Paul was an ardent disciple who especially valued prayer “night and day.” Prayers are interspersed throughout his epistles. He prayed with Silas and Timothy for the believers in Thessalonica. When a great task was before him, he requested prayer, even in cases where he did not know the believers personally (Romans 15 and Colossians 4).
In this passage, Paul invokes praying in the Spirit as a protective discipline. The armor of Christ in Ephesians 6 is comprised of individually worn or handled pieces. Every person in the army of Christ is to be watchful in prayer. When we are, then we will be able to fight effectively and be useful laborers for Christ.
God does not want us to grow as disciples individually but as His body into “mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12-16). If you view prayer only as an individual relationship with God and no more, you are missing out on the dynamic of the body growing together in their relationship with each other and with Christ. If prayer is intended to play a part in equipping laborers, then it will need to go beyond our individual prayer closets and out into the field where Christ is training his forces to advance against the gates of hell.
Let’s continue to pray individually but let us go beyond individual training and pray and labor together for the Lord we serve.
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