October 13th, 2020 – Tuesday afternoon
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 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. 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.
With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” ~Ephesians 6:10-20
As I begin another prayer request email (this post, like some others, was taken from a regular church email I sent out) and as we continue to journey through the treacherous times of our age, I want to encourage myself and all of you that engaging in godly living and in prayer is the REAL battle that we have been called to fight. Our enemies are not seen (with the exception of our own selves, perhaps) and they cannot be fought with physical weapons. I know that isn’t new to you, but do you and I really believe that? Do we fight like that is true? Are we living in such a way that reflects that our hope is in Christ and in His power and authority or are we living in a way that reflects our trust in ourselves or in someone or something else? There is no way we can stand against the onslaught if our attitudes, words, and actions are not in line with our Captain. There is an old saying that says something like: The one who kneels before God can stand up to anything. This kneeling is not just in prayer (according to James 4 and 1 Peter 5), it is also in our moment-by-moment lives of submission to the Lord.
Speaking of prayer, though, are we engaging in the battle of prayer? I don’t mean a short breath of prayer before our day begins or a whispered prayer when we are in trouble…not that those don’t matter, but just as with our living, we can’t settle for the least amount needed to get by. Do you and I really believe in God? If we do, we will pray; and we will pray in a way that puts His kingdom and His will above everything else. Prayer for the believer should be as normal as breathing; we NEED Him and we need to be in constant communication (speaking and listening and meditating on Him and His Word).