“Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”
This text comes at the end of Paul lists of spiritual weapons that God has given us to fight Satan. We can’t fight him alone, but we can fight him. We do not have to be hopelessly ensnared by him as so many are today. Along with the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,” prayer is our greatest weapon against the devil. When he comes at us with all of his demonic cunning, we need to meet him with the word of God and prayer. The power of prayer is available to every born again believer. I want to show how prayer can be used in our spiritual warfare. The word of God, and prayer are offensive weapons. On the mount of temptation, Jesus met each of Satan’s temptations by quoting scripture to him. When tempted to turn stone into bread, Jesus met Satan with “It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” We need to have scripture in our hearts and minds in order to use it against Satan. We also need to be prayed up, as Jesus always was. Matthew 4:2 tells us that “when Jesus had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward hungry…” Fasting and prayer always go together. Jesus spent forty days fasting and praying before meeting Satan and his temptations. If Jesus did that, we need to take heed that we are armed with prayer. (Fasting wouldn’t hurt either.) We can see here how Jesus used the word of God and prayer as an offensive weapon against Satan. We need to know how to wield the “sword of the Spirit,” and bathe that knowledge with prayer. Notice that when Jesus was tempted, He went on offense. He didn’t let Satan take control and neither should we. The word of God and prayer are defensive weapons. At the same time Jesus was on offense, He was defending himself with the same weapons. We need to surround ourselves each day with a hedge of prayer. It is a good idea to start off each day with a systematic reading of scripture and moments spent in prayer to prepare ourselves to meet the day. I know that people’s schedules differ, and that it is not always easy to take that time in the morning, but whatever your schedule, you need to set aside a little time for prayer and Bible study. Make no mistake about it; Satan is aware when we are armed to face him in battle. He also knows when we are unprepared, at which time he will move in for the kill. If our scripture and prayer defenses are not up, he will lead us astray. In the sword fights that I have seen in the movies, it was always as important to be able to rebuff the other person’s thrust as it was to thrust. Surround yourself with the word and prayer. The word of God and prayer are sustaining weapons. Sustain means to have support to help in a time of need. We certainly need the support of God in the many needs that we have in this life. His support is realized through His word and prayer. Sustain also means to be encouraged. We need the encouragement of the word of God and prayer each day. The Lord will lead us to the right passage of scripture when we need it, and that passage will let us know how to pray. I’m not sharing this with you because I read about it, but because I experience it each day. These weapons are available to you also! Use them! Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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