Tag Archives: Whole Armor of God

Three Kinds of Prayer

Copyright © 2018 Natalya Vazemiller This is excerpt from the book She Divides the Spoil

The Three Kinds of Prayer:

Prayer is an important part of being a Christian and a spiritual warrior, especially during spiritual combat. It is also an incense to the Lord: “Let my prayer be set before You as incense, The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice” (Ps. 141:2). God loves to hear us and receive our prayers. We are important to Him, and all what concerns us concerns Him. Let’s briefly cover the three prayers apostle Paul is talking about:

  1. We are to “. . . pray always with all prayer and supplication and at every opportunity in the Spirit” (Eph. 6:18a, NAB). Prayer is communication with God: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6–7). In our prayers, we can tell Him our worries and problems, “casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Pet. 5:7). All people of God prayed. Daniel was willing to be eaten by lions over missing His time with God in his daily prayer. In prayer, we make our needs known, we praise and worship God, converse with Him, and repent of our sins. Through prayer, we socialize with Him as with a friend, making a relationship with Christ possible.
  2. We are to “pray for all saints.” In the next verse, Paul writes “and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak” (Eph. 6:19–20). If Paul needed prayers, so do we. We are to pray for ourselves and others, for we all are in need of grace and support. We are a family and one body, and we should support each other. Praying for other saints helps us heal spiritually and physically “pray for one another, that you may be healed” (Jas. 5:16b). Isn’t it amazing? If we care for our body, we can be healed. The same applies to our spiritual body, the Church! We need each other! Praying for each other builds immunity within the body of Christ. We are being attacked by evil forces daily. We need as much immunity as we can get.
  3. We are to pray with “supplication in the Spirit.” It is written that: “. . . God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts . . .” (Gal. 4:6). This very Spirit is the Spirit of the Father, or the Holy Spirit as we all know: “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me” (Jn. 15:26). This Spirit helped Christ on the Earth to complete the ministry and bring Himself as the perfect sacrifice: “. . . who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God . . .” (Hebrew 9:14b). This Holy Spirit enables us to do the works of righteousness and overcome all obstacles and sustains us in all trials and leads us to salvation of our souls.

Please share for the glory of Jesus Christ and advancement of His kingdom. Thank you.

Photo by Ruben Hutabarat on Unsplash