9以弗所六章十七至十八节说,“还要借着各样的祷告和祈求,……时时在灵里祷告,并尽力坚持,在这事上儆醒,且为众圣徒祈求。”“借着各样的祷告和祈求”这句话,乃是形容下文的“接受”。借着祷告,我们不仅接受救恩的头盔,也接受神的话。这指明我们需要借着各样的祷告和祈求,接受神的话。我们接受神的话时,需要祷告。我们已经看见,神全副的军装有六项,祷告可视为第七项。这一项是唯一、具决定性、不可或缺的凭借,叫我们借以应用其他各项,使军装实际地供我们使用(以弗所书生命读经,六六一页)。
9Ephesians 6:18 says, “By means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints.” The phrase by means of all prayer and petition modifies the word receive in verse 17. By prayer we receive both the helmet of salvation and the word of God. This indicates that we need to receive the word of God by means of all prayer and petition. We need to pray as we are receiving the word of God. We have seen that the whole armor of God is composed of six items. Prayer may be considered the seventh. It is the unique, crucial, and vital means by which we apply the other items, making the armor available to us in a practical way. (Life-study of Ephesians, p. 537)