Lesson 31: The Power of Prayer, part 1

Ephesians 6:18 - praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

The seventh piece of armor we need to put on for God’s victory that He has already given us is the Power of Prayer.

In this lesson we see the seventh piece of supernatural military equipment that God gives us; giving us the ability to effectively struggle and come out on top in our war against the evil ones, when they come at us every single day... not if. This is the seventh piece that gives us the ability to stand our ground and not buckle or break under pressure when the dust clears from the battle that we are in...and it was simply called prayer. It is mentioned five times in just three verses, which adds emphasis to its importance. He did not say it five times for any of the other pieces of armor, but for prayer this is His way of calling our attention to it.

The first thing we see about the Power of Prayer is that it provides constant communication. Good communications are of prime importance for the efficient conduct of military operations and so it was with the Roman military. They used a form of communication called Military Signaling. For short distance messages, the Roman officers overseeing a battle from an elevated position on a hillside would have a team of runners whose job it was to run as fast as possible to the commander of another unit. Upon arrival they would pass a message verbally or written on a wax tablet.


Over longer distances, the utilization of runners was not an effective means of communication. So, the Romans developed a system of communication over longer distances where the legate (general) of the legions stayed behind in a spot where he could give orders and instructions several different ways to the troops. Sometimes they used messengers on horseback to transmit those orders to the front. Other times they would use trumpets that were easily identifiable in a battle for the soldiers to follow. Another way would use fire signals where a series of bonfires were erected on hilltops from the scene of a battle where as one fire was lit, the team at the next hill in the chain would see it and light theirs, and so on until the last fire was lit.

Just as a soldier needs to stay in communication with Command Control Central Headquarters to give him directions and wisdom, provide aerial support if needed, or inform him of what lies ahead, etc., so it is with the spiritual soldier, the Christian! We too need to stay in constant communication with our Heavenly Commander, Jesus Christ, who alone has the ultimate perspective to see the battlefield all at once and not only tell us what we specifically need to do in a skirmish but to also support us so we can have success in dealing with our daily spiritual warfare. In essence, Paul is saying that this last piece of equipment, prayer, is your Spiritual Walkie Talkie to God to be used in times of conflict!

We will continue this in our next lesson.