Verse 18
Prayer and alertness (two participles in the Greek text) describe how we should "receive" present salvation and use the word appropriate to our trial. We should be in constant prayer in preparation for our spiritual battles and as we engage our enemy (cf. Mark 14:34-38; Colossians 4:2). The Spirit prays for us (Romans 8:26) and enables us to pray, as He enables us to do everything else.
"Man very easily takes his difficulties to his fellows instead of to God." [Note: Foulkes, p. 178.]
"Prayer" refers to our communication with God generally and "petition" to our supplications specifically. The antecedent of "this" is the first clause of the verse: "With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit". In addition to praying for our own needs we should also, as good soldiers, keep alert to the needs of other fellow soldiers, namely, all the saints. We must not fail them but pray for them persistently. The great need for prayer that exists is obvious in Paul’s use of the word "all" four times in this verse (cf. 1 Timothy 2:1).
"Prayer is an engine wieldable by every believer, mightier than all the embattled artillery of hell." [Note: Simpson, p. 153.]
". . . nuclear wars cannot be won with rifles. Likewise, satanic wars cannot be won by human energy." [Note: Hoehner, Ephesians, p. 859.]
Donna Reinhard pointed out that in the flow of Paul’s argument in Ephesians, we should understand spiritual warfare as influencing life within the church, not just as a personal matter. [Note: Donna B. Reinhard, "Ephesians 6:10-18 : A Call to Personal Piety or Another Way of Describing Union with Christ?" Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 48:3 (September 2005):521-32.]
"Satan trembles when he sees
The weakest saint upon his knees." [Note: Anonymous.]
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