Title: Christian Battleplan part 3

Proposition: To war against Satan, we must arm ourselves most importantly with prayer

Text: Eph 6:10-20

Intro:
	1.  Campfire on vacation (II Tim 1:6 - ...I remind you to kindle aresh the gift of God which is 
		in you...)  
	2.  “An untended fire soon becomes just a pile of ashes”
	3.  Maybe we need to be rekindled or stirred up into polishing and taking up the full armor
	4.  TEXT:  Eph 6:10-20  
	5.  How to fight using your weapons - PRAYER

I.  Pray all kinds of Prayer 
	A.  “With all prayer and petition..”
	B.  Jesus said not to use vain repetitions, but go into inner room
		1.  What is a vain repetition?  -- something to sound pretty to flatter ourselves
		2.  You cannot impress God
		3.  Types of Prayer
	     		A - Adoration
	     		C - Confession
	     		T - Thanksgiving
	      		S - Supplication
	C.  ILL:  Have you ever known someone who all they ever talked about was_______?
		1.  Do you get irritated or bored?
		2.  Then why do we do that with God?
	D.  Read the inspired prayers of the Psalms 102, 139 (96) 

II.  Pray at all times
	A.  “Pray at all times in the Spirit”  (I Thess 5:17 - “pray without ceasing”)
	B.   All kinds of prayer at all times becomes a challenge
		1.  Use of Hyperbole
		2.   Example of Daniel (How did he handle living in a hostile foreign government?)
			a.  Under Nebudchanezzar, Darius and Cyrus, 
			b.  Always respected & served them, idolaters (said “O king live forever”) 
			c.  (Daniel 6) and Darius & the Lions Den (3 times a day) (decreee to respect God)
				-All of them respected Daniel and his God
				-Darius made a decree to tremble and fear Daniels God
				-That is what fighting the Battle is all about
			d. RESPECT THE GOVERNMENT (Romans 14)
		3.  Psalm 91:1-13
		4.  Why at all times? - It shows your dependence & awareness of God
	C.  Jesus’ disciples fell asleep while praying
	D.  Pray at regular times and throughout the day (not have to be long, Jesus prayers were
		short before meals)  Have a plan
	  
III.  Be Alert
 	A.  “ be on the Alert with all perseverance...”
	B.  Why be on the Alert?
		1.  Satan is a schemer (his tactics can be so subtle)
		2.  Satan does not want you, he just wants you away from God 
	C.  Example of Satan’s Scheme
		1.  Story of Job
		2.  Intro, then 1:13-22 - the battle is on
		3.  Notice v. 16 - “fire of God fell from heaven”, but it was Satan and not God
			4.  v. 9-10 - do not blame God
			5.  Like friends, do not defend God
	D.  Job illustrates that Satan is NOT in control
		1.  Even when it seems like God is losing there are spiritual forces around us
		2.  Like Job, we cannot always see the whole picture, but our God can
 
IV.  Be on the Alert with all perseverance and petition for all the Saints
	A.  Not just here, but everywhere
	B.  Battle is defensive, making it two fold:  (need balance)
		1.  Keeping the Faith - this mean with each other, not outsiders
		2.  Sharing the Faith - this is what we do with outsiders
			-Speech seasoned with salt
			-Conduct ourtselves with wisdom towards outsiders
	C.  ILL:  A flight in Baisc training that lost honor flight because they did not work together
		as a team.
	D.  We need to encourage and pray for each other
		1.  Whether you are involved in a prayer meeting or not, this is a ministry we all can 
			do
		2.  It helps us to be mindful of each other as well


Concl:
	1.  NEED TO START AND END BATTLE WITH PRAYER	
		1.  With all kinds of prayer
		2.  At all times
		3.  With alertness
		4.  For each other
	2.  How often do you REALLY pray to God, Do you have a plan
	3.  Challenge:  fight the Battle with prayer, the Battle is the Lord’s
		-Keep us safe from the evil one
		-Defensive Battle, Satan wants us to move of off our point
		-The Lord gave us the territory alreadym, we just need to defend it
			-but we’re not in heaven (is it a place, or relationship)
	4.  How often do you pray for me?  My family?  When did you last pray for____?