SOAKED AND GLAD OF IT!

In my previous blog entitled “Taking up the Whole Armor of God,” I wrote briefly about how Roman soldiers soaked their leather-covered shields before going into battle. In this way, when the enemy shot flaming arrows at them, instead of their wooden shields catching fire, the wet leather would extinguish the fiery darts.

There is a wonderful truth here for us in a world that is becoming increasingly dangerous. The picture of the “soaked” shield extinguishing the flaming arrows of the enemy has a very practical application for us.

First, we need to understand the definition of “soaked.” To be “soaked” means to be thoroughly saturated by immersion in water or another liquid.

I believe Paul wants us to understand that we can be “soaked” as followers of Christ. When we are “soaked” we have a shield of faith that is a strong defensive weapon and it will quench all the fiery darts that the enemy is shooting at us.

The question, then, is how to get “soaked” so that our shields are ready for battle. I don’t think the answer is complicated or requires some kind of extreme sacrifice but it does take effort and discipline on our part. I believe that “soaking” takes place when:

1. We are regularly immersed in the Word

In a recent survey of hundreds of evangelical Christians, only 19 percent indicated that they read the Word daily, and an additional 36 percent said they did so “a few times a month.” Biblical illiteracy among evangelical Christians is at an all-time high. 

God gave Joshua clear instructions for success in his life and ministry: “This Book of the Law (the Word of God) shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success” (Joshua 1:8).

How did Jesus quench the fiery darts the enemy shot at Him during the wilderness temptation? He answered the devil’s deception with the shield of God’s Word (see Matthew 4:1-11). “Soaking” in the Word means that we are there more than a few times a month!

2. We are regularly immersed in prayer

God talks to us through His Word and we talk to Him in prayer — He wants us to be in “conversation” with Him. Relationship cannot grow without communication.

A tragedy in our current church world is that relationship with God through prayer has been diminished to literally nothing. Prayer gatherings have been phased out in favor of fellowship with each other and teachings on how to be successful at bowling (or something equally innocuous).

A Christian who does not have a meaningful prayer life is a Christian destined for failure in his spiritual life! The soaking of prayer has been replaced with the dryness of contemporary thinking!

Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in the time of need.”

3. We are regularly immersed in worship

 “You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel” (Psalm 22:3). God responds to the praises of His people who, through their worship, maintain His kingship in their lives.

Worship is important, both at church and during our personal devotional times. Some days during my prayer time, I don’t ask the Lord for a thing; all I want to do is worship Him. I give thanks, I praise Him and I worship in song, and it’s most often during these times of worship that I experience His presence most intensely!

Proud people don’t worship or pray, and God withdraws from the proud (see 1 Peter 5:5). However, He responds to the humble who worship and pray. When we are soaked with His presence we are protected from the snares of the enemy!

“For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite’” (Isaiah 57:15).

4. We are to pray in the Spirit

 “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?”  (1 Corinthians 6:19).

I often wonder how many Christians really believe that they are indwelt by the living presence of His Spirit. It seems to me that many of us believe it as a concept but not a reality because we tend to live our lives without any overt acknowledgement of the indwelling Holy Spirit. You don’t have to be a Pentecostal/Charismatic to learn to pray in the Spirit and to be soaked “in the Spirit.”

Ephesians 6:18: “Praying at all times in the Spirit.”

Again, it doesn’t have to be lengthy but regular and sincere as we honor the Spirit within us and allow Him to pray through us.

The alternative to being a “soaked” believer is not very attractive. I don’t want to think about trying to protect myself with a shield that would actually add to the ability of the fiery darts of the enemy to burn rather than extinguishing them.

I’m all wet and I intend to stay that way!