Warfare Prayer

We have spent the past four lessons talking about prayer as part of the spiritual armor from Ephesians 6. We saw that prayer is not just something we do from time to time, it is a weapon. In fact there are only two offensive weapons of the armor. The other one is the word of God, the sword of the Spirit. We use the offensive weapons to tear down the enemy's kingdom. Prayer is roughly equivalent to a lance, a powerful offensive weapon. It allows us to reach targets that are far away and it also allows us to effectively charge enemies looming directly in our path.

We saw that we are to be Spirit-led in prayer, or it is just a work of the flesh and does not accomplish much. But we must also be persistent, understanding that we don't always see and understand all that is going on in the spirit realm when we pray. There is a great battle waging. Angels and demons confront and fight each other. When we pray, God releases resources for his Kingdom to advance, which means that the devil's kingdom is being torn down as God's is built up. So the devil resists; he fights back in attempt to maintain his ground. And Spirit-led persistent prayer is one of the ways that we become involved in the battle. We need to put on our armor, and we need to use our offensive weapons the Spirit directs.

Let's stop and look at what the Word of God has to say about the armor of God. We find this in Ephesians 6:10-18:

"A final word: Be strong with the Lord's mighty power. Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies and tricks of the Devil. For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms. Use every piece of God's armor to resist the enemy in the time of evil, so that after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the sturdy belt of truth and the body armor of God's Righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News, so that you will be fully prepared. In every battle you will need faith as your shield to stop the fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in our prayers for all Christians everywhere."

The armor is pretty powerful, isn't it? God has given us everything that we need for the battle. Of course, the armor won't do us much good if we don't actually "put it on." We know that we need to put on and keep on the armor. We are in a spiritual war. We are fighting against an enemy that is not a seen enemy, even though he manifests from time to time in many ways, but it is a real enemy. And to fight this battle we need to have spiritual weapons. We need to have spiritual protection that comes from the Lord.

So we put on the armor of God. There are two things we do to put on the armor of God. First, we declare it. Second, we wear it. When we get together in our prayer time with the Lord, we begin to ask God to put the armor on us. And then we live it out. You can put on the breastplate of righteousness, but if you are not living righteously, then you do not have a breastplate. It is not only what you say and you declare, it is what you live out.

So when you get up in the morning, you should put on the armor. I can't always remember the order that is in the Bible. The Bible starts out with the belt as the first thing. I put it on in a slightly different order. In order to help me remember the pieces, I start with my head and work down. I put on the helmet of salvation, then I put on the breastplate of righteousness, then I put on the belt of truth, and then I shod my feet with the sandals of peace. That keeps me prepared. And then I take on the shield of faith with this hand and the sword with this hand. Then I am ready for battle. So now, stand up. Let's do it this way. In your prayer time, it is OK

to stand. You can kneel sometimes, you can sit, you can stand when you pray, you can walk sometimes. Let's put on the armor right now. Pray this with me:

In the name of Jesus, I put on the helmet of salvation. I declare I am a child of God. I've been born of God. I belong to Him.

I declare, the breastplate of righteousness. I have the righteousness of Christ. He has made me righteous. I say I am righteous. Today I will live out righteousness, because God has given me grace to do so.

I declare, I have the belt of truth. God has given me truth. He has given me His Word and His Word is the truth. I stand on the truth. And I will know the truth and the truth will set me free.

I put on my feet the sandals of peace that I will be prepared for whatever is before me. I will be prepared. I take on the peace that passes all understanding.

I take on the shield of faith. It is the faith that God gives me. It is my shield. It protects me against every dart of the enemy. I am covered.

I take on the sword of the Spirit. It is the Word of God. I pull it out, I hack at the enemy. (Don't you like that part?) Today, I am an overcomer. God is my shield. He is my protection. He is my weapon.

Doesn't that feel good just to prayerfully declare that?!

When you get up in the morning, you should go through the armor and put it on, like we just did in that prayer. You put it on. But if you don't walk it out, you've not really put it on. You have to live it out. That is what putting it on is all about.

Now, let's talk about what happens when something gets through the armor. What do we do? Things do get through from time to time, so I want to give us some perspective. Let's start by asking some questions. This will help us look at what happens when your armor doesn't seem to be holding up.

I guess the first question we would ask is: Does that mean that I didn't put it on right? Is there a set formula? Do you have to say it in precisely a certain manner for it to work? No. You don't have to say "hack up the enemy" like we did in our earlier prayer. You can if you want to, but there is no particular way to put it on as you declare it. This is a one-size-fits-all type of thing. You are not going to get it inside out with the tag sticking up in the back. There is no right or wrong way to put this on. The only thing you have to do is walk it out.

The mistake that I see more often than not is that people think that as long as they sit in their quiet time and say that they've got the armor that they are covered. It is more than just saying that you have the armor. It is living it out. You declare with your mouth to remind you that day to live out righteousness, to live out your salvation, to walk out the things that you find in the earth. If you live them out then you are protected.