Most of you know that I process what I am learning through
writing… so although I finished this study with my D-group girls, during the next
few weeks they were challenged to catch up on any days they may have missed… so
I am going to take that time to review what I learned and write about… in a
sense… meditate on it and process what God spoke to me through the study.
The book is called, “The Armor of God” by Priscilla Shirer and
if you want to waken up your spiritual life then I recommend you do this
study. I am going to have a combination
of quotes from the book and my own personal thoughts… the quotes will be in red.
Think
about your attitude toward prayer. Would
you say prayer is powerful? In what ways
do your life and actions prove that you believe prayer is a powerful weapon?
Wow, what a way to start off the study. Although, I know that
prayer has Power… I have not been living as if it did. These last few years I have been slacking in
my prayer life. I have seen the power of prayer. I have seen miracles take place from prayer…
and yet it is as if I have fallen asleep.
There
is an invisible battle taking place around us—and you and I get the privilege of
swaying the balance toward life in the name of Jesus Christ! You and I have the opportunity to suit up,
put on the armor that works, go to battle, and see victory declared in our
lives and in the lives of the people we love.
We have a choice… we can join the battle and see victory or we
can sit back and be defeated and watch those we love be defeated as well. I have been living in defeat long enough… it
is time to rise up and fight back…!
We
are able to access all the spiritual resources, divine authority, and blessings
we have been given to stand against the enemy.
If you refuse to pray and take it seriously, you’re wasting your time
trying to stand firm against the enemy. Prayer activates the armor. So pray consistently and fervently.
I already have access to everything I need to defeat the enemy…
all I have to do is ask God for it..! Pray…
Pray.. and Pray some more…!
The
most troubling things in your life—things you comprehend with your five physical
senses—are not the real issues. Though you may be wrestling with them verbally,
emotionally, financially, even physically, you are wasting precious time and
energy that needs to be reserved for the real culprit—the one who is behind the
scenes, striving to direct the details of your difficulties.
We all face difficulties in life… we all face trials… we all
have conflict with other people. But do you realize that the enemy is using
those trials to tear you down. The battle is not really with those people and experiences..
it is a spiritual battle…
The
effects of the war going on in the unseen world reveal themselves in our
strained, damaged relationships, emotional instability, mental fatigue, and physical
exhaustion. Many of us feel “pinned down”
by anger, unforgiveness, pride, comparisons, insecurity, discord, fear… the
list goes on and on. But the overarching,
primary nemesis behind all these outcomes is the devil himself.
Where has the enemy been defeating me and pinning me down? What areas in my life have been destroyed by
the unseen attacks of the enemy. What
relationships have been damaged? He has
been running rampant in my life… Lord, open my eyes to see the truth.
Satan
knows that he cannot destroy you. The
best he can do (and he intends to make full use of it) is to make your time on
earth futile and unproductive, to suffocate you with sin, insecurity, fear and discouragement
until you are unable to live freely and fully.
He can’t “unseat” you, but he can intimidate your and render you
ineffective and paralyzed.
I feel like Satan has been very effective in making my time on
earth futile and unproductive lately… I know my passion is not what it used to
be. I am not living the life I was meant
to live. But… I don’t have to remain in
this place.. because there is power in prayer… and I already have everything I
need to defeat the enemy.
Refuse
to allows comfort and ease to make you apathetic, uninterested, and in some
cases, unaware of the battle that is raging all around you… Our enemy celebrates
lethargic Christian living. When we’re
giving up on relationships, disregarding the purity of our reputations,
yielding to our sinful appetites without putting up much, if any, resistance,
he can basically go unchecked. Wreak
havoc in the lives of God’s people.
Ultimately, he can keep the church from achieving the purposes of God.
I have not been living with the same passion I did in the
past. I know that I used the excuse of
being so busy and overwhelmed, physically exhausted, as an excuse to slack off,
but it was Satan’s tool to go unchecked in my life and slowly draw me away from
God. I never wandered completely… he
knew that he could not do that… it was enough for him to discourage me and make
me too tired to live out my faith as I know I should.
You
must put on the armor now. Daily. Consistently. Faithfully. If we want our resolve to be strengthened and
our stance made firm, we need to realize that spiritual warfare doesn’t take a
day off.
In fact, the more I rise up and put on my armor… the more I will
be attacked. He is going to fight me
even harder now… trying to tempt me to return to my lazy ways… cause conflict
in relationships to discourage me. I
need to view things in light of the battle going on around me… and not be discouraged.
The
enemy is a master at choosing the right king of bait to snag you… he carefully
considers and calculates your current situation, taking into account your
weaknesses and strengths, your interests and tendencies, your history and past
abuses, everything. Then, using this
available information, he crafts a specific strategy to hook you and reel you
in.
10
Strategies the Enemy Uses to attack us:
1) Against your passions – He will do
everything to take away your passion for the things of God; prayer, studying
His Word, missions, etc.
2) Against your focus – He wants your
focus to be on the problem… the circumstances and not on God or the spiritual
battle taking place.
3) Against your identity – He wants you to doubt who you are
in God so you will be ineffective in fighting back.
4) Against your family – He will do
whatever he can to cause conflict in your family, dividing the home, so you are
unfruitful.
5) Against your confidence – He wants to
remind you of past mistakes and sins so you are insecure and do not walk boldly
in Christ’s forgiveness.
6) Against your calling – He wants you
to live in fear, worry and anxiety so you will not follow God’s will for your
life.
7) Against your purity – He will
tempt you towards sins that draw a wedge between you and God.
8) Against your rest and contentment – He wants
you to be so busy doing things, even good things, that you are too overwhelmed
to draw close to God and fight against his attacks.
9) Against your heart – He wants
your heart to be wounded, filled with hurt, anger, bitterness, and unforgiveness
so you cannot live in the freedom of peace.
10) Against your relationships – He wants to
cause disunity in relationships to destroy the testimony of the church.
What areas of my life do I see Satan attacking me? His tactics are always the same. I can be prepared
to stand against him if I am aware of the areas I am must vulnerable…
Prayer
is the mechanism that brings down the power of heaven into your
experience. It is Satan’s kryptonite. It is what weakens and unravels all his ploys
against you. Unless prayer is a vital
and thriving part of your life, you will never achieve spiritual victory.
So… with all this in mind. I cannot go back and change the past..
I cannot redo how I have been living… but I can change what I do today. I can choose to wake up and get on my knees
and pray. Not the type of prayer that is
an afterthought… obligatory “thanks for this food” type of prayer… I can choose
to pray for God to open my eyes to His truth before I read His Word each day.
I can pray for protection against the
enemies attacks. I can lift of my
friends and family in prayer… fervent prayer… knowing that there is power in
prayer. It is not easy to change old
habits… but my desire to draw closer to God and get back the passion I once had…
so I am choosing today to take this step of faith and PRAY..! I may even jumpstart it by watching the movie
War Room… because you can’t watch that and not be reminded of the importance of
praying..!
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