Worship and praise, the studying of God’s Word, prayer and having a heart of gratitude are valuable weapons in spiritual warfare.
The Word of God is our sword for a reason. If used properly you can cut at every lie and deception thrown your way. But the Word needs to be consumed often for it to be an effective tool.
Worship and praise of the Lord aligns our spirit with His, granting us vision to see into His heart and deepening our faith.
Prayer vocalizes to the Lord our petitions and requests, and reminds us of the importance of inviting His help and power into our lives and those we pray for.
And a heart of gratitude positions us in a humble posture as we welcome our need for God and exalt Him high.
When spiritual enemies come up against us, they work hard to plant a lie in our mind, to distract us from the goodness of God, to tempt us to a position of discontentment or entitlement. And all these persuasions have the potential to lead us to walk away from a full understanding of our true identity in Christ.
But if we remain consistent in our worship and praise, in the reading of His Word, in prayer and in keeping a thankful heart, we become like a house built on a solid foundation and the storms of attack cannot sweep us away.
The time we give to focus in on the Lord in these simple, yet powerful practices becomes our protection and armor. It reminds us of who we are, of who we live for and serve, and helps us keep His perspective on our lives.
We cannot afford to not take time to do these activities. It is a must for the follower of Christ. And, yet we do these not out of duty, but out of an understanding that we need the protection provided us when we make an effort to develop our relationship and intimacy with God.
“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.”
Ephesians 6:13-18a