God's Armor

Don’t take it personally when you are attacked and opposed. You are in a battle. It is not about you; and it goes with the territory. That advice is relevant for all believers. A soldier in a war gets shot at. His feelings don’t get hurt when that happens; he doesn’t take it personally; he knows it comes with being in combat.

Eph 6:10-17 – Paul assumed his readers knew about the battle part, that every believer is a soldier. He wanted to remind the believers of the nature of the battle that was spiritual. The battle wasn’t against the things that physical senses can comprehend, the things we can taste, touch, hear, smell and see. It was against the power of the unseen realm, things seen only through the eyes of faith. Spiritual warefare calls for spiritual weapons. Worldly weapons are useless in a spiritual conflict. 2 Cor 10:1-6. It is as if hunting a lion with a squirt gun. Spiritual armor and spiritual weapons are essential and are such things as the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness and the shield of faith. We put these weapons on by prayer. At the end of the list of spiritual armor comes the “sword of the Spirit”. This is the “word of God.” Eph 6:17, the next verse reads, “And pray in the Spirit”. The Greek is literally something like, “by means of prayer.” The idea is that the armor is donned by prayer and the sword of the Spirit is wielded by prayer.

We are to pray on “all” occasions, with “all” kinds of prayers, with “all” perseverance and for “all” the saints. Prayer is the one thing that fits all the circumstances of spiritual warefare. It is always appropriate. It isn’t enough to have the heart to change the enemy; we also need the head to know when and how. This is essential for us as Christian soldiers to fight a good fight.

My prayer: Father, give me the heart and the head I need to fight a good fight. Give me courage and teach me wisdom. Amen