10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.12 For 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. 13 Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 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."
Ephesians 6:10-18
The second thing that Paul emphasises is that 'all saints' should be the object of our prayers. This is a very important consideration, with implications that are far reaching. What we mean by this is that Paul's mind is not so much on inward, subjective prayer as on outward, objective considerations - that is to say, even in the context of the certain battles and pressures the Ephesians were experiencing, he is not making specific reference to them, but to a much larger and more comprehensive reality, namely the battle in which the whole people of God are engaged. One sees this readily enough in our Lord's own words, when he said to his disciples, 'When ye pray, say - not "help me in my pressures today" - but "Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name ...."' In other words, our prayer must be first of all taken up with the things of God, and the honour and glory of His great Name. Then, when the divine order is established, personal needs can be brought to the throne of grace. This is an entirely safe and healthy order, but it does cut across merely natural instinct and inclination. For when we are under pressure our instinct is to become preoccupied with our own particular problems, battles and temptations. But Paul seems to be saying to us, 'Do not concentrate your prayer on yourself, lift your eyes to a higher perspective and pray for all saints'. It is, of course, very possible to become fixed in self-preoccupying prayer; and that leads to morbidity. Often, the worst thing we can do about our temptations is to pray about them, for that simply focuses our attention upon them and we never get away from them, but become bogged down, in a morass of depression. And Paul's counsel is: relate your battle to the battle. Strike a blow for the larger cause in your praying. Look at the main strategy of God, not merely at the infinitesimal part of it that is your problem.