The Sword and Prayer

Ephesians 6:17-18 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

In the city where I live in southern Brazil we have a very old, very stately, Catholic church building.  It is a point of reference when giving directions for any other place in town because everyone knows where the "Cathedral" is.  One day as I sat out in the plaza in front of the church I noticed something peculiar.  Everyone who drove by was crossing themselves.  So I started paying attention to the pedestrians, almost all of them did the same thing.  Later, I asked a lady from our own church, who was saved out of Catholicism, why the people were crossing themselves.  She said that from the time she was a child her mom taught her to do the same thing.  In part it was to show reverence for the church, but also out of fear that if they didn't, something bad would happen to them or they wouldn't be blessed. 

You and I can be guilty of the same unprofitable, ritualistic practices in our own Christian lives if we are not careful.  One example of this is how we treat today's verse.  We think that the Word of God is the Bible.  So we tout our Bible, sleep with our Bible, hold our Bible as if it is some amulet of magical protection.  People all over Lages have an open Bible in their stores that is covered in dust, but they believe it is protecting them and their store from evil.  This is occultism, and not Scriptural.

The word "word" in Ephesians 6:17 is not the object, but the memorized Word of God.  The Holy Spirit can not call to remembrance what is not there in your head.  We can't treat the Bible as an object of protection, we must thoroughly read, study and yes, memorize parts of it so that we can use it against our wicked enemy.  Jesus used it against Satan when tempted, so we should follow in His example.  It all comes back to the Truth.  Not just holding it, but knowing it.

The Christian Armor is:

1. Truth
2. Righteousness
3. Preparation
4. Faith
5. The Word

and finally,

6. Prayer

In the '90's my pastor preached a sermon that changed the way I view prayer.  He told our church that prayer can be used as a weapon.  I had never thought of it that way and it helped me to think on actually having something that I could combat the devil with every day.  Let me explain:

Let's say your area of temptation is anger.  You are going about your day and all of a sudden are faced with a situation that makes you want to be VERY angry.  You have been wronged and you want justice immediately.  You feel that sinful anger rising up inside of you and you know you are about to explode.  You would like to use a weapon, and trust me, it isn't prayer!  This is where the rubber meets the road so to speak.  You have a choice to either use the Christian armor against the enemy or enter into the battle of temptation and be wounded because you will not stand, you will fall.

In order to use prayer as a weapon, you should already have your target in sight and predetermined.  Make a list of your personal areas of temptation.  Decide one person or thing you are going to pray for when you are met with that particular temptation.  Here is an example:

1. Anger - Pray for Jane Doe who has stage 4 cancer and her family. 
2. Lust - Pray for the church missions program and missionaries by name.
3. Pride - Pray for your Pastor and his family each by name.

Do you see how you can target things that Satan is also targeting?  So while he may be attacking you at the moment, you can reverse the attack by targeting something he doesn't want strengthened.  In the act of prayer, you are NOT destroyed by the enemy and you are fortifying other brothers and sisters in Christ!  It is an awesome way to face the day. 

In all, using the Whole Armor of God takes character.  We can get the mindset to use it, OR we can be lazy good for nothing Christians and live in misery until Jesus comes back.  I urge us to daily put on the armor so in the end, above all, we can stand....side by side....smiling and crying....but victorious!

Until next time, Lord willing,
Sheri