The believers wrestle with the devil and his evil spiritual forces 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 unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints and the apostle. Ephesians 6:18 speaks of “praying at every time in spirit.” To pray at every time corresponds to Paul’s word in 1 Thessalonians 5:17: “Unceasingly pray.” We need to pray in our spirit, that is, to pray in our regenerated spirit indwelt by the Spirit of God. This spirit is the mingled spirit, our spirit mingled with God’s Spirit. When we are in our spirit, we are in the Holy Spirit, because our spirit is one with the Lord (1 Cor. 6:17).
Ephesians 6:18 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, regarding our prayer life. We need to be on guard in order to not 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 care. We also need to make petition concerning all the saints. We need to spend much time to pray for the saints in our locality and for the saints in other cities and countries.
Finally, verses 19 through 20 indicate that we also should pray for the apostle. In this portion of the Scriptures Paul asked the saints to pray for him: “That utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known in boldness the mystery of the gospel...that in it I would speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” Here Paul asked the believers to pray for him so that utterance might be given to him to make known in boldness the mystery of the gospel. This mystery is Christ and the church for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose. This mystery refers to the entire New Testament economy. Christ is the mystery of God, and the church is the mystery of Christ. 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 might be given to him for him to boldly speak the mystery of the gospel.
The believers corporately experience the dispensing of the Divine Trinity by wrestling with the devil and with his forces of evil in the heavenlies. Behind men of flesh and blood is the devil, the evil power that opposes the will of God; therefore, the warfare between the church and Satan is a battle between the believers in the church who love the Lord and the evil power in the heavenlies. Ephesians 6:10-20 reveals, on the negative side, that the church is a warrior to defeat God’s enemy, the devil, with his forces of evil in the heavenlies.
To fight the enemy, the believers need to be empowered in the Lord and in the might of His strength. They cannot fight in themselves, lest they be defeated. The believers also need to put on the whole armor of God and stand against the stratagems of the devil. The whole armor of God is for the entire Body of Christ; it is not for individual members. Therefore, the believers should fight the spiritual battle in the Body of Christ and never fight individually. The believers must strongly exercise their will to apply God’s provision and put on the armor of God so that they may stand to the end.
In Ephesians 6:14-17 there are six aspects of Christ as the armor. First, there is the girdle of truth for the girding of the loins to strengthen the believers’ entire being; truth refers to God in Christ as reality and experience in the believers’ living. Truth is also Christ Himself lived out of us. Second, there is the breastplate of righteousness to cover our conscience; this breastplate is Christ Himself with His blood, cleansing, covering, and keeping us from Satan’s accusations. Third, on the cross Christ has made peace between us and God, and this gospel of peace has been established as a firm foundation, as a readiness with which our feet may be shod. Being thus shod, we have a firm footing so that we may stand to fight the spiritual warfare. Fourth, after truth, righteousness, and peace, the believers spontaneously have the shield of faith. This faith is a safeguard against the fiery darts, that is, the temptations, proposals, doubts, questions, lies, and attacks of the enemy. Fifth, there is the helmet of salvation; this salvation is the saving Christ experienced by us in our daily living, covering our mind from negative thoughts injected into us by the evil one. Sixth, there is the sword of the Spirit with which to attack the enemy; the Spirit is the word of God, which we receive and apply by means of all prayer and petition. Prayer is the unique way to apply the armor of God.
We also need to fight by praying in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition for all the saints and the apostle. This indicates that we need to be on guard to maintain our prayer life, to make sufficient petition concerning all the saints, and to pray for the apostle so that the mystery of the gospel might be made known in boldness.