Monday, January 23, 2012

The full armour of God: Each piece put on with prayer!

Ephesians 6: 11 "Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes".
But how do we do that? How does God's armour become our defence against evil and temptation? Paul tells us in verse 18: “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. “

The answer to how we put on the full armour of God, is, through prayer. We are equipped for our spiritual challenges, through prayer. There is a hymn we often sing which speaks to this:

Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
Stand in his strength alone;
The arm of flesh will fail you,
Ye dare not trust your own.
Put on the gospel armour,
Each piece put on with prayer;
Where duty calls, or danger,
Be never wanting there.

The secret to endure in living for the Lord, to persevere in worshipping and conducting one well in God’s household , is in and through prayer. Then God's strength becomes our strength and his power our power.

Everyone knows that we should put on the full armour of God to take our stand against the schemes of evil. The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of readiness to announce the Good News of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.
And we put on each piece with prayer.

Our prayer would be:
Almighty God. Rule us. Keep your church strong. Destroy evil’s work and kingdom. Let us obey you Lord, rather than our own weak flesh. Uphold us and make us strong so that we may never be defeated by our weakness or by the temptations of the world!

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