June 20

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…take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand…. 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… Ephesians 6:13, 17-18

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🔊 Battle drives us back to the foundations of why we are living as we are.  What is really worth fighting for?  Persecution clarifies our minds and focuses us on what is really important.  While we may not all be facing persecution, we are constantly facing opposition from the same prince of darkness.

Salvation is the Christian’s helmet, covering the realm of mental attacks which come in the form of condemnation from Satan.  We must cling to the truth of reconciliation by Jesus’ blood.  If Satan moves us off this ground, our head is suddenly defenceless against his attacks.  We are perfectly right with God through Christ.

The Word of God is the only weapon of attack in our armoury.  With it, we attack the enemy’s strongholds – we trust the Word of the Spirit to penetrate even the most hardened unbeliever.  The Word of God imparts faith to unbelieving hearts, it speaks power into strengthless souls and life into the spiritually dead.  The Word is also powerful to counteract the devil’s lies, and just as Jesus used it to resist temptation in the wilderness, so we too must ask God to lead us to Scriptures that will enable us to resist the devil on our own lines of weakness.

Prayer – Paul here mentions “all prayer”, indicating that there is more than one way of praying.  We must learn all the different ways of praying, as the Holy Spirit teaches us.  The effect of prayer in the Spirit will be to empower the ministry of the Word preached.  Be filled with the Spirit of battle.