Thursday, March 6, 2014

Armor and A Prayer

        “Finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.” Eph. 6:10-18 (NKJV)

        The last few weeks, we studied the armor of God from Ephesians in our family devotions with our little ones. We sang songs like “I'm in the Lord's Army”, “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus”, and “The Battle Belongs to the Lord”. We memorized Ephesians 6:10-17 and talked about each piece of the armor and how we can “wear” it. They really enjoyed it, and reading it in conjunction with Little Pilgrim's Progress by Helen Taylor, has made for lots of battles, giants, and swords around our house lately! Yesterday, Sarah came up with this drawing and asked me to label it for her. :)  



        I've been thinking a good bit, lately, about praying the words of Scripture for our children (and for my husband, too). Since I had memorized the passage in Ephesians about putting on the armor of God, it seemed like a good place to start. One of the beautiful things about praying Scripture for our loved ones is that we can pray the very words of God over them as we meditate on those words ourselves.

        Lord, I pray for _______ to be strong in Your mighty power. I pray that he will be clothed in the full armor of God, so that he will be able to stand against the wiles of satan. Help _________ to remember that our battle is not against other people, but that we fight against the devil and his forces, who are at work in this dark world. May ________ be protected by Your armor, so that he can stand firm each day. I pray that he will be encircled with truth – that he would meditate on things that are true, and that he would speak only the truth. I pray that ________ would be clothed with righteousness, and that he would do and say only those things that would honor you. May he be prepared to share the gospel of peace at every opportunity. I pray that ________ will be protected from the devil's schemes by his faith in You. May he wear the helmet of salvation and carry the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, in his heart today. Amen.

- Melissa


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