Armed for Prayer
Lord's Day Exhortation
In Ephesians 6, the Apostle Paul commands us “to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” by putting on “the whole armor of God.” We are given armor and weapons, and so we know that the Christian life is one of battle and warfare. We who are alive are called the church militant—we are continuing the struggle against Satan, so that God’s kingdom would be advanced. And so it is right that we are equipped for the task.
But once we are outfitted with God’s armor, what is next? Where do we go from here?
Paul continues, writing that we are then to pray “always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for the saints” (v. 18). And so we see that Christians go to battle in prayer. Paul tells us that our enemies are not flesh and blood, but “against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (v. 12). Therefore, if we are to be effective in our battle, if we are to be faithful to the Lord in our own lives and in our families, we must first engage the enemy in the realm in which he lives and moves. We need heaven’s weapons to fight in the heavenly places. It is only after we engage the battle there that we will see results here on the ground. It is only through prayer, in which we acknowledge our weakness and rely on God’s strength, that we will see our families and church thrive, and our world transformed.
And so as we pray together today in this worship service, don’t for one moment think that this is the precursor to the real battle “out there.” Don’t believe that this is just a nice pious practice or a good way to start your week, but after you leave, then you can really get to work in building the kingdom.
It’s the other way around.
You will only be effective out there in your homes and in your work when you engage first in the battle here—among the gathered assembly of the saints in the corporate worship of God.
Prayer of Confession:
Heavenly Father,
We humbly come before You now, confessing that we have sinned in thought, word, and deed; and that apart from Your saving grace there is no health in us.
In particular, we confess our prayerlessness. You call us to pray at all times, to pray without ceasing, and we do not fulfill this command which is for our good. You call us to fight the good fight of faith, You have equipped us with Your armor, and we remain largely idle—outfitted for war but content with seeking merely our own comfort. Our pride leads us to believe we can make progress on our own strength, and our faithlessness causes us to doubt that You really hear our prayers or care for our needs. And so we ask that You would forgive us of these sins, and that Your Spirit would help us lift up our every need to You first, teaching us to trust You in all things, and to engage in the fight that You have made us for, the battle that Christ has already won.
Father, we also acknowledge that our nation does not pray, and when we do, it is often to a vague deity who has no ears to hear. And so we do humbly ask that You would answer the prayers of Your saints and turn our nation back to You in a remarkable way.
We know that if we in the church regard any iniquity in our hearts, this prayer will be ineffectual. And so we silently confess our individual sins to you know. And Selah.
This exhortation was given on February 8, AD 2026, at King’s Cross Church in Moscow, Idaho.