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In this exegetical examination of Ephesians 6:10-20, the historical, cultural, literary and
social backgrounds will be scrutinized in effort to argue that prayer is important to
spiritual warfare. Many read this passage of scripture and spend time talking about what
we wrestle against, but I argue that more important is how we wrestle. Knowing what the
challenge is, is half the battle; knowing how you will win the fight is what is most
important. We will take a look at this passage and seek to hear what the original audience
heard and how they may have interpreted what they heard. How aware were they, of
spiritual warfare and prayer working in tandem to bring about spiritual deliverance?
In this passage Paul is teaching the church at Ephesus how to pray and defeat the true
enemy of the church, as opposed to fighting one another. The principles of this passage
are simple: you must first realize that there is a real spiritual war occurring; then you
must prepare for spiritual warfare by seeking God’s truth in His Word, living according
to His Word and being rooted in Jesus Christ; and finally, that you must pray that you
standfast and triumph in spiritual warfare. The passage begins in v.10 as a contrast to
what Paul had spoken in the previous nine verses. The church at Ephesus had been
instructed not to commit acts of defiance, disobedience or mistreatment of those that
serve under you but instead (v.10) we wrestle not against flesh and blood but in spiritual
warfare. This verse highlights one of the central principles, they had to realize that they
were in a spiritual battle and not one with their fellow man. Paul exposes spiritual forces
at work, that are not visible to the human eye, to prompt the believers at Ephesus to use
the power of prayer, given them by God, to enter into and fight in the spirit realm.
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Paul ultimately breaks down specific instructions for the believer entering spiritual
warfare charging them to don spiritual battle gear and referring to it as the whole armor
of God (v13), this parallels the principle that we must seek God’s truth in His Word. You
have to know the Word of God to pray the Word of God. Finally, not only did Paul
admonishes them to pray at all times in the spirit with all things in view, but also to pray
for one another, making intercession for all saints. This practice will cause them to
triumph over their spiritual enemy and to help their fellow believers to do the same.
The principles fit in the overall narrative of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. God
has been trying to teach us from the garden that the battle is not physical, nor can it be.
The adversary, the devil is a spiritual being having an effect on the physical world and
the people that live in it. The Book of 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 reads this way:
for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the
destruction of fortresses. We are destroying arguments and all arrogance raised
against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the
obedience of Christ
This passage indicates also that there is a spiritual battle happening and not one that can
be fought with our natural being. Another biblical example of spiritual warfare would
have to be the story of Job and how Satan challenged everything he had in order to prove
that job would turn from God. A very real conversation took place in the spiritual realm
and the outcome was to challenge Job. Something in the spirit realm effected Job in the
natural realm. This is in line with the first example given of 2 Corinthians 10:4*5 and the
focus passage for this paper. When reading such subjects in the Word of God, you have
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to be conscious of who is controlling the meaning of the passage. Is it the author or is it
the reader? In this case, I argue that it has to be the author. Authorial intent must be
respected when reading Ephesians 6:10-20 or else you might find yourself thinking with
the part of your brain that is a marvel fan. The passage speaks of spiritual wickedness in
high places and rulers of darkness of this world, and that all sounds like something that
you would see in a movie until you focus on what the author is saying and who the author
was saying it to. Paul was speaking to the people at Ephesus and writing them about
many different things. He spoke earlier in the book about things like the wonder of their
salvation, peace, unity, and divine power being present in their lives; that all sounds
pleasant and easy to hear and then, Paul drops this section of his letter that was surely
unsettling when first read. As read in Ephesians: The Mystery of the Body of Christ,
“Paul is specific about the nature of our evil opponents: “we do not wrestle against flesh
and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over
this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (v. 12).
The fact that they inhabit “the heavenly places” indicates that they have run of what we
might call the celestial sphere (Kent 2013).” The audience that first heard this letter was
a group of people that were previously pagan worshippers. They would have had some
understanding of spiritual beings because they had a belief system, although polytheistic,
they did believe in the supernatural. Paul was making it clear to them how we fight
against spiritual things and what weaponry we used to do it. Here Paul’s authorial intent
was evident, his writing controlled the meaning when written and it controls the meaning
for the 21st century church.
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Specific and measurable applications for the principles outlined in this paper are solely
dependent upon the dedication of the believer’s desire to know and understand that
spiritual warfare is real and that they have to be active in the battle to be victorious in the
battle by God’s standards. The principle of preparing for spiritual warfare by seeking
God’s truth in His Word, living according to His Word and being rooted in Jesus Christ
requires that you read the Word with understanding and that you be committed to getting
that understanding through proper study. The historical-cultural background of
Ephesians 6:10-20, for example, was that of the people that it was written to; in our text
book we learn that “God (the ultimate source) spoke through the human writers of
scripture (the immediate source) to address the real life needs of people at a particular
time in a particular culture (Hays 2020).” With that understanding, then we know that the
audience at Ephesus had a specific need when it came to understanding the draw into a
life with Christ. All letters written to them would have then been written in language
specific to their understanding. With their culture being formerly paganistic, it makes
since then that Paul would write to them and use the descriptors that he used to turn their
attention to the need for prayer in spiritual warfare.
The next principle would be realizing that there is a real Spiritual war occurring. The
only way to practice this principle is that you spend time in prayer coupled with word
studies, seeking what the spirit realm is and how it affects us here on earth. Over time,
you will be able to measure results by how quickly you are able to release the stresses of
these challenges and trust God for the ultimate victory. The person that is able to do this,
lives with very little upset and stress. And the final principle is that you pray often that
you are able to standfast in warfare. Humans can also get weary at doing well when they
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have been diligent and there seems to be no reprieve over an extended period of time, but
I go back to the Job example, Job had to remain immovable to get to the rewarded life
that he received after the spiritual battle had ended.
In conclusion, the passage, the central key to spiritual warfare is prayer and prayer often.
We cannot think that a battle that began in heaven and has played out here on earth can
be won without communicating with God (spirit). God is all powerful, yet, He expects us
to talk to Him for direction. As Paul gave the instructions in the preceding 9 verses, he
outlined for the Ephesians how they are to interact one with another. And from parents
and children to masters and slaves, they must all take on the full armor of God and pray.
The authorial intent here is clear, the author wanted his audience to know that there does
exist, more than meets the eye; but also, that God had provided them with the weaponry
that they needed to fight against those forces. Through prayer.
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Bibliography
Borgman, Brian. Spiritual Warfare: A Biblical and Balanced Perspective. Grand Rapids,
Michigan: Reformation Heritage Books, 2014.
Hays, J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel. Grasping God's Word. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan,
2020.
Hoehner, Harold W. Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary. Grand rapids, Michigan: Baker
Academic, 2002.
Kent, Hughes R. Ephesians: The Mystery of the Body of Christ. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway,
2013.
Neufield, Thomas R. Yoder. Put on the Armour of God: The Divine Warrior from Isaiah to
Ephesians. Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997.
Trebilco, Paul. The Early Christiansin Ephesus from Paul to Ignatius. Mohr Siebeck, 2019.
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