Equip Online | Armor of God : Part 3

Welcome back friends for part three of our Armor of God series.

I pray that you have been encouraged.

I pray that you've shared this with family members and friends and that you found aspects of this that have really been able to give you perspective, but also has given you some inspiration as to what it is that we're fighting against, but also what we've been equipped to fight with.

Today I want to close this series out by looking at what Paul says here in verse number 18.

He talks about the power of prayer.

Paul shifts from the armor metaphor, he drops it altogether, and he begins to talk about now that we know that we have an enemy, that we have these dark demonic strongholds that are standing in opposition to God and the people of God, that we now have the weapons that we need, the helmet of salvation, the sword of God's word, we have the shield, we have these beautiful components that God has given us.

Then we get into one of the most vital aspects of it, and that is making sure that we're doing it motivated in prayer.

What prayer does is make sure is that we're not fighting these battles in our own strength.

What Paul begins to really speak to is the importance of being people that engages God in prayer.

Now, when you think about prayer, I know that for some of us it's it's complex because, man, like what does it really work?

How does prayer work?

And and there's books and things that are written on it, and I've read them and I've been inspired by them, and there's times when you pray and you see it, there's times when you pray and you you don't see it, and and and sometimes we can get discouraged.

And I know that prayer can sometimes be overwhelming.

I I get you, friends.

I've I've been there, I've prayed many prayers and and I haven't gotten it, but I believe when we look at the life of Jesus, imagine that, we get a chance to see that he consistently got away with God to pray.

That he is not only the ultimate example of what does it mean to be a person who walks in fellowship with God, but he also is a one who shows us how to walk with God.

And one of the things that he consistently engaged in was a life of prayer.

Hear me, friends.

Jesus was engaged in what I believe to be the deepest acts of spiritual warfare that has ever been captured.

That from the moment he was born, that there were attacks on his life, practical attacks that were motivated by demonic spirits, that from the time he came on a scene, he was dealing with uh misrepresentation of what he was trying to say, that he was constantly being falsely accused, disciples who didn't understand him, he was dealing with all of these things that if we break down the armor of God, he was facing attacks in every single one of those areas, and yet he continued to walk through it.

But if we can be honest, Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane and he prayed and he said, Lord, if there's another way that we can fulfill this incredible prophecy of redeeming all of mankind, that that promise that started with Abraham that can be expressed with me, truly defeating death on the cross.

If there's another way, let's make it happen.

But he all he ends it with this phrase, but nevertheless, not my will, your will be done.

You see, friends, ultimately what prayer is, is prayer is an opportunity for us to engage God in conversation, for us to share our cares, our concerns, our burdens.

We we celebrate the goodness of God.

We we we just share our frustrations, our disappointments.

We have these places where we can enter into the holiest of holies with God, but we walk away with this idea of, but nevertheless, not my will, your will be done.

And what scripture says about Jesus when he took that posture is it says, after he said, the will of God be done, then God sent angels to come and strengthen him.

I believe this, that there are times that we pray for things and we pray for outcomes that we just may not get.

I believe there are times that we pray for outcomes and we get exactly what we want.

But what I truly believe is that when we engage God in prayer, that we get exactly what we need.

Sometimes we need strength for the season that we're going through.

Sometimes we need to get out of that season altogether.

But what I truly believe is that prayer is the entry point that not only invites us into the presence of God, but invites God into our situation.

We should pray in all seasons.

We should pray in all circumstances.

And what Paul invites us to do is for us to pray in the spirit, for us to recognize that there are going to be moments where even my ability to articulate the burdens that are on my heart transcends my vocabulary.

This is why Paul tells us in Romans that we have a spirit on the inside of us that intercedes on our behalf, that has groaning and utterances and things that we just sometimes can't even comprehend or speak.

The Bible speaks about how when we give our life to Christ, that the Holy Spirit comes alive on the inside of us.

But there's also a baptism of the Spirit where we are now immersed in the Holy Spirit, and that there's sometimes this the gift of speaking in other tongues.

What we recognize is that this is a divine language that allows us to engage in the divine.

There's no shortage of people having a desire to engage in the transcendence.

This is why we see such a rise in things such as meditation apps on our phones.

We we see such a rise and people finding moments to reflect.

I think even doctors recognize the need for us to kind of get away and to disconnect so that we can just kind of refresh ourselves.

What that means for the Christian, what that means for the follower of Christ is that we're not engaging in something transcended that we don't know, as Paul would say, the altar to an unknown God.

We're actually engaging in the God that we know, but more importantly, in the God that knows us.

What prayer does, it allows us to calm ourselves, it allows us to center ourselves, it allows us to be strengthened in the presence of God, it allows us to be equipped, and now it is the place where we shut ourselves off so that we can be given the wisdom and perspective on how we implement the places that God has called us to go into with the armor of God.

I believe that prayer is such a vital part of what does it mean to be a follower of Christ and walking with peace and walking with humility and walking with strength, walking with boldness, knowing when to speak, knowing when to be silent.

There's so many things that scripture tells us that we need to do that sometimes they can be a little bit contradictory because it's all a matter of times and seasons.

Prayer is the place that allows us to recognize what do I need to do and what season.

What I would encourage you with this is friends is this.

When we look at Jesus and He gives us the model of prayer with the Lord's Prayer, it really is meant to be a breakdown of the way that we engage God, recognizing that God is other, recognizing that he is holy, recognizing who he is, that his name is above all names.

It's also being able to enter into this most holy place without fear of judgment.

We're able to confess our sins, that we're able to be strengthened and empowered to walk in the paths that he called us to go into.

It's able for us to recognize that God is our provider.

These are all pillars that are meant to strengthen us, that no matter what season we're in, we can shut ourselves off from the world and be reminded that God is ultimately with us.

As we engage in this journey that God has us on, and as we recognize that we are engaged in spiritual warfare, it's understanding that prayer is the accelerant, it's the fuel that motivates the way that we function.

I'll close with this thought.

There have been many seasons that I have walked through, that I knew that I was engaged in spiritual warfare.

There's been many seasons where I walked through where I knew to put on the armor of God.

But there have been seasons where I had all of those other things, but my prayer life had begun to diminish.

And what I recognize is I had the armor of God, but I was fighting in my own strength.

There have been seasons in my life where I've walked through disappointments and struggles, and I know to do the right things, but I wasn't doing it the right way because I wasn't allowing it to be anointed in God's presence with prayer.

We need to make sure that we're allowing prayer to be the posture that accelerates everything that we do, because if not, we could try to do something for God with the wrong posture.

This is how you could see people who are followers of Christ and they're trying to execute things that seem like they're good ideas, but it doesn't seem like there's any grace on it.

It doesn't seem like there's any love in it.

It doesn't seem like there's any peace in it.

I promise you, it's because they haven't presented it to God in prayer.

And what prayer does, it allows us to take this armor that God has given us, it allows us to uh saturate it in the anointing and allows us to go out that not only are we taking a stand for God, but we recognize that we're not standing against people.

There's a big difference.

I stand for God, I stand for truth, but I'm not called to stand against people because we wrestle not against flesh and blood.

There's principality, there's spiritual wickedness, there's a deep, dark, sinister plan that the enemy is using every vehicle and avenue possible to ensure that the will of God is not executed on God's earth.

And we, as co-laborers, are invited into this journey.

But if we do not pray, I would say that we don't have the mind of God, we don't have the proper posture, and we can do something that's a God idea, but not in God's way, and we will find that we will not be effective at it.

My encouragement for us, friends, is this make sure that we start with prayer.

Let's make sure that prayer is our first resort and not our last response, that we are people that position ourselves with praying in the spirit, interceding for one another, putting on the whole armor because we recognize that we have a very dark spiritual foe, but he has been defanged, he has been dethroned because of the finished work of Christ on the cross.

My friends, we are in a midst of a spiritual war, but we need not be afraid.

God has given us the greatest power, and Scripture says that we are more than conquerors.

I pray that you're encouraged, I pray that you feel strengthened, and I want to pray for us as we wrap up today.

Lord, I thank you so much for your word.

I thank you for your community, I thank you for your people, and I thank you that you've pulled back the veil to make us aware that there's a dark, sinister plan that the enemy is looking to execute against your will and against your people.

Father, I pray that we can put on the whole armor, that we can recognize that we have a responsibility with making sure our minds are protected, that we have a responsibility with making sure that our hearts are protected, that we allow ourselves to function with truth holding us all together, that we everywhere we go, that we experience peace and that we're walking in peace, and that we can utilize your word, the sword of the Spirit, in a manner that fights off the enemy's attacks on our own lives as well as those around us.

Father, I pray that we're motivated by prayer with a posture of humility, recognizing, God, that you've called us to be people that can use our shield of faith to fight against the attacks of the adversary, God, to be protected by your grace and your will.

Be with us as we are engaged in spiritual warfare, but we are not by ourselves.

Holy Spirit, I pray for your strength.

I pray for an outpouring, God, that can strengthen every one of us in Jesus' name.

Amen.

God bless you, guys.

I pray that you're encouraged.

And if you are, please share this with your family and friends as I believe that as we recognize the attacks of the adversary, we'll be able and be well equipped to be successful on our journey.

See you soon.