Sue J Love
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- Joined
- Mar 27, 2015
- Messages
- 3,436
“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.” (Ephesians 6:17-20 NASB’95)
Pray Without Ceasing
The Scriptures speak of how we need to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). I am certain that when I was much younger that I must have struggled with that idea of praying continuously, without stopping. I finally came to the understanding that prayer, it being open communication between us and God, is just that. We must walk with the Lord in such a close relationship with him that we are in continuous communication with him. Thus, any time of any day, no matter where we are or what we are doing, we can talk to God and he can speak with us.
For prayer is not just a formal time that we spend each day taking our requests to the Lord and then it is over until the next scheduled time of prayer. It is not going through some routine or ritual, but this is about our relationship with God. For when we believe in Jesus Christ with God-gifted faith in him, and we die with him to sin, and we now walk with him in obedience to his commands, we enter into a spiritual covenant relationship with our Lord. The Holy Spirit comes to live within us, and he speaks truth to our hearts. And we should be able to hear him speak to us at any time.
I believe this is what is meant by “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.” It is like Jesus is live and in person with us sitting right beside us, and so we can just talk with him, and he can speak with us, if we are working a job, or caring for children, or driving a motor vehicle or whatever we might be doing. We can hear him, not audibly usually, and we can respond, even just in our thoughts. Prayer doesn’t always have to be out loud. And we don’t always have to be physically on our knees or in any particular position physically. And we can pray with our eyes wide open.
Praying for the Saints
“The saints” are not a group of dead people sanctioned by the Roman Catholic church who they have deemed as “saints,” according to their specific criteria of who qualifies as a “saint.” The saints of God are all who believe in Jesus Christ with biblical faith, who have died with him to sin, and who are walking in obedience to his commands, in practice, by the Spirit, not necessarily in absolute sinless perfection. They are all those who are living holy lives, pleasing to God, different from the world, because they are being conformed by God to the character of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
So, when we pray for the saints, we are praying for others who believe in Jesus Christ with God-persuaded faith in him, who have been crucified with him in death to sin, and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. And what should we pray for one another? We should pray that we will be strong in our faith and in our commitments to the Lord and that we will say “No!” to sin and “Yes!” to God, and to his will, in daily practice. And we should pray for all to be encouraged and strengthened in our faith walks.
And for those whose lives are committed to getting out the message of the gospel of our salvation to the people of the world, regardless of all opposition and persecution and rejection, we should pray that the truth of gospel will go forth from them in all boldness, and with the love of Christ for the people, and that they will speak the truth without hindrance, and because of their witness for the Lord and for his gospel that many people will surrender their lives to Jesus Christ, to be his, and to forsake their sins, and to now walk daily in obedience to his commands, in the strength of the Lord.
For “the gospel of Christ” is not what many people have turned it into in these days of trials and tribulation. The gospel message should not be taught via scattered Bible verses taught out of their appropriate context. So, in truth, we are not saved from our sins and guaranteed heaven when we die via lip service only. True biblical faith must result in us denying self, dying with Christ to sin, in practice, and walking in obedience to the Lord and to his New Covenant commands, by the Spirit. For if sin is our practice, and not obedience to God, we will not inherit eternal life with God.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
The Way That He Loves
By W. Elmo Mercer
Scripture: I John 3:1; I John 3:16
The way that He loves is as fair as the day,
That blesses my way with light.
The way that He loves is as soft as the breeze,
Caressing the trees at night.
So tender and precious is He,
Contented with Jesus I’ll be.
The way that He loves is so thrilling
Because His love reaches even me.
The way that He loves is as deep as the sea,
His spirit shall be my stay.
The way that He loves is as pure as a rose,
Much sweeter He grows each day.
His peace hovers near like a dove.
I know there’s a heaven above.
To Jesus I cling, life’s a wonderful thing
Because of the way He loves.
Caution: This link may contain ads
Pray for Boldness in Sharing the Gospel
An Original Work / March 22, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Pray Without Ceasing
The Scriptures speak of how we need to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). I am certain that when I was much younger that I must have struggled with that idea of praying continuously, without stopping. I finally came to the understanding that prayer, it being open communication between us and God, is just that. We must walk with the Lord in such a close relationship with him that we are in continuous communication with him. Thus, any time of any day, no matter where we are or what we are doing, we can talk to God and he can speak with us.
For prayer is not just a formal time that we spend each day taking our requests to the Lord and then it is over until the next scheduled time of prayer. It is not going through some routine or ritual, but this is about our relationship with God. For when we believe in Jesus Christ with God-gifted faith in him, and we die with him to sin, and we now walk with him in obedience to his commands, we enter into a spiritual covenant relationship with our Lord. The Holy Spirit comes to live within us, and he speaks truth to our hearts. And we should be able to hear him speak to us at any time.
I believe this is what is meant by “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.” It is like Jesus is live and in person with us sitting right beside us, and so we can just talk with him, and he can speak with us, if we are working a job, or caring for children, or driving a motor vehicle or whatever we might be doing. We can hear him, not audibly usually, and we can respond, even just in our thoughts. Prayer doesn’t always have to be out loud. And we don’t always have to be physically on our knees or in any particular position physically. And we can pray with our eyes wide open.
Praying for the Saints
“The saints” are not a group of dead people sanctioned by the Roman Catholic church who they have deemed as “saints,” according to their specific criteria of who qualifies as a “saint.” The saints of God are all who believe in Jesus Christ with biblical faith, who have died with him to sin, and who are walking in obedience to his commands, in practice, by the Spirit, not necessarily in absolute sinless perfection. They are all those who are living holy lives, pleasing to God, different from the world, because they are being conformed by God to the character of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
So, when we pray for the saints, we are praying for others who believe in Jesus Christ with God-persuaded faith in him, who have been crucified with him in death to sin, and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. And what should we pray for one another? We should pray that we will be strong in our faith and in our commitments to the Lord and that we will say “No!” to sin and “Yes!” to God, and to his will, in daily practice. And we should pray for all to be encouraged and strengthened in our faith walks.
And for those whose lives are committed to getting out the message of the gospel of our salvation to the people of the world, regardless of all opposition and persecution and rejection, we should pray that the truth of gospel will go forth from them in all boldness, and with the love of Christ for the people, and that they will speak the truth without hindrance, and because of their witness for the Lord and for his gospel that many people will surrender their lives to Jesus Christ, to be his, and to forsake their sins, and to now walk daily in obedience to his commands, in the strength of the Lord.
For “the gospel of Christ” is not what many people have turned it into in these days of trials and tribulation. The gospel message should not be taught via scattered Bible verses taught out of their appropriate context. So, in truth, we are not saved from our sins and guaranteed heaven when we die via lip service only. True biblical faith must result in us denying self, dying with Christ to sin, in practice, and walking in obedience to the Lord and to his New Covenant commands, by the Spirit. For if sin is our practice, and not obedience to God, we will not inherit eternal life with God.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
The Way That He Loves
By W. Elmo Mercer
Scripture: I John 3:1; I John 3:16
The way that He loves is as fair as the day,
That blesses my way with light.
The way that He loves is as soft as the breeze,
Caressing the trees at night.
So tender and precious is He,
Contented with Jesus I’ll be.
The way that He loves is so thrilling
Because His love reaches even me.
The way that He loves is as deep as the sea,
His spirit shall be my stay.
The way that He loves is as pure as a rose,
Much sweeter He grows each day.
His peace hovers near like a dove.
I know there’s a heaven above.
To Jesus I cling, life’s a wonderful thing
Because of the way He loves.
Caution: This link may contain ads
Pray for Boldness in Sharing the Gospel
An Original Work / March 22, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
