And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and pray with all perseverance for all the Lord's people (Ephesians 6:18). Two words stand out in our text: pray and all – "pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests; being alert pray with all perseverance for all the Lord's people." We should not miss the intent that receiving the armour of God is done with prayer. In its most basic sense, prayer is the expression of our dependence on God. We can only stand against the devil's schemes as we depend on the one who has already won the victory. We pray in the Spirit. There is a close connection between prayer and the Holy Spirit. Do not get caught in the trap that says 'praying in the Spirit' is some form of super spiritual prayer only a few Christians achieve. Paul has already given us his teaching on the Spirit, emphasizing he is for and in all. "For through [Christ] we both (Jews and Gentiles – thus all) have access to the Father by one Spirit" (2:18). "And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit" (2:22). "Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit" (5:18-19). Praying in the Spirit is the only way to pray to God. This gives confidence to our praying because the Spirit keeps us connected to God. Our prayers do not bounce off the ceiling but make their way to the throne of grace, which is not far away. And from the one who sits on the throne we will receive the aid we need to stand against the devil. We pray with conviction not because we feel close to God, but because we know that we are. It is not our responsibility to get close to him, he has come close to us in Christ, that connection now mediated by the Spirit. The trouble is that the Spirit is our sin meter (John 16:8), alerting us to our tendency towards waywardness. Recall that most temptations regard these things Paul has been warning us about: deceitful desires, falsehood, unrighteous anger, stealing, unwholesome talk, grieving the Holy Spirit, bitterness, rage, brawling, slander, every form of malice, sexual immorality, impurity, greed, obscenity, foolish talk, or coarse joking, dishonouring people we are in relationship with, spouse, children/parents, bosses, employees. The armour protects us from giving in to the temptations to engage in such things. Praying in the Spirit, we are moved away from such actions and deeper into the righteous life of Christ. Prayer is not getting our will done in heaven, but heaven's will done on earth. Its not about twisting God's arm; but about twisting our wills to match God's. That is why we are to "pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests, praying alertly with all perseverance for all the Lord's people." Our adversary is a 'tricky little devil' whose greatest delight is to trip us up. And so, we should not neglect to notice Paul's encouragement to be 'alert'; alert to the things that tempt us, alert to the proddings of the Holy Spirit to lead us away from sin and into righteousness. John Stott once commented, "without prayer, we are too feeble and too flabby to stand against the forces of evil." We need to train our minds, hearts, souls to pray; to be busy with it all the time. For many of us, our image of prayer is heads bowed, eyes closed, hands folded. How can we be doing that all the time? It might be helpful to imagine prayers as 'tweets' (now called posts): little phrases of adoration, thanksgiving, confession, and supplication offered to God, with eyes wide open and hands busy with life. Finaly, we pray for each other, for all of the 'each others' of Christ's new community. We hold each other before the throne. And in response, our Heavenly Father continues to pour forth his spiritual gifts upon his people, filling us with the goodness of the Holy Spirit. And so, Paul's doxology is fulfilled:  Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:17-21).

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