Warrior Wednesday: Training for Spiritual Battle

Weapons are not a foreign concept to me.   I am in no way offended by guns, ammo, or knives of any kind.  I was brought up around all kinds of fire power and mindfully taught about the dangers and seriousness of guns, as well as the usefulness and focused purpose of them.  

In the same way I was taught to respect these powerful tools, we teach the children in our family that weapons are useful but require thought, strategy, and skill, just like any other tool.

The weapons of spiritual warfare are no different.  We have been given a powerful set of battle gear that can be used to defend us against the Enemy's schemes or to advance in strategic offense against him and his forces.  But do we put in the time and practice we need to properly use this gear, and do we teach our children how to use and respect it?

Right now, in my stack of summer reading, is the book Fervent by Priscilla Shirer.  If you have seen the movie War Room, you have seen this author.  She is the actress who plays the main character in the movie, which portrays a woman whose world is turned around through the power of strategic prayer.  War Room is the inspiration for Shirer's book, a study on strategic prayer.

Did you know that PRAYER is one of our most powerful weapons?  And did you know it is NOT the only battle gear we possess?

In this world where we live, we will be pushed around by fear, worry, prejudice, and many other ungodly things-- did you catch that? UNgodly.  These things are NOT from God.  These types of powers in our lives only take our minds off of God and His blessings.  The Word of God tells us that we have not been given a spirit of fear but of power, of love, and self-discipline and that instead of letting worry consume us, we should think on whatever is good and holy and pure and true.

So why does fear keep tripping us up?  Why do we bathe in worry?  That's where I believe we don't take time to skillfully employ the weapons we've been given.  Ephesians 6 tells us to put on the full armor of God.  We have gear to protect us from head to toe, plus a shield and Sword to go forward into battle, and the encouraging Battle Cry that we are more than conquerors who have already won. 

In short, we are warriors.  That's why we need training for battle.  I invite you to join me for the next few Wednesdays as I study each piece of the battle gear-- the full armor of God.
In the meantime, grace and prayers to you on this Warrior Wednesday.