Today we are going to wrap up our Spiritual Armor study.

This is the last lesson on a series we started a few weeks ago.

It comes from Ephesians, chapter 6:10-18.

Over the study we have talked about how our fight is not a fight against flesh and blood.

It’s a spiritual battle.

We are fighting against principalities, powers, evil wickedness.

The enemy hates us.

He can’t destroy us so he attacks us and tries to make our life as unhappy and unpleasant as possible.

Thankfully, God has given us these weapons to use to protect ourselves and to fight with.

We put on this armor so we can be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. (Ephesians 6:10 NIV)

We do it so we can take a stand against the enemy’s schemes. (Ephesians 6:11 NIV)

It’s what gives us strength and power to fight.

 

The weapons we’ve looked at are:

The belt of truth

The breastplate of righteousness

The shoes of the gospel of peace

The shield of faith

The helmet of salvation

 

Today we are going to look at the last one.

It’s found in Ephesians 6:17, which says:

17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

 

So, today we are going to talk about the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Your sword is your bible.

It’s Scripture.

Scripture is very powerful.

Listen to Hebrews 4:12 – 12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

 

Scripture is real.

It’s living and active.

It doesn’t just sit there.

It moves people.

It cuts through lies and deception, down to the truth of the situation.

 

Reading scripture speaks truth to you and helps you see whether your thoughts are on track and whether your heart has the right attitude.

This is important because if your heart is not right you can trip yourself up pretty easily and make things harder on yourself without meaning to.

We have to have our hearts right to be able to use our armor well.

Reading Scripture regularly helps with this.

 

Scripture can be a defensive weapon.

When things come at you, whether temptation or lies, you can stop them in their tracks and cut them down with the truth of what Scripture says.

 

By knowing what the Word says you can recognize and refuse the lies and half-truths thrown at you.

In turn, you can speak the truth of Scripture to the problem.

Speaking God’s truth to a situation and claiming it is a very powerful thing.

You speak that word and then stand on it in faith, believing it’s true and knowing God WILL honor His word.

 

Quoting Scripture is also an offensive weapon because we use it to filter our thoughts and vision through so that we can see things from God’s perspective.

When we do this, we can see problems and situations that need dealt with.

We can use that Scripture to pray for a situation so God will heal and handle it.

This might be a problem a friend or family member has.

It might be a bad choice a child is making.

Whatever it is, by praying and claiming the promises and truths in Scripture, we can know that God will change that situation.

 

Sometimes the situation is one where we don’t really know what to do.

We know it’s a mess or that it needs worked on, we just don’t know where to start.

Start by praying for it – with Scripture.

Speak out the truth of the situation and who and where you are in it.

Speak out what God says in His Word is true and declare it over the situation.

 

The truth is a very powerful thing.

We’ve talked about that before.

Using scripture to speak the truth to the situation and to filter the situation through gives us a more clear understanding of what’s really going on and also allows us to see what the real issues are.

This in turn gives us knowledge and wisdom about what and how to fight the battle at hand.

 

Sometimes, that Scripture is a specific one that speaks to it.

Sometimes, it’s a general one that speaks to having faith or clinging to truth, or something like that.

 

When you speak Scripture to a situation it helps you identify and eliminate the lies, doubts, confusion, and other wrong things you might be seeing, hearing, or feeling.

When you filter a situation through Scripture it helps you remember what God said was right or wrong about something, helps you to see where the enemy is twisting things, and it gives you spiritual wisdom about both the situation and how to handle it.

 

Jesus did a good job of modeling that when He was in the wilderness.

These verses are found in Matthew 4:1-11 and  Luke 4:1-13.

The enemy came and tempted Him, each time speaking partial truths.

Jesus always responded with Scripture that spoke truth to the situation.

 

Here’s the thing – the enemy was using scripture, but he was either only quoting part of it or else he was misapplying it.

He was presenting a perverted, twisted view.

He’ll try that with us, too.

That’s one of the reasons it’s so important to know the bible and what it says so we can catch it when it happens instead of saying, “well, yeah, that sounds like the truth” and just going with it.

 

One thing I would really encourage you to do during a battle or storm is to dig in the word for strength, wisdom, and guidance about a situation.

It’s in there.

It might not say specifically what you are dealing with.

Like say you’re thinking, “I am tempted to run all the red lights so where’s the scripture on traffic laws?”

Well, no, there’s not a scripture on traffic laws, but, there is one in there that says we are to obey man’s law and government officials.

So, yeah, it might not mention red lights specifically, but there’s a scripture in there about it.

It’s the same way with any other situation you are dealing with.

There is Scripture in there that will give you wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and help you with whatever situation you are dealing with.

You just have to put the time in and look for it.

 

Here’s the thing, though. You need to already be familiar with Scripture before the storm comes.

You need to be reading your bible regularly and knowing what it says ahead of time.

It’s a lot easier to build shelter in good weather while anticipating a storm than it is to build shelter in a rain or snow storm.

It’s the same thing here.

We need to know what it says and be familiar with it, building a framework of its truths in our hearts before the storms of life come.

Not only will knowing what it says help you avoid making bad choices and bringing storms on yourself, it will give you guidance and peace once any storms do come.

Often, once a storm hits it’s hard to build that shelter.

But if you already have that framework in your heart you have what you need to hang on to and to build on.

 

Sometimes, when I am struggling with something I will open my bible and read that Scripture about it out loud.

It clears the air and it clears my mind.

Helps me focus back on God and the truth of the situation.

 

When I read Scripture I am reminded of the truth and I can cling to that truth, lean in to it, and use it to give myself a pep talk about the truth and what I should do in light of the current situation.

This helps me to stay on track and to keep my eyes off the storm and on Jesus, which is where we should always focus.

 

Speaking Scriptures to the problem or storm changes it.

It might not immediately end, but it will definitely change the battle.

How it plays out, the power it has.

It can change the whole game.

 

I want to encourage you to get in the Word and build that framework of truth within you so that when the storms come  you have this weapon in you and ready!

 

Okay, technically those are all the pieces of the armor, but I really believe that the next verse should be included in there.

Ephesians 6:18 –

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.

I think this piece of armor often gets overlooked or maybe not included because it’s not technically a piece of armor like a soldier would wear, but it is an important part of the formula.

It was put at the end of the passage about armor for a reason.

 

The fact that it says, AND pray is a clue that it is a part of this passage, too.

 

Prayer is an important part of warfare.

It is talking to God about a situation and asking Him to intervene.

If you look at the pieces of armor you will see that prayer is an important part of using them.

 

We pray for strength to fight. We pray for wisdom. We pray and ask for help and guidance.

 

Look at what that verse says about praying for others.

When we pray for others we can ask for their spiritual strength and wisdom so they’ll be able to better use their armor and fight well.

We can pray and ask for their protection from the attacks.

We don’t have to only pray for people when we hear they are in trouble.

We can pray for them now so they don’t fall into trouble.

 

 

The verse says we should pray with all kinds of requests.

We can and should pray about a variety of things.

It goes on to tell us we should be alert (pay attention) and always keep on praying for all the saints.

(In this situation, saints means all Christians).

We should be praying for each other, for other Christians in our lives, and for all Christians as a whole.

 

We can combine today’s 2 weapons together.

Praying Scripture back to God is very powerful.

When we know and remind God of His promises and ask Him to keep/fulfill them, we are engaging in a very holy moment.

We are telling the Creator of the Universe we respect and appreciate His word, the words He has given us to live by, to know Him by, and to understand life by.

We are saying we realize that what He has said is important and that we want to engage with Him in a very personal way.

It is very honoring to Him.

This is very helpful when there is a situation we need His help with.

It draws us closer to Him so that we can be in a better position to hear from and commune with Him.

We NEVER do this to manipulate Him nor force His hand.

We do it to show we are working in partnership with Him and are seeking to continue and strengthen our relationship.

 

I want to ask you, do you pray for the other Christians in your life?

Do you only do it when they are sick or specifically ask for it?

Do you ask the Father to give them spiritual strength?

Do you ask Him to bless them and encourage them?

Do you pray and ask Him to help and heal them in the areas where they fall short?

Why or why not?

 

I want to encourage you to spend some time this week examining these questions and praying for the people in your life and for their faith walk.

 

I also want to encourage you to be praying for your own spiritual warfare.

Pray for wisdom.

Pray you’ll see attacks coming and be alert to their presence.

Pray you’ll be courageous enough to fight well.

Pray you’ll remember to use the weapons.

 

As we’ve gone through this, I wonder if you’ve seen how intertwined they all are.

 

Truth plays a big part in all of them – the shield of faith with the truth of how God can and will protect us; the helmet with the truth of our salvation.

 

Faith is important, too – not just the shield of faith, but the helmet of salvation that tells us to have faith that He has saved us and will take us to heaven.

 

The belt of truth, shield, and helmet protect us from the lies of the enemy.

 

All the different pieces work together in partnership to become a unified whole.

 

Now that we’ve covered all the parts of the Armor of God, I want to encourage you to examine yourself and see whether you are daily using them.

 

If not, I encourage you to begin to put them in to action and to see how it can improve both your spiritual warring but also your relationship with God as you seek to draw closer to Him through it.

 

I encourage you to spend some time this week examining your use of the armor and considering ways you can better put it in to action in your faith walk.

 

Links to the other lessons in this series: Intro to Spiritual Warfare, –Spiritual Warfare Armor, Pt. 1, Spiritual Warfare Armor, Pt. 2

A list of all available lessons can be found on my Lessons Outlines page

Free Downloadable/Printable PDF of this Lesson Spiritual Warfare Pt.3 Lesson Plan