6:18
We are to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions”. And we do this with all kinds of prayers and requests. Praying in the Spirit may well include praying in tongues, but is by no means limited to that. We are to offer up all sorts of prayers, and that includes asking. Sometimes when people speak about prayer asking is denigrated as a second class type of prayer. This is not true. Jesus encouraged us to ask, the whole of the Bible encourages us to ask, and asking of God, along with God answering, is one of the marks of being one of God’s faithful people. So we are to be alert and to pray for all of God’s people. It is so easy to forget to pray, or to be distracted, so we need to be alert.
6:19
Paul may be the great apostle, but he also knew that any success he had was entirely down to the grace of God. So he asks the Ephesians to pray for him. He has been giving them much teaching and instruction, but he also needs to receive help from them, in this case in the form of prayer. One of the primary means by which God’s grace comes to us is through the prayers of others. He prays that God would give him the words to say, that he might fearlessly proclaim the gospel.
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