THE ARMOR OF GOD AND PRAYER

“Praying at all times in the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18)

Paul’s final statement in his teaching on the armor of God is not about another piece of armor. He finishes his teaching on the sword of the Spirit, and without breaking the continuity he immediately ties in the importance of “praying at all times in the Spirit.”

I believe we must understand at least two very important things about why Paul finishes with this emphatic statement.

1. Each piece of the armor is made effective only as it is coupled with prayer. We can put on the shoes of the gospel or take up the shield of faith and say within ourselves, “Well, that’s it! I’m protected now and nothing can touch me.” Such an attitude is pride, and pride is not protection but is, in fact, a weakness that the enemy will exploit.

Those pieces of armor only become really effective when they are coupled with the humility of earnest prayer.

2. Since Paul connects the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” with “praying always in the Spirit,” I believe he was bringing to our attention the power of praying the Word. Perhaps another way to say this is that when we pray, we need to bring our prayers into alignment with the Word of God. When we begin praying the Word, we’ll be much more effective in our use of “the sword of the Spirit” and we’ll see more victory.

There are numerous examples of the New Testament church praying the Word.

Acts 4:23-31 is a powerful portrayal of the church praying the Word in a time of need. Peter and John had been arrested because they had been preaching that Jesus had risen from the dead, that He was alive, and that He was the Messiah. The rulers arrested and threatened them, saying that they must stop speaking this in public or teaching the people in the name of Jesus.

After they were released, they gathered with other believers and shared what had just happened and what the warning of the rulers had been. Immediately they all began to pray together, and as a part of their prayer, someone led them to pray Psalm 2:1-2. Then it says, “And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31, ESV).

That’s powerful praying!

The greatest model of using the sword of the Spirit is the example the Lord Jesus Himself gives us as He faced temptation in the wilderness. I know I referenced this in the last blog, but I believe that it’s important enough to repeat. When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, He countered the attack of the enemy with the Word of God. In each temptation, Jesus strikes back with, “It is written,” and then He quoted a scripture that brought defeat to the temptation (see Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13).

The model that Jesus gave us is the one we must learn to follow in order to defeat the attacks of the enemy. Jesus is showing us how to wield the “sword of the Spirit.”

Based on the example that Jesus gave us, we need to have a good working understanding of scripture and the promises that are available to us.

Here are a couple of examples of using scripture as the sword of the Spirit in prayer:

1.    When you are afraid and the circumstances of life are difficult.

Scripture — “Even thou I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod (the Word) and your staff (the Holy Spirit), they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4, NIV).

     

Prayer — “Lord, I stand upon the truth of Your Word. Your Word says, ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,  I know You are with me and the Holy Spirit and Your Word comfort me; therefore I will not fear.’”

2.    When health issues are troubling you.

Scripture — “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11, NKJV).

Prayer — “Heavenly Father, I know that Your Spirit dwells in me. It was Your Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead and is giving life to my body because Your Word declares it to be so.”

These are just examples of incorporating God’s Word into our praying. We must learn to use the sword of the Spirit more in our praying. The enemy is on the attack today as never before and the attack is not going to be stopped by anything but God’s people putting on the armor of God and using the sword of the Spirit!

This final statement by Paul, “praying always in the Spirit,” completes his teaching on the armor of God. He wasn’t just throwing this in to remind us to pray. Paul was much more intentional than to just put in a few more words. I believe he was saying that when you couple the Sword of the Spirit and prayer, you have an offensive weapon and a powerful way to use it that will devastate the enemy and his plans.

Psalm 149:6: “Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands” (ESV).

THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT

“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17).

This final piece of the armor of God is different from all the others—it is the only piece that is an offensive weapon. All the other pieces are designed to protect us and assist us in standing firm when the enemy is attacking. But God not only wants us to be able to stand firm but also to be able to fight and advance.

What Paul seems to have in mind when he speaks of the sword of the Spirit is not the long, thin rapier that the Three Musketeers or Zorro carried but the short, two-edged fighting sword of the Roman soldier. The Roman military sword was called a gladius and was about 18 inches long, with a two-edged blade and a very sharp point. The gladius was typically used for hand-to-hand combat and was extremely lethal for fighting in close quarters.

When Paul tells us to take up the sword of the Spirit, he is saying to us that there are times in our spiritual battle when we are going to have to fight the enemy in very close quarters. In addition, Paul tells that we will not be using our sword, or the sword of a denomination or some well-known preacher. The sword that we are to take up is “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, how did He fight back? He countered the attack of the enemy with the Word of God. Check for yourself in Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13. In each case, Jesus struck back with, “It is written.” He then quoted a scripture and in each of the temptations Satan was defeated.

Jesus gives us the model that we are to follow in defeating the attacks of the enemy. Jesus is showing us how to wield the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God ”

I believe that in order for us to effectively deal with the onslaught of the enemy, at least two things are required in regard to the Word of God:

1.    We need to be people of the Word.

If we truly value the Bible as God’s Word, then we need to be reading and studying the Word on a frequent basis. I’m not being legalistic here, but truthful. If you love someone or something, then you make time to be with that person or to engage in that activity. So it is with the Word of God! If we truly believe that it is God’s Word and that it has value for us, then we need to become “people of the Word” so that we are really familiar with what is in God’s Book. We need to get into the Word and to get the Word into us.

When you start taking in the Word on a regular basis, you will be surprised how the Holy Spirit will bring the right Scripture back to your mind just when you need it. After all, the Word of God is the sword of the Spirit!

2.    We need to do just as Jesus did when the enemy threw a specific temptation at Him. He didn’t respond with, “I’m the Son of God and you can’t say that to Me.” As right as that statement is, Jesus did something far more devastating and that was to confront the devil with what the Word of God says.

Remember that 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All scripture is breathed out by God.” When you quote a Scripture about fear, peace or healing, it is filled with the power and presence of the Holy Spirit and you are literally using the “sword of the Spirit” to attack the enemy and his attempts to hurt or influence you.

If we are going to defeat the enemy and render his attacks as nothing, it will not be on our own gifting but by the power of God manifest through His Word.

I suggest that you memorize or have available a list of scriptures on issues such as fear, anxiety, sickness, lust, unbelief. They should be readily available for you to use when an attack comes. Why? Because the Word is alive and active. It is powerful. It is the truth, and the truth will set us free and keep us free.

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

Psalm 149:6: “Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands.”

Paul couples the offensive weapon of “the sword of the Spirit” with prayer and we’ll talk more about that in the next blog.

“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4).

THE HELMET OF SALVATION

“And take the helmet of salvation” (Ephesians 6:17).

The next piece of God’s armor that we have available to us is the helmet of salvation. The helmet is important not only because it is a head covering but also because it protects the mind. The primary purpose of protective headgear is to prevent injury to the head and to the brain—in sports, in many kinds of physical labor, and in combat.

Once again the apostle Paul uses Roman military equipment to illustrate a spiritual truth. In the physical realm, the helmet protects the head and the brain; in the spiritual, the helmet of salvation protects the mind, where our emotions and will are controlled. Therefore it’s no surprise that one of Satan’s prime strategies is to attack our mind.

We are instructed by Scripture to “guard” our mind. “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23). The word “heart” used here is not referring to the physical organ but to the mind, emotions and will.

Often the deciding factor in whether we are victorious in battle is the mind. If the mind is not guarded and the enemy attacks with doubt, fear or depression, then the mind will transmit that to the person’s emotions and will. If a person’s outlook is not right, if it is flawed, then their behavior and conduct will be flawed as well.

What I am trying to say here is that we do what we think. Satan’s strategy is to keep us from wearing the helmet of salvation so that what he feeds us becomes the reality through which we interpret and respond to what is going on in our life.

Paul has instructed us to “take the helmet of salvation.” Is this something different from the salvation that we received when we repented of our sins and invited Christ into our heart? (See Romans 10:9 and 10.)

When Paul wrote these words, “take the helmet of salvation,” he was writing to people who had already been saved. Many of us think that salvation refers only to that moment when we confessed Christ as Savior. Salvation is an all-inclusive word that includes all that Christ has provided for us in the past, in the present, and in the future.

Justification is what happened to us at the moment of salvation and that’s the past. The present tense of the word “salvation” refers to the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in our lives as He renews and often rebuilds us. The work of the indwelling Holy Spirit is ongoing and is called sanctification. Sanctification is the process of becoming more like Christ—it doesn’t happen all at once, it goes on throughout our life. Sanctification will be complete when we cross into eternity to be with our Lord in heaven.

Paul lays out the process of sanctification in 1 Corinthians 6:11:

“And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” For many of us these words are not quickly or easily understood but they are important, so let me try and simplify what the apostle is saying here.

“But you were washed.” This is an action that is initiated on the part of the individual. A better rendering would be, “You washed yourself,” meaning you took a step of faith and invited Jesus Christ into your life. When you did that, it initiated the washing or cleansing of being “born again.” Sin was washed away by the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ.

“You were sanctified.” Sanctification begins at the moment of salvation when the Holy Spirit, heaven’s agent of change, comes to dwell in us. The focus of sanctification is to heal all the destructive work (dysfunction) that sin has done in you. For most of us, the healing of sanctification is a process that takes place over a period of years or even a lifetime, just as physical healing is most commonly a process. Sanctification will be completed the moment we step into eternity.

“You were justified.” Justification focuses on the removal of the guilt of sin. Justification is by faith alone and not works and is complete at the moment of salvation.

“In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God.”

When we embrace this work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we are “taking the helmet of salvation.” As we grow to be more like Christ, the helmet of salvation is more completely protecting us from the attacks of the enemy against our mind, our emotions and our will.

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard [keep safe] your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).

THE SHIELD OF FAITH AND FLAMING DARTS

In the last several weeks we’ve looked at the first three pieces of the armor that the apostle Paul instructs us to “put on.” These first three are what we are to be wearing all the time. The next three are what we are to have nearby so that they are ready to be used as needed.

This brings us to the shield of faith.

“In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16, ESV).

What Paul had in mind when he instructed us to “take up the shield of faith” was much like the shield that a Roman soldier carried. It was about four and a half feet long and two feet wide. The Romans introduced a strategy into warfare that, at its time, revolutionized warfare: A company of 150 men, each carrying a sword or spear and shield, would go into battle in a tight, rectangular formation. When they came under attack, each man would put his shield in place—some to the side, some to the front, some to the back and some over the top. The company then became a solid block, covered on all sides and over the top, and then they moved forward or backward in unison. This maneuver had never been seen before and by using it, the Roman legions devastated enemy armies everywhere they went.

The shields were wooden but were covered in leather. Before going into battle, the Romans soaked their shields in water so that when the enemy shot fiery arrows at them, the wet leather would not burn.

When Paul speaks of “fiery darts,” he is speaking from a first century Roman context. The “fiery darts” were not exactly arrows. They were more like very thin, hollow pieces of reed or bamboo. Flammable liquid was inserted into the hollow portion and somehow sealed in. Into one end of the hollow portion a wick was inserted, and just before the dart was to be used, the wick was set afire. The soldiers then threw or launched the liquid-filled dart at the enemy. When the projectile hit, it shattered, splashing the liquid, and the burning wick set it on fire. This was a first century equivalent of a “Molotov cocktail” or an incendiary bomb.

It was to protect against these fiery darts that the Romans got rid of the small, metal shields usually used in warfare and moved to the larger, wooden shield covered in leather. The water-soaked leather extinguished the flaming darts of the enemy.

We are to raise our “soaked” shields of faith so that when the attacks come, we are ready! Worship, prayer, study of His Word—all are acts of faith that result in our being “soaked.”

“No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised” (Romans 4:20-21, ESV).

The “fiery darts” are not primarily going to be attacks of sickness or disease. In fact, the majority will be attacks of temptation, lust, greed, disappointment, discouragement, jealousy. The attacks will be against your faith, your mind or your emotions.

The fiery darts of Roman warfare did not look all that lethal, all that menacing. If launched in daylight, you could hardly see the long, thin projectiles coming. However, while looking innocent in flight, when they impacted and shattered, pain and death were released.

How many times have I heard people say that they didn’t understand how dangerous and hurtful a problem would become until it was too late? Thousands and thousands of men and women in the church today are hooked and devastated under the control of pornography because they thought it would be no problem to spend a few minutes of personal time viewing porn. That quick look was the launching of a seemingly harmless projectile that exploded in their mind with devastating consequences. Current polls indicate that up to 50 percent of church-going men and 20 percent of women are addicted to pornography.

When the enemy attacks and attempts to cripple your spirit and control your mind and emotions, it is time to take your stand in faith—it’s time to raise the shield.

Each time we engage in worship, each time we pray in faith, each time we open the Word of God believing that God is going to speak to us, we are performing an act of faith. And each time we activate our faith like this, we are taking up the “shield of faith.”

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand” (Romans 5:1-2, ESV).

ARE THOSE DESIGNER SHOES?

In the middle of his teaching on spiritual warfare, the apostle Paul discusses the kind of shoes we should wear. Shoes? Really? Yes, and here’s what he wrote: “As shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace” (Ephesians 6:15, ESV). As you will discover, these are designer shoes! 

 

As I have mentioned several times, Paul uses the Roman soldier’s armament as an example for the Ephesian church. In this verse Paul is stressing the importance of wearing the right shoes. A Roman soldier’s shoes were a type of sandal with thick soles; nails were driven through and protruded underneath the sole. This is the same principle that is used today with football shoes that have cleats. The nails protruding from the soldier’s sandals provided him with firm footing, whether the ground was wet, dry or uneven. Soldiers would plant their feet and not get easily knocked over when in combat.

When Paul says “put on” shoes, he is telling us to plant ourselves in a firm position so that we can stand and not be knocked over. This is essentially the same principle that Jesus taught in Luke 6:46-49 where He told the story of two men, each building a home on exactly the same type of ground. One man simply leveled the sandy soil and built his house, while the second dug down to bedrock and anchored his house on the rock. Both houses were struck by the same flood and the house not anchored to the rock was immediately destroyed; the house anchored to the rock was battered but stood firm.

Paul is saying to us, “When you plant your feet wearing the right kind of shoes, you are going to stand when the enemy attacks! You may take some blows but you will not be knocked off your feet and out of the battle.”

The goal of the enemy in this great spiritual battle we are in is to keep you from planting your feet firmly. The enemy knows that if he finds you unprepared, he can knock you off your feet and cause you to be virtually ineffective in the battle.

Paul goes on to say, “Put on the readiness.” Some translations use the word preparation rather than readiness. The word readiness means preparation or promptness. We put on our “gospel of peace” shoes and it means that we are making ourselves ready to deal with whatever comes our way.

Now we have to ask ourselves, “What is the gospel of peace?” Is this something different from the regular gospel? The answer is no and Romans 5:1 gives us insight into what Paul is referring to with this phrase.

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

The peace that God gives is a peace that comes from within no matter what is going on around us. It is not an inner calm that is only there when everything around us is quiet and serene. God’s peace means you are at rest even when everything else is going wrong.

The Bible says that the peace of God is so completely different from the peace the world talks about that we often have difficulty understanding it ourselves. “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). The peace of God will protect you and this is why Paul is instructing us to make sure that the firm foundation our life is built upon is the “gospel of peace.”

The verb rendered guard is a military term. It is a picture of a garrison or a military sentinel “keeping watch over” a city or a fort to maintain peace and protect against attacks. What Paul says to his friends is this: As the result of your prayers, God’s peace will stand like a guard to keep your hearts and minds safe from attacks of worries and anxieties.

It is vitally  important that we have an assurance of our salvation, meaning that we fully understand that the “gospel of peace” is our personal “gospel of peace.” I was amused and befuddled by one of the candidates in this cranky, confusing, pre-presidential election period as he attempted to portray himself as a Christian. He said that he had been a Presbyterian since he was a child. Let me tell you something you need to hear, Mister Loudmouth with the Funny Hairdo. Walking into a barn does not make you a horse or a cow and going to church does not make you a Christian! There will not be any Presbyterians in heaven, or Baptists or Methodists or Pentecostals! Only those who have personally embraced the “gospel of peace” and thereby have been “saved” are going to make up heaven’s population.

“For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” (Romans 10:10). 

When we are assured of our salvation, we have put on our shoes of the gospel of peace and planted our feet on the Rock! The assurance of our salvation is the most important foundation we can ever have!