Thank you. Many people think prayer is something that's good to do, a means of communicating with God when we're facing trouble, or to thank him for a meal, or to seek comfort at bedtime.

But prayer is so much more than that.

And today on Truth for Life weekend,

we'll learn why the Bible describes prayer as an essential weapon.

Alistair Begg is teaching from Ephesians chapter 6,

and we're looking at verses 17 and 18.

As you study the Bible for yourself, and some of you are taking notes this evening,

let me remind you of three important principles in studying the Bible and in coming to grips

with the Word of God.

These are principles of biblical interpretation. They are not unique to me.

You'll find them everywhere. When you read the Bible, read the Bible in the awareness of its

natural sense. In other words, read the Bible with simplicity in light of its most natural sense.

Don't read the Bible like a mystery book.

Don't read the Bible as if somehow or another somebody has hidden something somewhere,

and what you have to do is you have to find the code which cracks the key

and takes you to the place and you open it up and go down and eventually you come to it.

That is all the subtlety of the cults again.

They've always got all this funny business and funny key.

And when your pastor, if you have a pastor, he tells you, well, you'll never really understand it unless this and that, and take away the number you first thought of and multiplied by two, you know, and then

divide it by six, and then you'll find the numerical system and then apply that to chapter

nine and all that kind of stuff. Just leave, just go away. Go for a coffee or something,

if you're subjected to that. It's facile and it's dangerous

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