Ephesians 6:13 teaches us to “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.” The armor has many different pieces.
belt of truth – Jesus in His prayer for the disciples says in John 17:17 that “Sanctify them through Your truth; Your Word is Truth”. To be sanctified, means to be set apart, made holy. The only way to work with the Lord is to be holy before Him. If we have sin in our lives, it limits our ability to have interactions with the Holy one of Israel. As we study God’s Word, we begin to understand what God deems as holy and in so doing, we then ask the Lord to make those things important to us. By contrast, what is unholy or sinful, we need to have removed from our actions. Only God can sanctify us and that is a process generated by His Word in our hearts. “Your Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” Psalm 119:11.
breastplate of righteousness – 2 Corinthians 5:21 states that we have been made the righteousness of God in Christ. This came about at our new birth. As we accepted Jesus into our hearts, “old things passed away and behold all things became new”. Jeremiah says that the stony heart within us was replaced by a heart of flesh. We were born again with the ability to come into the presence of God with no sense of guilt or shame. Our sins were removed as far as the east is from the west. That righteousness now serves as a covering over our chest, covering our spiritual heart.
shoes of the gospel of peace – “Beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news” – Isaiah 52:7. This speaks to our purpose as believers. We have come into the family of God at our new birth, and just as we received God’s grace and benefited from His mercy, we must share that Good News with others. Part of our armor are the shoes that we wear. They give us traction so that we may journey to wherever the Lord leads.
shield of faith – Romans 10:17 tells us that “Faith comes by hearing the Word of God”. Similar to the belt of truth which sanctifies us, hearing the Word of God also causes our faith to grow strong. The King James translation of that sentence says that “faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word” which tells us that we are to live in an environment of His scriptures. Using devotional times whenever possible to go through the scriptures. The Holy Spirit uses repeated hearing of the Word to enable us to understand what God is trying to tell us and to grow in our faith. Psalm 119:105 says “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” The more we travel the path of scripture, the stronger we grow in faith.
helmet of salvation – The word for “salvation” in the Greek includes our whole being. It means saved, made whole, delivered, healed, rescued. Understanding what Christ has purchased for us on the cross, is an essential element of our armor. It’s interesting to note that with all of these pieces of armor, that the Word of God is central to our protection and key to our victory when in battle. We must know the scriptures about our salvation. Knowing, understanding, gives us strength when we hear the enemy say “did God really say…?” It becomes difficult for us to be deceived by things which are false, when we know what is true.
sword of the Spirit – all of the above pieces are defensive in nature. This one is for our offense. And of course, it is the Word of God. As we focus on His Word, hiding it in our heart, the Holy Spirit is able to bring to our remembrance those key verses needed when the prayer battle is under way. We put God in remembrance of what He has promised in His Word, applying it to the issue before us – Isaiah 43:26 – working together with Him to accomplish His will.
Knowing God’s word protects us and enables to be successful in prayer.