The believers wrestle against the Devil and his spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies not only by being empowered in the Lord and in the might of His strength and by putting on the whole armor of God but also by praying in spirit and watching in all perseverance for all the saints and the apostles. In verse 18 Paul speaks of “praying at every time in spirit.” To pray at every time corresponds to Paul’s word in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to pray without ceasing.
In Ephesians 6:18 Paul says specifically that we are to pray in our spirit, that is, in our regenerated spirit indwelt by the Spirit of God. This is the mingled spirit, our spirit mingled with God’s Spirit. Whenever we are in our spirit, we are also in the Holy Spirit, for our spirit is one with the Lord (1 Cor. 6:17). Therefore, Paul’s charge to pray in spirit implies that we should pray in the Spirit of God, for the Spirit and our regenerated spirit are mingled in us.
In verse 18 Paul goes on to speak of “watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints.” This indicates that we need to be watchful, on the alert, for this prayer life. We need to be on guard lest we be robbed of time that should be devoted to prayer. Furthermore, we need to watch unto prayer in all perseverance. To keep a prayer life we need all perseverance, a constant, persistent prayer.
In verse 18 Paul also speaks of “petition concerning all the saints.” This indicates that we need to pray for the saints. Much time is required to pray for the saints in our locality and for the saints in other cities and countries.
Ephesians 6:19 and 20 indicate that we also should pray for the apostles. In these verses Paul asks the saints to pray on his behalf “that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth to make known in boldness the mystery of the gospel,” and that “in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” Here Paul was asking the believers to pray that utterance would be given to him and that he would open his mouth with boldness to make known the mystery of the gospel. This mystery is Christ and the church for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose. This mystery implies the entire New Testament economy. Christ is the mystery of God, and the church is the mystery of Christ. Both Christ and the church are for God’s economy, which also is a mystery. All these mysteries are related to the gospel. Therefore, Paul asked the saints to pray for him that utterance would be given to him concerning the mystery of the gospel and that he would speak the gospel with boldness.
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