What Are Prayer Warriors And Spiritual Warfare?

Q: What are prayer warriors and spiritual warfare?

A: I have not done a Q&A on spiritual warfare, but on the Enduring Word website, we have a series that I taught on spiritual warfare, going through the Ephesians 6 passage. I need to record that series again for the YouTube channel. It could be up to 30 years old now. It's good content, and I'm not embarrassed about it, but I would love to do it again.

Regarding the idea of some people being called spiritual warriors or prayer warriors, Paul does say that prayer is like wrestling; it is agonizing. There is a dynamic of effort, work, and struggle in prayer. It’s possible to take that title and talk about it in a good way, but it can also be done in a weird or arrogant way. I would look more at how the person regards that title. If they project pride, saying, 'I'm the spiritual special forces,' that’s concerning. However, there is something valid to that idea, and you would hope it’s not twisted in a weird way.

At the end of Paul's section in Ephesians chapter 6, where he talks about spiritual warfare, he wraps it up by saying to pray. That really is the effect of it, and there’s a very real sense in which that is how the armor of God gets put into action—through prayer. Paul emphasizes this connection between prayer and spiritual warfare in Ephesians chapter 6.

I've known people who would wake up in the night with a sense of urgency for a person or situation, often not knowing what to pray, just saying, 'Lord, help this person.' After they prayed, they would go right back to sleep. This is prayer cooperating with the will and outworking of God.