Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Effective prayer”
Our Bible verse for today: “Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by His vast strength. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil.” Ephesians 6:10-11 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “There is a battle, you are in it, and prayer prepares you for it.”
As I explained yesterday, in Ephesians chapter six the Apostle Paul makes it crystal clear that there is a battle raging in the spiritual realm and you and I are part of it – and that’s true whether we want to be part of it or not. Events in the physical realm are directly linked to the battle taking place in the spiritual realm, and the battle in the spiritual realm is heavily influenced by activities in the physical realm. The battle is especially influenced by the prayers of God’s people.
In Ephesians 6:10 Paul instructs us to be strengthened by the Lord and by His vast strength, thereby making it clear that not only can we be strengthened by the Lord in preparation for this battle, but we are expected to be and we need to be.
Then in 6:11 he tells us how to be strengthened and prepared – by putting on the full armor of God. If we do it, we will then be able to stand strong and courageously against the Devil and his schemes. And the implicit understanding here is that if we do not put on the armor of God as Paul is about to explain, then we will not be strengthened and prepared to stand against the devil and his schemes.
In verses 12 and 13 he forcefully drives home the truth that our real battle is against evil forces in the spiritual realm and this is why it is absolutely essential for us to take the time to put on the full armor of God, it is so that we will not be overwhelmed and defeated by Satan and his evil forces.
In verses 14-17 he describes six pieces of spiritual armor the Lord provides us with for our defense against Satan, and also one offensive weapon to be used by us to actually take the battle to the evil one. Then, once the subject has been fully covered, in verses 18-20 Paul urges us to use the defensive armor and our offensive weapon and to pray, to pray hard.
This subject of spiritual warfare and the armor of God is too important to treat lightly or to address superficially. Therefore these brief devotional messages are not a suitable forum for dealing with it. The subject requires a more thorough treatment than I can provide here in a single page. Therefore I want to ask you to commit and extra 15-20 minutes sometime today to look at an expanded teaching on this subject. If you have a copy of my book “Walking with Paul”, you will find that expanded teaching in chapter fourteen. If you don’t have a copy of that book then please go to my website at www.JimMersereauBooks.com, click on “Free articles” and select the article “The Armor of God”. You can read it and download it for free.
Folks, this subject right here is the crux of the issue. Paul’s teaching about spiritual warfare and the armor of God here in Ephesians 6:10-20 is the most important lesson you will ever learn regarding effective prayer. If you get this, you will be an effective pray-er. If you don’t get this lesson, your prayers will always be minimally effective at best.
Please take the time to study this subject further. Nothing else you could spend that extra 15-20 minutes on could possibly be more important.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 