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one_soldier_speaks

STAND AND DO WHAT?

By Jay Pearson

 

Psalm 144:1 says, “Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight.” God teaches his soldiers how to war in the spiritual battle and how to “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might” (Eph. 6:10).

In Ephesians 6:13-17, God gives his soldiers six directives to inspire us to action. To stand for God, you must:

  1. take unto you the whole armour of God,
  2. with your loins girt about with truth,
  3. having on the breastplate of righteousness,
  4. your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace,
  5. taking the shield of faith, and
  6. the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit.

The first directive is to “take unto you the whole armour of God” (6:13). Why? “That ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (vv. 11b-12).

Imagine a two-man wrestling contest, when one man enters the ring unaware that he is a contestant. He walks to the center of the ring thinking he is going to sing the National Anthem, and gets knocked off his feet by his opponent. He is defeated before he knows what happened to him. If we are unaware of the spiritual war, we also will be knocked off our feet.

Now that I have on my armour so that I can stand, what do I do next? The first thing we are told is to PRAY and WATCH. Prayer and watching come first.

Ephesians 6:18:
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Have you ever heard someone say, “At least I can pray for you”? Prayer is not the least we can do. It is the most! Prayer and watching are dynamic.

Prayer, in the simplest form, is communication with God and his Son Jesus Christ. You will not be able to accomplish any task if you do not communicate. Can you imagine a soccer team winning a game if the coach did not communicate with them during the game? The opposing team would have an easy victory. Prayer and watching are necessary; and they are commandments.

Ephesians 6:18:
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Communication with the Father is absolutely necessary. This is accomplished the way you would communicate with anyone – by talking to him. Communing with God is called prayer. He is the power source. Prayer is not power. Prayer is action toward the power of God. An electrical wall socket has no power until it is connected to a power source. You can plug into it all day and get no results until it is connected to an electrical source of power.

I have an electrical outlet at my home on the countertop at the stove. I have changed the receptacle twice and it still doesn’t work. The electrician told me there is a break in the wire. The wire is not connected to a power source, and therefore it is useless. My wife tells me we should have it fixed. I think she’s right!

Follow the wire from the socket; if it is not broken, you will find it connected to the power source. The power source to my house is a big box on the side of my house that the electric company has supplied with power. The spiritual connection between the power of God and man is Jesus Christ. Break that connection and there is no power. You will be like the useless wall socket at my house.

Besides being attentive to our prayers, we must also WATCH. We are expected to be vigilant, and for a very good reason.

1 Peter 5:8:
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

After we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord, we became members of the Body of Christ. Now it is our responsibility to stand guard for one another, to watch for danger and warn our brothers and sisters. We are to love one another. The more eyes we have watching the better chance we have to see danger as it approaches.

Ezekiel 33:6:
But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.

The most dynamic thing you can do once you take unto yourself the whole armour of God is PRAY AND WATCH.

1 Thessalonians 5:5-6:
Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

Stand and do what? We are to Pray and Watch. God gives wisdom to those who ask. He will give the wisdom and knowledge we need to protect his loved ones and bring glory to his name. I encourage you to stand and to communicate with the Father, and with the Lord Jesus Christ who opens our eyes to the task before us. AMEN.

 

 


From the September 2006 issue of The Vine & Branches