Prayer, the Christian's Secret Weapon
Ephesians 6:10-18
Importance of Prayer
- Biblical Exhortations to Pray
- Jesus: "Men ought always to pray and never to throw in the towel." (Luke 18:1)
- Paul: "Pray without interruption. Make it your spiritual breathing apparatus." (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
- James: "We have not, because we ask not…" (James 4:2-3)
Challenges in Prayer Life
- Common Struggles:
- Personal experiences of struggles in prayer
- Explanation of these struggles as satanic cultivation to keep Christians from praying
Scriptural Foundations
- Ephesians Overview
- Book of Ephesians: living a heavenly life in a hellish world
- Divided into theological foundation (first three chapters) and practical outworking (last three chapters)
- Ephesians 6:18, exhortation to pray
Jesus’ Example of Prayer
- Jesus’ Prayer Life in Luke
- Importance of studying Jesus' prayer life, especially in Luke
- 15 recorded instances of Jesus praying, 11 instances in Luke
- Specific Occasions of Jesus Praying
- Baptism (Luke 3:21-22): Beginning of his messianic work
- Frequent Withdrawal (Luke 5:16): Often withdrew to lonely places to pray
- Choosing Disciples (Luke 6:12-13): Spent the night praying before choosing disciples
- Transfiguration (Luke 9:16, 28-35): Praying during the Transfiguration
- Teaching on Prayer (Luke 11:1): Disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray
- Peter's Denial Foretold (Luke 22:31-32): Jesus prays for Peter’s faith
- Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:39-46): Jesus prays before his arrest
- On the Cross (Luke 23:34, 46): Jesus prays for forgiveness and commends his spirit to God
- Post-Resurrection (Luke 24:30-31, 50-51): Jesus prays with disciples on the road to Emmaus and blesses them before his ascension
Summary and Application
- Prayer was integral to Jesus' life and ministry
- Encouragement for believers to make prayer central to their lives
- Prayer as both a common and extraordinary activity
*The above summary is AI-generated, so discrepancies may exist. Please refer to the audio or video file to verify accuracy.
About the Contributors
Howard G. Hendricks
Dr. Howard G. Hendricks, known simply as “Prof,” directly or indirectly touched millions of lives in the evangelical community and beyond. For more than sixty years Prof served on the faculty of Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS), where he taught more than ten thousand students. He served as the chairman of the Center for Christian Leadership for over twenty years. He also ministered in person in more than eighty countries. Through speaking engagements, radio, tapes, films, the sixteen books he authored and coauthored, countless journal and popular-market articles, his service on numerous boards, and his work as a chaplain to the Dallas Cowboys (1976–1984), his reach was and is worldwide.
His legacy, in partnership with Jeanne, his wife of more than sixty-five years, includes four children and six grandchildren. Holding large audiences enthralled at venues such as Billy Graham’s conference center or Promise Keepers’ stadium rallies, Prof would confide, “It’s wonderful to be here with you, but I have a group of delicious students waiting for me back at the seminary.”
Contributors
