Armed for Prayer
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints... (Eph. 6:10–18).
Paul commands us to “be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” by putting on the whole armor of God (v. 10). He tells us to stand, equipping ourselves with truth as a belt, righteousness as a breastplate, the gospel of peace for shoes, faith as a shield, salvation as a helmet, and the Word of God as the sword of the Spirit (vv. 11, 14–17).
We are given armor and weapons, and so we know that the Christian life is one of battle and warfare. We who are alive are called the church militant—we are continuing the struggle against Satan, so that God’s kingdom would be advanced. But now that we are outfitted with God’s armor, what next? Where do we go from here? Paul writes, “…praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints" (v. 18). And so we see that Christians go to battle in prayer. Paul tells us that our enemies are not flesh and blood, but “against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (v. 12).
Therefore if we are to be effective in our battle, if we are to be faithful to the Lord in our own lives and in our families, we must first engage the enemy in the realm in which he lives and moves. We need heaven’s weapons to fight in the heavenly places. It is only after we engage the battle there, that we will see results here. It is only through prayer, in which we acknowledge our weakness and rely on God’s strength, that we will see the our families thrive and our world transformed.
As we pray today, don’t for one moment think that this is the precursor to the real battle out there. Don’t think that this is a nice gesture or simply a good way to start your day, but after this you really will get to work. It’s the other way around. You will only be effective out there in your homes and in your work, when you start the battle here. And so let us pray as men strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. And amen.