Equip with Prayer

June 20, 2023

Equip with Prayer

Scripture

  • Nehemiah 1:4; 2:4; 4:9

    1:4 When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for a number of days, fasting and praying before the God of the heavens.


    2:4 Then the king asked me, “What is your request?” So I prayed to the God of the heavens.


    4:9 So we prayed to our God and stationed a guard because of them day and night.

  • 1 Corinthians 3:7

    So, then, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

  • Matthew 6:9-13

    The Lord’s Prayer

    “Therefore, you should pray like this:


    Our Father in heaven,

    your name be honored as holy.

    Your kingdom come.

    Your will be done

    on earth as it is in heaven.

    Give us today our daily bread.

    And forgive us our debts,

    as we also have forgiven our debtors.

    And do not bring us into temptation,

    but deliver us from the evil one.

  • Colossians 1:9-10

    Prayer for Spiritual Growth

    For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God...

  • Ephesians 6:10-20

    Christian Warfare

    Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens. For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the word of God. Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints. Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. For this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough to speak about it as I should.

At no point in the E3 journey do we depart from our dependence upon God in prayer. The Holy

Spirit is the One who engages. The Holy Spirit is the One who equips. He is the One who began

the work, and He is the One who will carry it to completion.


Consider the example of Nehemiah. When he heard that the walls of Jerusalem were in ruins, he

prayed. As he stood before the king requesting to go to war and rebuild, he prayed. As he faced

opposition during the reconstruction of the wall, he prayed. When the repair of the walls was

complete, it was clear to all that “this work had been accomplished with the help of our God”

(Nehemiah 6:16).


Prayer makes us ready. The imagery of the soldier putting on armor is used in Ephesians 6

to portray how the believer takes up the Armor of God by “praying at all times in the Spirit”

(Ephesians 6:18). Through prayer, God gives us strength and discernment to Equip others.


We must pray for others as we seek to Equip them. While we have an important part to play, it is

God who causes the growth (1 Corinthians 3:6). Disciples, like Paul, pray continuously that their

friends will grow spiritually. Pray that they “...may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all

spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to

Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:9-10).


TAKE ACTION

Discern through prayer how to Equip people on your E3 Map.


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