forth. So everything from verse 10 to verse 17 is getting ready to pray.
So there are things that you need to do before you pray. Before you pray you need to get ready to pray. You need to get ready to step out into the spiritual things. If you look at the Scriptures, it says :
“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.” – Psalms 100:4
If you look at the Lord’s prayer, it starts: “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.” This was not the pattern for prayer for the New Testament church; Jesus was showing the disciples how to pray during that time in between the Old Covenant going out and the New Covenant coming in. But there are principles that we can glean from here.
We should enter into prayer with thanksgiving and praise. We should be built up in our faith to pray. We should have scriptures to stand on that support our faith when we pray. When we come to God in prayer, we should be prepared. We should not get prepared while praying. When it’s time to pray, it’s time to pray.
Look back at Ephesians 6 and see what the Apostle Paul says to do before we pray. When you come to God in prayer, be prepared. Have those scriptures in your spirit already. Be built up in your faith.
Note: I have a message at the RGM store on PRINCIPLES YOU MUST APPLY TO PRAY THE PRAYER OF FAITH that would be a blessing to you in this area. You can view this Digital Download message here.
