“... making supplication for all the saints, and also
for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to
proclaim the mystery of the gospel ... that I may declare it
boldly, as I ought to speak.”
This is not the only time Paul asks for prayer specifically for himself and for the work he was engaged in. Colossians 4 contains
a similar request, as do both Paul’s
first and
second letters to Thessalonica. We may take it this was an apostolic custom. The writer to the Hebrews does
the same.
I wonder why.
A Work of Critical Importance
“Well, that’s obvious,” we say. “He knew the work he was
doing was of critical importance and he wanted it to succeed.”
Perhaps. Paul’s work in church planting all over the Middle
East, Europe and Asia was certainly important in a way no single missionary
effort can be today. He was writing at a time when scripture had yet to be
completed. The things he taught in these new, largely Gentile churches were not
just the product of years of Old Testament study but of the prophetic word of God, as Paul tells the
Galatians. He speaks of “revelation” repeatedly; things newly discovered in
re-examining the Old Testament scriptures in the light of the life of Christ, but also
new truths
revealed
specifically to him, and, as we know from the books of
Acts and
Revelation, to other apostles as well.
This revelation was transformative. Lives were changing, churches
were being planted and thriving, and whole cultures were experiencing seismic
upheavals. Demetrius the silversmith complained, “Not
only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and
turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are
not gods.” The groundwork was being done for Christianity to spread not just
across the world but down through the centuries so that we continue to benefit
from that word of truth today. We must concede that Paul’s work was of unique
importance and certainly worthy of the attention and time he asked his fellow
believers to devote to it.
Rallying the Troops?
However, a moment’s reflection reminds us that the success of
the work of God does not depend on successfully rallying the troops. God’s
purposes are never frustrated because of insufficient numbers in either the physical or spiritual realm. Do we seriously imagine angels are tabulating the number of committed prayer warriors weighing in on every divine initiative and either canceling or delaying proposed acts of God’s sovereign will when Christians react to them with insufficient enthusiasm? Please. The very idea is absurd.
Moreover, God has a well-established track record of undertaking major initiatives in this world with pretty much zero ground support. Consider the following examples: To give birth to
Israel, he selected Abram and unilaterally brought him out of Ur on the recommendation of exactly nobody. To save a nation, he
chose Joseph against the wishes of all his brothers. To bring Israel out of Egypt, he chose a rejected shepherd, and
to bring his people into the promised land, his understudy, who had stood against the Israelite majority at every turn during their time in the wilderness. To establish Israel
in prominence among the nations and to foretell the coming millennial reign of
Christ, he raised up David, who was the very last son of Jesse anyone thought would amount to anything, and then Solomon, whose own brothers tried to thwart his rule and steal his throne. To destroy Baal’s influence in
Israel, he called Elijah, through whom he accomplished his purposes in a single
day against 450-to-1 odds. To save his dispersed people from genocidal Haman, he chose Esther, who nobody even knew was a Jew, and who was one women among hundreds in a pagan harem. To
bring that nation back to its inheritance, he used Ezra and Nehemiah, figures of comparative insignificance in the world order. In none of these choices did he consult anyone.
To prepare the way for the Lord, he selected John the
Baptist, who lived in the desert eating locusts and wild honey. To effect eternal salvation for millions, a single babe in a manger in
Bethlehem. To transform the whole world with his message of the gospel, a mere
eleven men, none of them prominent members of society.
None of these game-changing events required the prayers of the saints to make them happen, though surely there were many in Israel and elsewhere who prayed for and anticipated them. None of them depended on mustering adequate numbers of prayer warriors. God may have kept for
himself seven
thousand in Israel who had not bowed to Baal, but they were no help to
Elijah when he stood on Carmel alone in front of 450
sworn enemies and a king who wanted him dead, not even as a morale booster;
Elijah didn’t even come to know of their existence until a chapter later.
One Man with God
God is almighty. He will be what he will be, and he will do
what he will do, and nobody will ever gainsay him, frustrate his purposes or
even slow him down. One
man with God on his side can put 1,000 to flight. If God intended to reach
the Gentiles through Paul, he was going to reach the Gentiles through Paul,
whether every foaming-at-the-mouth Jewish Christian-hater, every down-at-heels Gentile silversmith, every king and every empire stood in his way. In this sense at
least, the prayers of the saints in Ephesus, Colossae, Galatia, Thessalonica
and even Jerusalem were superfluous at best.
So then, Paul was not asking the Ephesians to pray for him because
their spiritual involvement was of critical importance to his success in
accomplishing the work to which God had called him. We need to look elsewhere
for the apostle’s motivation in making his request. Perhaps we should look at
the passage.
The Whole Armor of God
Paul has just been writing about putting on the whole armor
of God: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the foundation of
the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword
of the Spirit, praying at all times in the Spirit, which is not to say in some
euphoric state, but in harmony with and under the direction of what the Holy Spirit
has written for us in God’s word.
The reason for putting on armor, and for praying “at all
times”, is that believers are engaged in a war. We need spiritual armor because
we are called to fight against “the rulers, against the authorities,
against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the
spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” We Christians are not
merely hobbits sitting comfortably in the Shire, hoping one day to make our way
from the Grey Havens across the sea in a great white ship far into the West. We
are called, in all our smallness and weakness, to march into Mordor under the
eye of Sauron.
Enough Tolkien metaphors. But perhaps you get my drift. Paul
is telling the Ephesians prayer is serious business. Warriors need to be aware
they are in a war. They need to be watching the tide of the battle, engaged at
every twist and turn. They need to be listening eagerly to every word from the
Commander in Chief and acting in absolute harmony with his goals and purposes.
Onward, Christian Soldiers
So then, when Paul asks for their prayers for him, he is not
asking selfishly, and he is not asking because he needs them. He is asking for
the sake of the Ephesians, for their spiritual profit and in view of their Christian maturity.
He has not shared the word of God with them merely to make their current
existence more palatable and peaceful. He wants them to be conscious
participants in an ongoing work of unbelievable scope and significance, and he
wants them to benefit from the reward of victorious soldiers.
God will win the battle, of course. He always does. Ask Elijah.
But he does not want his people sitting idly by as we are moved inexorably
toward the ultimate exaltation of Christ on this earth, oblivious to the big
picture view of what God is doing in the world, our prayer lives consumed with our
own petty needs and desires. That would not befit warriors. Warriors fight.
So how big-picture are your prayers? How big are mine? Are
we praying at all times in the Spirit with our eyes on eternity or, when looking to heaven, are we occupied with material goodies, health, safety, peace and satisfaction in the here-and-now? Are we in a spiritual
war, or are we too busy begging to be preserved from COVID-19 to make the
cosmic powers over this present darkness the subject of fervent and regular
prayer?
Think about that during your next prayer meeting. Ask yourself if you are praying about things with which God is truly concerned, or only about things with which we are.
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