We're going to start working our way through the book of Ephesians. This morning it's called a Fighter's Prayer. It sounds kind of exciting, doesn't it—a fighter's prayer. It might be a UFC thing or something. I don't know what, in that context, what a fighter's prayer would be. It would be something like, Lord, don't allow me to get killed in the ring, or something like that. But that's really not what we're talking about this morning. We're talking about our lives as followers of Jesus Christ.

J.C. Ryle said: “a true Christian is one that has not only peace of conscience, but war within.” A spiritual battle rages whether we know it or not. Where do we see this? Colossians 3.5, Paul says, “Put to death therefore all that is earthly in you.”

If you've ever tried to put something to death that doesn't want to die, what do you got? You've got a fight on your hands.

Put to death, therefore. That's fighting language right there. Paul says in Romans 7, “When I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.” Later he says, “We are waging war.”

There's a war that rages. In the present age, the Christian life is really this. It's a war. It's a battle. It's a slugfest. But it's not an external war with others. Get that out of your mind.

I’m not talking about a cultural war and us going after the secular society, all that, that's not the war I'm talking about. It's not an external war. It's an internal war. It's a war really with ourselves. It's a war to put off sin, to actually follow Christ, to love God and not love the things of the world.

That's a war, that's a battle. To grow in godliness, growth is a battle. To center our life in Christ, to rightly find fulfillment, there's a battle, that's a fight in this life. So, if you know nothing of this war within, you have to ask yourself, you have to wonder if you actually follow Christ.

If you know nothing of this war, because following Christ is that way. So, if the Christian life is a continuous battle, then we must ask then—how do we fight in this battle? How are you fighting this battle? That's a question I want you to have in mind this morning. Now most are familiar with a fight of sorts, right? Where most of us are familiar with a fight against, the fight to stop sinning, right?

By the force of our wills, we try to live by rules, right? We try to stop sinning and will ourselves to stop doing these things we know we shouldn't be doing. And we know that kind of fight. But I have to ask, does this actually work? Does that way of fighting actually work? Just stop it.

This way is a human-centered, really external way, and the Bible actually talks about this way. And you know what it says about it? It's worthless. It's of no value whatsoever.

Colossians chapter two says. That's how that works. So, is there a better way? Well, of course there is. First, we must know that the battle is mainly an inward fight for, not an outward fight against. I'll say that again. The battle is an inward fight for, not an outward fight against, although it's somewhat that outward fight, but it must be inward.

Second, effective prayer is a key part of this fight, and we're given here in our passage a better way to pray.

So today, the message is this, that effective prayer in the fight of faith primarily focuses on seeing the light of the knowledge of God. The fight of the Christian life is to be continuously renewed inwardly.

It's an inward fight. At its base, it's a fight to believe. It's a fight to trust the promises of God in the midst of all circumstances of life, no matter where we are, to trust God and we'll learn much and hopefully be greatly challenged by this prayer, it's a prayer for the church.

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