The Prayer Before the Battle
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The Prayer Before the Battle
The Prayer Before the Battle
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
So how is God involved now? How does God choose to make a difference in our world? Through our prayers. I don’t understand it. Why would he trust us to pray like we should? And why would he choose to use our imperfect prayers and impure motives to do his work? The best that I can understand, God chooses to work through our prayers to build our faith and to draw others to faith.
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Now there are all kinds of prayers. A family was having guests over for dinner. At the table, the mother turned to her six-year-old daughter and said, “Dear, would you like to say the blessing?”
“I wouldn't know what to say,” replied the little girl.
“Just say what you hear Mommy say, sweetie.”
Her daughter took a deep breath, bowed her head, and solemnly said, “Dear Lord, why the heck did I invite all these people to dinner?”
Now that's an honest prayer!
So there are all kinds of prayers. A few years ago, Steven Curtis Chapman wrote the theme song for the National Day of Prayer. The chorus went,
Let us pray, let us pray, everywhere in every way
Every moment of the day, it is the right time
For the Father above, He is listening with love
And He wants to answer us, so let us pray
Sometimes we pray quick prayers, like, “Help me, Lord! ... Give me the right words here ... Change my attitude ... Give me strength.” But sometimes we pray more earnestly. Sometimes we are absolutely desperate for God. These kinds of prayers are like spiritual warfare: we need God to overcome the evil one.
Maybe these kinds of prayers are what J.C. Ryle said, “Trials are intended to make us think; to wean us from the world; to send us to the Bible; to drive us to our knees.”
So when it comes to more serious kinds of prayers, consider these three action steps as you go into battle:
Recognize the Reality of the Spiritual World (v. 12)
Recognize the Reality of the Spiritual World (v. 12)
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
We think the physical world is what’s real.
We think the physical world is what’s real.
But you know what? It’s not as real as the spiritual world. The physical world is only temporary.
All that you see, all that you experience with your five senses, it’s all going to pass away someday.
All that you see, all that you experience with your five senses, it’s all going to pass away someday.
What’s most real is the spiritual world. Why? Because elements of it will last forever. You have a physical body that is temporary, but you have a spiritual self, some people call it a soul, that is forever.
What’s most real is the spiritual world. Why? Because elements of it will last forever. You have a physical body that is temporary, but you have a spiritual self, some people call it a soul, that is forever.
Our enemies are not people. We must see beyond people. Satan may use people to persecute us, lie to us, cheat us, hurt us, or even kill us. \
But our real enemy lurks in the shadows of the unseen world, moving people as pawns on the chessboard of time.
It’s true. You have an adversary who wants to attack your desires, your thoughts, even how you see and treat your body. So you and I need to be on guard against Satan’s schemes.
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
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I find it interesting that every piece of “armor” described in that passage refers to the character of Christ. In other words, put on Christ-likeness – abide in Christ – and you will fend off the attacks of the enemy.
We abide in Christ through surrender and constant communion with Him. As you suit up with the armor of God, here are five prayers to pray against Satan’s attacks on your heart, mind, emotions, mouth, and body.
1. A Prayer to Guard Your Heart
1. A Prayer to Guard Your Heart
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
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Lord God, Captain of my heart, Satan knows if I follow Your Greatest Commandment – to love You with all my heart, soul, and mind () – he is powerless over me.
23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; For out of it are the issues of life.
This is why, I think, as leaders we must be diligent to guard our hearts.
This is necessary for at least three reasons:
This is necessary for at least three reasons:
Because your heart is extremely valuable. We don’t guard worthless things. I take my garbage to the street every Wednesday night.
It is picked up on Thursday morning. It sits on the sidewalk all night, completely unguarded. Why? Because it is worthless.
Not so with your heart. It is the essence of who you are. It is your authentic self—the core of your being.
It is where all your dreams, your desires, and your passions live. It is that part of you that connects with God and other people.
Just like your physical body, if your heart—your spiritual heart—dies, your leadership dies. This is why Solomon says, “Above all else.” He doesn’t say, “If you get around to it” or “It would be nice if.” No, he says, make it your top priority.
Because your heart is the source of everything you do. King Solomon says it is the “wellspring of life.” In other words, it is the source of everything else in your life. Your heart overflows into thoughts, words, and actions.
In Tennessee, where I live, we have thousands and thousands of natural springs, where water flows to the surface of the earth from deep under the ground. It then accumulates in pools or runs off into creeks and streams.
If you plug up the spring, you stop the flow of water. If you poison the water, the flow becomes toxic. In either situation, you threaten life downstream. Everything depends on the condition of the spring.
Likewise, if your heart is unhealthy, it has an impact on everything else. It threatens your family, your friends, your ministry, your career, and, indeed, your legacy. It is, therefore, imperative that you guard it.
Because your heart is under constant attack. When Solomon says to guard your heart, he implies that you are living in a combat zone—one in which there are casualties.
Many of us are oblivious to the reality of this war. We have an enemy who is bent on our destruction. He not only opposes God, but he opposes everything that is aligned with Him—including us.
Guard my heart, Lord Jesus, so that it beats for You alone.
Don’t let me grow complacent toward You or be lured to love anyone or anything more than You.
Remove the idols from my heart so that
You alone command my allegiance and utmost affections Help me to love and forgive others as You have forgiven me so the enemy can get no foothold through hate or bitterness on my part.
Cultivate in my heart Your love that “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (>, NASB).
Finally, Lord, set my heart on things above, not on earthly things.
Help me to remember that You died for me and my life is now hidden which Christ in God (>). Increase my longing for heaven so this world holds no power over me.
2. A Prayer to Defend Your Mind
2. A Prayer to Defend Your Mind
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Ask the Lord to guard and direct your mind.
Ask the Lord to guard and direct your mind.
My mind is the place of my intellect, reasoning, and intentions; my behavior begins in my mind, and my mind is where spiritual transformation happens ().
The object of my regular thinking will determine how my days, years, and ultimately my life plays out. Everything starts in the mind.
Too often, I simply don’t bother to ask for the Lord’s protection, direction, and oversight of my mind. From now on, I will do my best to start my day with a simple prayer: Jesus, by your Holy Spirit, keep my mind firmly set where you want it to be focused today.
Recognize the source of self-focused and self-defeating thoughts.
Recognize the source of self-focused and self-defeating thoughts.
Given that my behavior begins in my mind, and my mind is where spiritual transformation happens, is it any surprise that the adversary wants to mess with my thinking? It must be his favorite first attempt to distract and disarm Christians, and it usually works.
I have experienced periods of mental oppression that seem almost physical.
A feeling of heaviness accompanies my self-defeating thoughts. Most of the time, I realize that I am engaged in a spiritual battle of some sort, but I cannot immediately free myself of it. I pray. I confess. I read God’s Word. I pray some more. (It should be noted that in my case this is not clinical depression and, if it were, I would seek medical treatment.)
Eventually my mind is unencumbered, but it is not because I thought positively enough or talked myself out of it. That may work temporarily, but it won’t root out the problem. I know who the enemy is, and I also know the only One who can defeat him.
Recognize the enemy, and fight him with God’s power and with Scriptural truth.
Replace self-focused thinking with a God-focused mindset.
Replace self-focused thinking with a God-focused mindset.
After praying for the Lord to protect my mind and recognizing the enemy, I have a choice. Will I train my brain to concentrate on the things of God, or will I let it be consumed by the things of this world?
To focus my mind on God requires some work.
If I don’t take purposeful action to set my mind on Jesus Christ, then I’m allowing my mind to go anywhere it wants to go. I know where it will go, and it’s nowhere good.
I know myself. So, even when I am fully confident of God’s love and care, I still must decide what I will and will not think about.
The following verses help me to set my mind on things above, and not on earthly things:
1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
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I’ll pray for the Lord to protect my mind, help me recognize the enemy, and work to keep my mind focused on God. Sometimes I will be successful, and sometimes I will not be. Over time, it will be more often the former.
There are days when all I can do is rest in the truth that I am at peace with God, that I am free from accusation, and that I am God’s child.
Through faith in Jesus Christ, we are at peace with God. “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” ().
In Christ, we are free from accusation. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” ().
In Christ, we are children of God and heirs along with Jesus. “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ…” ().
My identity in Jesus Christ is the central fact that influences my present circumstances and determines my eternal future, and it is available by faith alone. Don’t doubt; don’t wonder; don’t question it.
Accept God’s gracious gift, and rest in it.
Step 5: Repeat steps 1-4 daily.
Step 5: Repeat steps 1-4 daily.
By using these five techniques, I hope that the next time I feel stupid, ignored, or I question my ability, I will learn to test my thinking. God doesn’t condemn me, so I know that thoughts of self-condemnation are not from him. There is no fear in God’s love, so when I feel afraid or defeated, I can safely ignore those thoughts too.
Ultimately, God wants me to be transformed to be like his Son, Jesus. Jesus did not engage in the type of mental machinations that I’ve described—he was totally focused on the will of the Father. Because that was true of him, it will increasingly be true of me…and someday, that work in me will be complete.
How do you keep your mind from dwelling on unhealthy, untrue, or distracting thoughts?
How do you keep your mind from dwelling on unhealthy, untrue, or distracting thoughts?
Topics: Spiritual GrowthTHE AUTHOR
Judy Allen
Judy Allen
Judy Allen is an area director of Community Bible Study in Arlington Heights, Ill.,, and she writes at Connecting Dots to God. Judy also enjoys reading, walking, hiking, and spending time with family and friends.
Almighty God, cover my mind with the helmet of Your salvation, reminding me constantly that I am Your child and the enemy can’t mess with me. Fix my thoughts, Lord Jesus, on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. Help me to think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise so Your peace will guard my mind ().
Don’t let me copy the behavior and customs of this world, but transform me into a new person by changing the way I think.
Then I will learn to recognize Your will for me which is good and pleasing and perfect (, NLT).
Saturate my mind with Your truth so I am convinced that the answers are found in Your Word, not out in the world.
3. A Prayer to Calm Your Emotions
3. A Prayer to Calm Your Emotions
6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Satan often attacks Christians through our emotions. We can be thinking with correct beliefs, yet still fall victim to evil through feelings that tempt us to sin: lust, anger, fear, jealousy, discouragement, etc. Sometimes we discount the importance of paying attention to our emotions day by day, thinking that the right convictions should be enough to strengthen us against evil. Yet, when attacks come into our lives, they often enter by way of our emotions
1. Fill your mind with timeless truth so you can focus on that despite changing emotions. The more biblical truth you have in your mind when Satan attacks through your emotions, the more likely it is that you’ll win the battle.
So make a habit of reading the Bible and meditating on the words you read. Every day, ask the Holy Spirit to renew your mind. Then God’s truth will come to your mind in any situation where your emotions are shouting at you to make a certain choice. As the Bible’s powerful words come to you during emotional moments, they will remind you of what’s really true so you can make decisions from an accurate perspective.
2. Give yourself a timeout when you notice your emotions spiraling out of control. Stop to reflect and pray during times when you realize that a feeling is overwhelming you.
Just like parents give children timeouts to teach them how to recognize and control their emotions, you can take a timeout and check in with your heavenly parent – God – when strong emotions come to your attention.
During those breaks, consider what you’re really feeling, and why.
For instance, if you feel lust pulling you toward your cell phone and compelling you to look at pornography on it, stop the process by taking a timeout.
Try to identify the emotions you’re experiencing at that moment. If you can, figure out why you’re feeling that way (maybe you’ve been dealing with stress that you’re trying to relieve through porn). By forcing yourself to step out of the situation and study it, you can stop unhealthy impulsive behavior and gain a wiser perspective on what’s happening.
3. Take care of your physical health, which is connected to your emotional health.
4. Take care of your physical health, which is connected to your emotional health. If your body isn’t feeling well, your emotions can be difficult to manage. Just think about the last time you snapped at someone in anger while you were tired, or when you worried about something while hungry, but then felt better after eating. Ask God to help you develop healthy physical habits that will nurture your body, mind, and spirit as they work together according to God’s design. Do your best to eat nutritious foods, drink plenty of water, exercise regularly, and get enough sleep on a regular basis. The more physically stable you are, the more emotionally stable you can be.
If your body isn’t feeling well, your emotions can be difficult to manage.
Just think about the last time you snapped at someone in anger while you were tired, or when you worried about something while hungry, but then felt better after eating.
Ask God to help you develop healthy physical habits that will nurture your body, mind, and spirit as they work together according to God’s design. Do your best to eat nutritious foods, drink plenty of water, exercise regularly, and get enough sleep on a regular basis. The more physically stable you are, the more emotionally stable you can be.
4. Learn lessons God wants to teach you through your emotions. God often uses
Think of your emotions as school bells ringing for you to pay attention, and the Holy Spirit as your teacher who communicates with you once you come to class. Rather than just reacting to your emotions (as Satan tempts you to do), respond to them with the purpose of learning and growing closer to God in the process.
As long as you’re living in this fallen world, you’ll have to deal with spiritual attacks that come at you through your emotions. But you can win those battles, every time, by relying on the Holy Spirit.
32 He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; And he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.
Prayer
Lord, keep the enemy at bay by calming my emotions with the peace of Your presence. Help me to follow Your command and not worry about anything, but pray about everything, with a thankful heart offering up prayers and requests to you so that You can give me that peace that no one can completely understand – a peace that will control the way I think and feel (, CEV).
Remind me, daily, that You are the Only One who can meet my emotional needs so I don’t look to any person for my identity, validation, or for my love tank to be filled. Thank You that You are the God of peace, the God of order, the God who heals my wounds and helps me sort through and make sense of life. You are not the God of chaos or confusion. Fill me with Your Spirit so I may express to others only love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control ().
4. A Prayer to Cover Your Mouth
4. A Prayer to Cover Your Mouth
19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
Lord, Jesus, guard my mouth so that my words will be few. Help me to be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger ().
Don’t let me speak reckless words that can pierce like swords. Instead, give me a tongue that brings healing ().
18 There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: But the tongue of the wise is health.
Don’t let me give in to gossip or speak careless critical words that will wound others. Keep the enemy far from me so that no unwholesome talk comes out of my mouth but only what is helpful for building others up, according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Don’t let me grieve the Holy Spirit through my words ().
29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. 30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Don’t let me give in to gossip or speak careless critical words that will wound others. Keep the enemy far from me so that no unwholesome talk comes out of my mouth but only what is helpful for building others up, according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Don’t let me grieve the Holy Spirit through my words ().
5. A Prayer to Protect Your Body
5. A Prayer to Protect Your Body
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
My body belongs to God. It is His property, not mine. I don’t own it, God does. He created my body, and He expects me to use it the way He intended for it to be used.
My body belongs to God. It is His property, not mine. I don’t own it, God does. He created my body, and He expects me to use it the way He intended for it to be used.
Jesus paid for my body when He died for me on the cross.
Jesus paid for my body when He died for me on the cross.
God’s Spirit lives in my body.
God’s Spirit lives in my body.
Lord, I give my body to You. Let it be a living and holy sacrifice, the kind You will find acceptable (, NLT).
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
I know from Your Word that Satan can not sift me like wheat or even lay a hand on me without Your permission. So place Your hedge around me so that my body – Your temple – can be preserved, pure, holy, and healthy for You ().
I know from Your Word that Satan can not sift me like wheat or even lay a hand on me without Your permission. So place Your hedge around me so that my body – Your temple – can be preserved, pure, holy, and healthy for You ().
Block Satan’s attempts to make me doubt that I am “fearfully and wonderfully made” () and don’t let me listen to his taunts to harm my body through neglect, contempt, addiction or abuse.
I am Yours, Lord Jesus, and I want to glorify You in my body so keep me from Satan’s attempts and the temptations in this world and in my flesh to make me impure, to dress immodestly, to make my body a showcase or advertisement for evil or self glorification.
As you pray that God will develop the fruits of His Holy Spirit in every area of your life, you will be invincible through prayer to the one who seeks to tear you down and make you less like Christ.
Publication date: September 7, 2016
This is not an ordinary battle. We are in a greater arena than the one we can see.
The Bible talks about angelic beings who serve God as his messengers and warriors. They act on his behalf.
Paul listed four distinct Satanic orders against whom we wrestle in our spiritual warfare: principalities, powers, the rulers of this world’s darkness, and wicked spirits in high places.
Hosts of spirit beings reside in the unseen world. We cannot see them unless they choose to be seen. In the beginning they were all good and glorious. They came from God’s hand, took their place around God’s throne, and sang His praises. There were ranks upon ranks of angels and archangels, cherubim and seraphim. At the head of them all—the highest of all created intelligences, the supreme creature in the ranks of the angel throng—was Lucifer, son of the morning, the anointed cherub.
Hosts of spirit beings reside in the unseen world. We cannot see them unless they choose to be seen. In the beginning they were all good and glorious. They came from God’s hand, took their place around God’s throne, and sang His praises. There were ranks upon ranks of angels and archangels, cherubim and seraphim. At the head of them all—the highest of all created intelligences, the supreme creature in the ranks of the angel throng—was Lucifer, son of the morning, the anointed cherub.
The Bible talks about angelic beings who serve God as his messengers and warriors. They act on his behalf.
The Bible talks about angelic beings who serve God as his messengers and warriors. They act on his behalf.
A third of them fell from heaven with Satan, when his pride got the best of him. And those are demons, fallen angels.
Are you prayed up and ready for the battle?
The spiritual world is a world of battle, between good and evil, between angels and demons, between God’s will and Satan’s will.
Many years ago I loved the fiction books of Frank Peretti, like “This Present Darkness” and “Pursuing the Darkness.”
In these and others, he masterfully pulled back the curtain to show us the spiritual world that is otherwise outside of our grasp. And he tied the events of that world to the prayers of faithful Christians.
The Apostle Paul contrasts these two worlds—the physical world and the spiritual world—in verse 12.
After he recognizes that there is a scheming devil behind all the evil in the world, he writes,
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
So the first thing we need to do is to recognize where our real struggle lies.
But below the surface, there are demons at work seeking to sow conflict, seeking to inflate selfishness and pride and greed and hatred, seeking to destroy relationships and thwart God’s plans.
You hear about hatred and murder, lust and rape.
You hear about hatred and murder, lust and rape. Behind each terrible act is the devil and his demons, tempting people one step at a time until they choose to act in sinful ways. As God warned Cain before he committed the first murder, “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it” ().
Behind each terrible act is the devil and his demons, tempting people one step at a time until they choose to act in sinful ways.
7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
As God warned Cain before he committed the first murder, “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it” ().
As God warned Cain before he committed the first murder, “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it” ().
Recognize the reality of the spiritual world.
Know there is a spiritual conflict happening around you, unseen but real nonetheless. And then, #2,
2. Rely on God’s power to face Satan (vv. 10-11)
2. Rely on God’s power to face Satan (vv. 10-11)
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
You don’t want to go up against the demonic alone. You might feel like the seven sons of Sceva, who were not even believers but were trying to cast out a demon in Jesus’ name.
15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? 16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
Don’t be a “Sceva deceiva!” (Like that?) Allow Jesus to face Satan.
Don’t be a “Sceva deceiva!” (Like that?) Allow Jesus to face Satan.
Paul urges us to rely on God’s power. Listen to Paul’s words in today’s passage, in verses 10 and 11: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” Paul says, “Be strong...in the LORD and in HIS might power.” Spiritual warfare is not through your power but through the Lord’s power.
Allow him to do the fighting through your prayers. And then #3,
3. Suit up visually for prayer (vv. 13-18)
3. Suit up visually for prayer (vv. 13-18)
Paul describes a “panoply” of armor the believer puts on for spiritual warfare.
The actual word in the Greek is “panoply.” It’s a complete collection, a full suit of armor. We’ll briefly look at each item, from head to foot.
You can follow along with the picture on your outline. I’ve borrowed from the Southern Baptist MasterLife discipleship course this depiction of a Roman soldier in Paul’s day.
First, the helmet of salvation: We can only pray because we are God’s. He has saved us and brought us into a relationship with him. I gave you a verse to think about with each piece of armor. Here I think about , which says, “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” The one who is in you, God’s Holy Spirit, is greater than the one who is in the world, the devil. You begin your prayer time remembering before God that you are his. That’s the only reason you can enter into spiritual warfare. Just as the Kevlar helmet, or “steel pot” of old days (hold up) protects the vital organ of the brain, Paul asks us to visualize the helmet of salvation which puts us into relationship with our God.
Secondly, the breastplate of righteousness. This was the body armor of old; it protected the vital organs: the heart, lungs, stomach, and intestines. says, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” The heart in the Bible is that center place of one’s will. David’s prayer here speaks of allowing God to get our heart right as we begin: “Help me to know my own heart in this matter, Lord, and let me be about your heart instead.”
The belt of truth held together all the other armor. (I’ve got a web belt here, that holds up all my load bearing equipment.) We must keep our motives as pure as possible as we approach Jesus, the way, the TRUTH, and the life (). says, “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” Ask God to keep your motives true and pure.
And so it goes, with the sword of the Spirit (), which is the word of God, and the shield of faith (), and the shoes of the gospel of peace (, ). Each one prepares us to enter this serious time of prayer before God.
Paul looked around him, and he saw lots of Roman soldiers. After all, he was under house arrest when he wrote the letter to the Ephesians. And he thought about the armor they wore, and he used it to remind himself of how to suit up in prayer, how to attack the evil one through the power of God Almighty, how to engage in spiritual warfare.
Oswald Chambers once wrote, “Prayer does not fit us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work!” Next time you are weighted down with anxiety, next time you are wondering, “What are you up to, God?,” come before God in earnest prayer. Use the armor as a tool to suit up, to prepare to meet the God of the universe, to plead for his will to be done in the world, for his glory and our good. Let’s pray:
Lord, thank you for your call to earnest prayer. We are humbled that you have chosen to work through our prayers to accomplish your will in the world. We know there is evil, and we need your help to combat it. Help us to be faithful to take up the call to battle in this vital work. We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.