You are of God, little children,
and have overcome them,
because He who is in you is greater
than he who is in the world.
1 John 4:4
“We do not wrestle
against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts
of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). Why does
Jesus give us spiritual weapons to withstand evil forces if He doesn’t
want us to use them?
The reason we must put on the whole armor of God is to withstand
evil. We don’t war against people, but against a spiritual hierarchy of
invisible power.
The forces of evil are invisible powers with a structure and specific
levels of authority. We are not only to use our armor to protect
and defend ourselves from them—as important as that is—but also
to go on the offensive against them as well. When we do that, we
close doors to the enemy and open doors to the will of God to be
done on earth. We advance God’s kingdom.
Every soldier knows exactly when the time is right to put on his
protective battle gear. Prayer warriors need to put on the armor of
God every day because the war is always going on. New battles continually
need to be fought so that evil will be driven back, the kingdom
of God advanced, and the will of God be done. Our spiritual
armor not only protects us from the enemy, it also gives us what we
need in order to push against him.
In order to put on the armor of God:
Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth,
• having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
• and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel
of peace;
• above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be
able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
• 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,
• being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication
for all the saints (Ephesians 6:14-18).
“Deliver us from the evil one” (Matthew
6:13)? Why did Paul say to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians
5:17)? Yes, the victory over evil was accomplished on the cross,
but the enemy is still here. He is a defeated enemy, but he is still waging
the war. We don’t want him winning any battles on our watch,
especially as long as we can be part of the force God has called to
stop him.
Caption this Meme
