Ephesians 6:18 NLT
[18] “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.”

This is the often-forgotten piece of our equipment that secures the effectiveness of our counter attack against the enemy. In earthly warfare, it’s the command centre that controls and instructs the soldiers in the battle how, when, and where to conduct their operations.

War is not a will-nilly affair. It’s the execution of carefully-planned strategies directed by experts from the control room and carried out by the soldiers on the ground.

So it is in “spiritual warfare”. During our engagements with the enemy, we need to stay in close contact with “headquarters” from where we receive our instructions. We cannot overcome our opponent by hitting out blindly in every direction. We will end up exhausted and beaten.

Paul exhorts us to pray “at all times and on every occasion”. Keep in contact with the Holy Spirit who is in charge of operations. He is the “Commander-in-Chief” inside us who represents the “War Office”. He provides us with the weapons of attack and directs us to where we must apply our defensive strategies.

All this sounds theoretical but it is important that we apply, in our day-to-day lives, the lessons we learn in boot camp.

Lesson number one…submit to and obey your commanding officer. Without unwavering confidence in, and obedience to the Holy Spirit, the war is lost before we begin.

We must learn to listen to and obey Him. This means learning to identify the impressions we receive since He does not speak in an audible voice. How do we know who is speaking? The test is simple. The Holy Spirit never contradicts the Word. He reminds us of truth we have internalised and is applicable in each situation.

Jesus exemplified the strategy. First, He knew He was in the wilderness to be tested because the Holy Spirit led Him there. Second, He fended off every attack with the Word…”It is written…” submitting to the Father’s authority in each test.

Lesson number two… Whatever the thought we have, we must discern, “Does it match God’s Word?” Sinful desires will draw us away from the truth. Godly desires will have the Holy Spirit’s approval. What does your peaces say? Test first.

Lesson number three…never act in haste. Snap decisions made on the spur of the moment are never wise decisions. Decisions made out of emotion, not clear ans wise thinking, are invariably misleading. Weigh up first, listen, and then follow the leading of the Spirit.

In this way, we keep in contact with our heavenly headquarters, using every form of prayer. First, we worship, then we continue with thanksgiving and praise which put our thoughts into perspective, and then petition and request.

Like every other part of our walk with God, we put Him in the centre of our struggles, humbly submitting to His refining processes. We acknowledge His sovereignty, we honour His wisdom, and we allow His grace to take us through to new understanding and experience of His power at work in us.

Never, in this battle to overcome fleshly lusts, must we give credit to the devil for his part in it. He is our antagonist but God is always working for our good. He is moving us, one step at a time, towards likeness to Jesus, the blueprint of every true son. We are learning to submit to His authority in every circumstance, obey His instructions, and trust His love, even in the battles of life.

To be concluded…