What are some of the most compelling moments in history?  What are a few of the events that have shaped our country and world into what it is now?  If you look over the course of history, including ancient and middle history as well as modern times, compiling a list of pivotal moments could go on and on and on.  You could make a list as long as Webster’s Dictionary and still not include all the life shaping, cultural influencing, family changing, church influencing events that have taken place during the course of time.

If you were to narrow the search, so to speak, to only include disputes, battles, wars, etc., in your list of world shaping events, you could focus on military actions and government movements and still come up with a pretty hefty catalog.

And there would be one thing all these particular occurences  had in common ~ those going into the battles were prepared.  They had been trained.  They had been equipped.  They were prepared with a battle plan.  They were prepared with a plan of attack.  They were prepared with their armor.  They were prepared with their weapons.

A soldier would never go into battle without all of these things in place ~ training, a plan, armor, and weaponry.  He would never walk out onto the battlefield, willy-nilly, hoping for the best results possible, hoping it would all turn out okay.  No.

He.is.prepared.

So what about us?  Are we prepared for the battles we face every day? Do we go to God for a plan? For our armor? For our weapons?  He tells us in His word that our battles are not against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities of this world.

Ephesians 6:12-13 tells us, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.  Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything,  to stand firm.”

So if we are to take up the full armor of God, how exactly do we do that?  The next few verses in Ephesians tell us what this means.

Ephesians 6:14-17 “Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  And take the helmet of salvation,  and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

Here it is, laid right out for us…righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation in Christ, and the word of God.  This is the armor we need for our daily battles.  And battles with whom?  Who’s are the flaming arrows, directed right at us and our loved ones and our churches and our children and our marriages and our homeschools and our students and our teenagers and our spouses?   Did you notice who the scripture says the flaming arrows are coming from?

I know, I know…you and I and all of us thought those fiery arrows were surely coming from the people right around us, and the people closest to us, and the people at the grocery store, and the people in line at the discount warehouse, and the people driving in the lanes all around us.  And arrows certainly do come from people because we are all sinful humans and we like to push each other’s buttons, and we are selfish, and stubborn, and short tempered, and etc., etc…..

But guess what?  The evil one, Satan, knows how to push our buttons.  He knows our weaknesses and where he can hit us and be the most effective at making us lash out at  others in our lives.  He aims his fiery arrows right at us.  If he can divide us through conflict and through our differences with others, he can reduce our effectiveness for God.

But God  has already provided a way of escape for us.  Jesus Christ has already won the battle against the power and forces of evil in this world.  Christ’s blood shed on the cross has already defeated satan and his attacks on us.  We just must make sure we are wearing the full armor of God ~ righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation in Christ, and the word of God, so that we can stand against the fiery arrows the evil one sends our way.  And send them, he will.

Paul continues on in Ephesians 6, verse 18, with more instructions on how we are to live and activate the full armor of God.  Verse 18 says, “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.  To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.”

Do we really take seriously the instructions to pray at all times in the Spirit?  I wonder if we really know the power that prayer has in our lives and the lives of our families and those we pray for.  Scripture tells us to pray.  It is included here in the passage regarding the full armor of God.

Pray.  At all times.  In the Spirit.

But how do we pray in the Spirit?  Scripture tells us so much about prayer, and about our ability to pray directly to our heavenly Father because of Christ’s finished work on the cross.

We could sit here all night, over a cup of coffee, and discuss what God says to us in scripture regarding prayer and still barely scratch the surface of what prayer means in the lives of God’s children.  But I know you don’t have all day, or all night, at least not without a little planning ahead…so I’ll share with you how I’ve prayed for my family during some of our very difficult times.

Pray the scriptures.  Yes, you read that right.  Pray the scriptures for your family.  Repeat God’s words right back to Him as you pray.  Insert your own problems, insert your family’s names, insert your own name into the scriptures as you pray the words back to God.  There’s an amazing amount of power in our prayers when, in faith, we pray God’s word back to Him.

There are many scriptures I have prayed for my family through the years.  I can look through my Bible and see highlighted passages of scripture with a date carefully written in the margins.  Sometimes faintly written, to preserve the private moments I had with God as I prayed that particular passage for my people.  But I remember those moments, those days, those weeks I prayed that passage.  Sometimes I wondered if God was hearing my prayers.  Did He hear my cries for help? For guidance? For wisdom? For healing? Not usually even physical healing…but for healing in so many other ways.

God does hear our prayers, and He answers them.  Not always the way we want Him to answer, and usually not in the timing we want Him to answer.  But He always answers, and He always works it for good in our lives.

Romans 8:28  “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.”

So put on the full armor of God and pray at all times in the Spirit.

Sweet friends, we are on the battleground for our children and our families.  Let’s make sure we are prepared!

And please stop by and visit again soon.  I’m going to be sharing with you some of the verses I have prayed for my people through the years and I’d love to hear from you about verses you’ve been praying for yours.

Blessings, sweet friends ~

 

To read more on prayer and strengthening your walk with the Lord, visit the link below.  You’ll be glad you did.

http://arabahjoy.com