At His Feet

July 18, 2017: Stay Alert

Ephesians 6:18
Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

Story time~!
You are a soldier in dangerous territory overseas and fighting for your country. You have been trained in every ways before you were sent out so you know that the while you are in the enemy's territory, you HAVE TO BE ALERT!

Personally I believe that a soldier has to be alert and hyper aware of their surroundings because that is what helps them to stay out of trouble and know what to do if trouble finds them. 

Not many people realize this (even me too but I can't really say for other believers) but that is what we have to do too. We must stay alert and be persistent. Paul says to pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. 

Why is that?

Ok, so let's take a look at the book of Ephesians, chapter  6, starting at verse 10. This may seem like a lot but it helps me personally to write/type out the whole thing as I study. 

Ephesians 6:10-17
A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil(the enemy). For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil (enemy). Put on salvation as your helmet, and take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

The church is under attack and I'm not talking about the buildings we meet up with. I'm talking about the people, the body of Christ. Every day we get attacked by the enemy in many ways; our old desires comes back trying to beckon us to go back from what God took us out of. Someone tries to get us to sin saying "It's not that bad," encouraging the wrongs instead of doing what is right. There's other things too and it won't seem like a big thing but it could be like a tv show or the types of songs we listen too can have a big influence on us....discouragement can make us feel like we have no right to talk to God and shame makes us believe that God can never forgive people like us. Hating others can push people away from wanting to know God because "all Christians are judgmental and out to put everyone in hell" or something like that...there's so many dangerous things around us today as Christians. So much and it isn't only physical but also in the spiritual realms too...

So how do we survive then? How can we live as Christians, followers of Jesus Christ who is all God and all Man? Well....there are ways...steps...I'm not so sure how to explain it but these are here;

1) Prayer: Prayer is our conversations with God. We come to seek God in our prayers, to spend time with Him and cry if our hearts or spirits are broken and praise Him for His greatness and all the blessings He's been showering over us. We can ask God for the supplies we need, confess to Him our sins we committed and let God lead the prayer with these things. It's odd but we need to pray in God's power, in His Holy Spirit because the Spirit knows what to ask for, knows what we need to confess and presses us to speak truthfully when we could be behaving stubbornly. He encourages us to not give us and continue to ask God for something; persistence, and He speaks the word we find very hard to speak. He talks on our behalf. He's the comforter Jesus promised us. 

2)Reading the bible! <3
The bible is so important! Reading it is super important and this is why! The scripture are were written by many people God used to bring about great things but everything in the bible is inspired by God's Holy Spirit. These are God's living and breathing and life giving words to us that shapes and molds us. It's the spiritual food that we need to grow in the faith and it also equips us to live God's way. It points us to salvation: JESUS! It takes out the wood in our eyes and explains why something is wrong. Example: Why is it important to love our enemies? Like to love the human beings that hurt us or beat us or do such horrible things? Matthew 5:43-48 explains that we are God's children and as such we should love others like God loves us even our enemies. The reason being we are different than our bullies or people that hate us: They 'love' their friends too so what makes us different from them if we love only our friends too? What's the point of it or the reward of it? God says we are to be perfect even as He is perfect.  

3) Putting on the Armor of God!
This is the armor of God: 
~The belt of truth
~Body armor (Breast plate) of righteousness
~ Feet fitted with the gospel (The peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared)
~The Shield of Faith
~The helmet of Salvation
~The sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.
This is our armor to fight in and we put it on when we pray, read, and believe! God gave us the armor to stand firm against the attacks of the enemy. We know what the bible says and if we have any questions, we have God to go to and ask. God gave us faith and salvation and also the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. We use the scriptures, prayer, and faith to stand firm! Which makes the two options above look really good. ;)

And that is not all...through all of this, God even gave us His own Holy Spirit to guide us and help us in all of this! Isn't that awesome! We are given everything we need to stand against the enemy and all his lies and tricks! We are able to grow and stand in God's power and not fall but continue to become more and more like Christ until the day Christ comes back. Doesn't that bring a bright smile to your face! <3 it brings a smile to mine!

And so...because of all this...we must pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion and also be persistent in our prayers for all of Christ believers everywhere. 

I am still learning all of this myself people so please, don't rely 100% on me because I do not want to say anything at says something else....so it's important for you all to read the bible! Read the bible and feed on the spiritual food God gives so freely! Ask God to open your eyes and ears and to fill you with His Holy Spirit and help you understand what the scriptures mean. This is important and I really want you guys to read it up and not just accept anything you hear. It's a dangerous place in this world so we have to put on the armor and make use of it. 

When we pray, it needs to be in God's power and strength. Personally...I find it hard to pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion....I also forget to pray for my family in Christ....

It's hard to explain but I know this is something I need to study on and put into practice...because in my mind I think that praying a long prayer is considered praying powerfully but then...saying just a little prayer can also be something powerfully. Like I said, I am still learning this so please, read the scriptures and ask God to show you what it means. 

Father God,

I thank You for the spiritual food that You have graciously given me. God thank You for the armor and also for Your Holy Spirit that gives me power and strength to stand firm against the enemy's attacks. I confess that I am afraid. I fear of speaking something false or something that does not add up to Your Holy words...I do not want to write something contradicting Your words. That is scary to me because Your awesome words leads to Salvation and I do not want to mess that up. God, I also confess that I still have yet to understand fully these words so I feel inadequate...God, please open my own eyes about what it means to pray in Your Spirit at all times and on every occasion and God, give me the strength to put it into practice, to be a doer and not just a listener. Give me boldness to come to You for the things I need and the things I do not yet understand, but more so to give You praise and seek You. God Almighty, I often forget to pray for my family in You and I am sorry for that. God, I need help with this. I want Your help with this because I know around the world, my family in You are going through troubles I can't picture....help me to remember them in my prayers and give me the words to say to pray for them. God, bless the people that read this. I pray that this will point them to feed on the spiritual food You give and that they may grow in their faith as well. God, give them insight and understanding; wrap them in your shield of faith, tie the belt of truth around their waists, fit their feet with the peace that comes from Your gospel, place on their heads, the helmet of truth, on their chest put the breast plate of  righteousness, and strengthen their arms to swing the sword of the Spirit so that they may stand up and stand firm against the enemy's attacks. Protect them and God, thank You. In Jesus name, Amen.

-Candy