A CONVERSATION WITH GOD
Bible Passage:
Ephesians 6:16-20
Pastor:
Pastor Glen
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Sermon Date:
2009-10-10
Ephesians 6:16-20 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 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. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
Think of all the people you might want talk to over a cup of coffee. The person may be a famous football player, soccer player, president of the United States, famous actor, writer or another famous person. In most of those conversations you would simply be looking for the chance to personally talk with and converse with this famous person. The conversation would be something to tell a friend but not necessarily beneficial to the change of your life. Don’t lose sight of the privilege and the helpfulness we experience as we engage in often in
A CONVERSATION WITH GOD.
Sometimes we lose sight of the answer that our heavenly Father gives us in our daily lives. He wants to help us and guide us and direct us and we sometimes miss the obvious answer. In truth, we're not as smart as we think we are. As evidence of that, I refer to a story about the great detective Sherlock Holmes and his colleague Dr. Watson. The story begins with them going on a camping trip, setting up their tent, building a campfire, and turning in for the night. Hours later, Holmes wakes his friend and says, "Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see." Watson replies, "I see millions of stars." Sherlock says: "What does that tell you?" Watson thinks for a moment. "Astronomically speaking, it tells me there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. The positions of the stars tell me it is roughly four-thirty. Meteorologically, it indicates we will have a beautiful day tomorrow." Then Watson asks, "So, Holmes, what does it tell you?"Holmes was silent for a moment and then he said, "It tells me, dear Watson, that someone has stolen our tent."
The Scriptures tell us that the devil has real power. The Scriptures tell us that he wants to destroy our faith. The scriptures tell us that he want us to trip us up and live in despair or dependent upon our own solutions. The words of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 6 are a reminder of the real power of the devil and his desire to destroy us. If you look at the verses just before our text Paul aptly describes our battle with Satan and his power :”Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms ( Ephesians 6:11-12).”
Understand a conversation with God in prayer is a part of understanding the ways of worship. Prayer to God is what we want to do in our daily lives. We have the privilege to have a conversation with the God who made the world and us and sent his Son Jesus to destroy the work of the devil. . We have the joy and privilege to communicate everything we are dealing with in our lives to God. God answers our prayers. He reassures us that we will be helped, answered, strengthened, enlightened, directed and comforted by God himself.
The Apostle Paul reminds us of the obvious truth that we often forget. The war we wage against Satan is real. His desire to destroy our faith is real. Our own sinful nature can easily succumb to the temptations of the devil, the world or our own sinful flesh. Therefore we are encouraged to use all the armor both defensive and offensive that God gives us. “In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 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.” The Apostle Paul realized the enemy he faced and that all of us Christians face. He also reminds us of the truth that God had provided the means to fight the enemy. Our heavenly Father has brought us to faith in the true God who will rescue us eternally and who will help us every day in every challenge of life. Just as an American soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan knows that the enemy has real weapons and the intent to destroy him he also knows he has the weapons to defend himself. Paul understood the power of Satan who wants to destroy our faith with the flaming arrows of doubt, temptation or pride.
We have the right and privilege to have a conversation with God at any time and any place whether during our worship here in God’s house or during our worship of God in our daily lives. The Apostle Paul reminds us: “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.” Don’t forget the spiritual revealed obvious truth in our day to day lives. We are engaged in a battle along with our fellow believers. We have the right, privilege and honor to have a conversation with God. We thank God for blessings. We bring intercessions for other people. We make requests for ourselves.
Jesus practiced this conversation with his heavenly Father throughout his earthly ministry and he invited his disciples to come boldly, persistently to the heavenly Father. Just in the brief section in John 14, 15 and 16 you see three very powerful references urging his disciples to have a conversation with God and rely upon God and his promises. “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. (John 14:13-14).” And again Jesus said to his disciples then and to his disciples now: John 15:16 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit-- fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Jesus went to the cross to take away all our sins. He declared to his disciples then and now in John 16:23-24 “In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”
The Apostle Paul understood the real battle he was engaged in each day and did not take lightly the promise of his Father to answer and hear his prayer. May we not only understand the battle that we face but understand the weapons we have to fight the battle and know that we do not fight it alone. Nor do we want to forget to pray for our fellow believers who fight the same battle. Just as Paul asked the Ephesians to pray for him that he would proclaim the gospel clearly so I and Pastor Mike ask for your constant prayers that we may boldly proclaim that gospel message that saves people from eternal death.
Daily we might think of the many different people that we would like to talk to personally. You have the greatest person to talk with each day and the one who can help, guide and direct you life each day. Engage often and constantly in a conversation with God.
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