Spiritual Warfare in These Troubling Times Part Seven: Pray Always
This is it, everyone! Join Bishop Phil Ashey in a powerful prayer as we put on the Armor of God.
Next week comes the bonus video: The half hour of questions and answers that ended the first presentation of this series.
Blessings to you all.
The Prayer
PUTTING ON THE FULL ARMOR OF GOD
O God, I thank you for delivering me from evil, for redeeming me and making me whole. I belong wholly to you now, motivated and guided by your Holy Spirit. I thank you, Lord that you have provided a way in your Holy Word to protect me from the attacks of Satan. I come to receive this protection by putting on "the whole armor of God" as you have pictured it for me in your Holy Word.
First, in obedience to you, O God, I place on my head your helmet of salvation because I am saved by grace. I am your child, a joint heir with Christ himself. I belong to you and you take care of your own!
I place on myself the "breastplate of righteousness,” your righteousness, Lord Jesus. Lord, cover my heart and my inner being with your righteousness. Protect me from self-righteousness which is a tool of the enemy and enable me to trust you to be my righteousness.
Then I put around my waist the belt of truth. Lord Jesus, you yourself said that I would know the truth and the truth would make me free. You tell us that Satan is "a liar and the father of lies” and that Jesus Christ is the truth. Never again need I be deceived by the lies of the enemy, for now I wear the Truth of Jesus Christ, and I am protected from the father of lies.
Now, O God, I put on my left arm the shield of faith, which covers me from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. From this moment on, all of my being is protected by faith in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Now I take my stand on your promise, “For by grace I have been saved through faith,” which is a gift from you. Give me the strength I need, O God, to use this shield to "quench all the flaming darts of the evil one."
And in my right hand I place the most powerful weapon ever created — the sword of the Spirit — which is your Holy Word interpreted by your Holy Spirit. You have shown us that the two must be forged together to make the sharp, double-edged weapon we need to win the battles of life. Lord, give me a desire to know your Word. By your Spirit, make that Word living and active for me personally as it separates soul and spirit within me, discerning the thoughts and intentions of my heart. Give me the wisdom to use this sword against every attack of the enemy. Enable me to hide your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
And finally, Lord, I place on my feet the equipment (or preparation) of the gospel of peace, my go shoes. With these shoes of the gospel, you Lord are equipping me to go out into the world with the "peace which passes understanding." Jesus, you said, "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.” The peace which you give, Jesus, is not the peace the world gives, but it is the peace the world needs to keep from perishing. So I go from here into my world in the assurance that I am protected by the whole armor of God. I go in the assurance that God has come to me and will be with me wherever I go.
You can download the prayer here.
The Series
We are fighting a daily battle whether we realize it or not. While we tend to separate the spiritual and the earthly, this is not an accurate or effective view. Spiritual Warfare is real, relentless, and intertwined with the physical realm. Fortunately, we have a good and gracious God who has given us armor to counter our enemy. From the Shield of Faith to the Sword of the Spirit described by Paul in Ephesians 6:10-18, these weapons allow us to take the strongholds of the enemy.
In this seven-part course, originally given live at St. James Anglican, Bishop Phil Ashey teaches us to recognize the attacks of the enemy, how to don the armor of God, and the attitude and disposition we need to go from victims to victors.
The series ends with a powerful prayer and has an eighth, bonus episode from the live Q&A that ended the initial presentation of these lessons.
You will Learn
What is Spiritual Warfare ?
How do we recognize it in our lives ?
How we can incorporate the Holy Spirit's help ?
How do we defend ourselves and our families ?
What can the church do to stand up against it?
How do we break demonic oppression in our lives?
