Scripture:
[10]Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. [11]Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. [12]For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. [13]Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. [14]Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, [15]and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. [16] In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. [17]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 Lord’s people.
Observation & Application:
How could the church at Emphasis not love these words as Paul describes the armor of God and the power of God within us? How can we, as we read these words, not love what we read? We have the power in the Spirit to fight all evil surrounding us! We have defensive and offensive armor from God for our use in the spiritual battle.
We have the strength of the Lord within us and must call upon that strength, that protection, that power, to stand against Satan’s evil schemes. “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power”. This is a prerequisite for putting on the full armor of God. The armor is heavy though. We must first be strong enough to handle the armor. We get this strength from spending time with Jesus, from spending time in the Word, from being obedient, and through meditation and filling our mind and hearts with thoughts and actions that glorify Him.
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms”. Our troublesome neighbor is not our enemy but the evil controlling him is. Our evil rulers are not our enemy but Satan’s power over them is. Satan and his minions are the real enemy and they will reign in this world until Jesus Christ returns.
Not only must we be alert for the evil surrounding us and Satan’s influence in this world, this is a call to action. A call to actively fight, with the power of the Spirit within us, armed with the full armor of God, against evil. We are living in turbulent times with evil running seemingly unchecked at times. We are to actively fight and pray against the evil forces invading and changing our churches, governments, schools, and families.
And pray.. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. How are we to pray? In the Spirit. With open hearts we are to let the Lord’s Spirit within us lead us in all kinds of prayers and requests – nothing is too small and nothing is too big to pray about.
Prayer:
Lord we love you. Help us remember these basics Lord. That we have the power of your Spirit within us to fight evil. Lord, help us stay grounded in your Word. As we arm ourselves with the full armor you provide us, lead us and show us where to fight. We know that, in the end, you will return to judge but meanwhile, above all we pray that we honor you in our fight against evil. In Jesus mighty name we pray, amen.