This is how you put on the armor. This is how you put on the armor. It's a heart
thing like Mary said. You have to take the statement, apply it to your life in
prayer, in the direction of change me. Verse 11 says put on the whole armor of
God. Verse 13, therefore take up the whole armor of God so we can go slow on
this or we can go fast. This morning we don't have a lot of time. You're gonna
have to take the base out of this mic if you want the feedback to stop. So we
will, I will pray through and you follow and apply it to yourself. The first
thing is in verse number 14, stand therefore having girded your waist with
truth. Lord I pray in the name of Jesus show us where we lie. Show us where we're
in deceit. Show us where we are not truthful. We are not honest. We do not
say it exactly the way it is. We paint the picture to make ourselves look
better. And in the end it's not exactly the way it happened. It's a coloring,
it's a changing of the facts. We're not truthful. We're asking Lord, convict us
and show us where we're off. And then we will be quick to obey and stop
deceiving, stop lying, stop changing facts and figures and so forth to make
ourselves look better. We choose this morning. We choose truth. We choose
truth. We choose truth. We make no excuses for white lies. We make no
excuses for half truths. We make no excuses for things that are not
accurate and correct. We choose truth and we repent of any ways that we
have. We will repent of anything that we have that is not truth. We refuse to
succumb to culture which at this point statistically basically just lives in
lies. We refuse. We refuse to participate in the deception, the
deceit. You never know if what you're seeing or hearing is actually true. That's
our culture now, Father, and we choose to follow Jesus who is the truth. We
choose to become truthful and follow in with that. We also put on the breast
plate of righteousness. Show us, according to John 16, the reason your
Holy Spirit came, Jesus, is to convict us of what's wrong or show us what's wrong, to
convince us of what is right. Show us what's right. So we ask, Holy Spirit,
that's your job. Show us where we're wrong so we can become right. We want to
put on the breast plate which covers our heart and it has to be grounded
in righteousness or what is right before God. Show us what is the right
decision we need to make about things we're deciding on. Show us the right
job or career that we're supposed to pursue. Show us the right place we're
supposed to live. Show us the right gift of the Spirit or gifts of the
Spirit that we're supposed to pursue and flow in. Show us where we are
supposed to take a stand against culture and against society and against
lawlessness and against the evil of our day. Show us, even though it may be
uncomfortable to say things to certain people, to take a stand in certain
situations, we choose to put on what's right. And we don't compromise with
what's wrong. We're not going to placate people. We're not going to
placate feelings or emotions by doing and going into what's wrong. We are
going to choose to be in the right with you. And Lord, that we know is
putting on the breastplate of righteousness. Convict us of where we
actually make choices that we could say, yeah, probably not the right
choice. But for whatever reason, we're going to make that. Show us where
we're doing that because when we do that, we are not putting on the breastplate
of righteousness. Our heart is exposed. We are now open. We are now open
to deception. We are now open to being misled. When we know what is
right, we must choose it and do it. Drive that into our hearts, Lord,
so that we understand righteousness and making that choice. And Lord,
having our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Our feet
shod with the preparation for the gospel of peace. Our feet shod with
the preparation for peace. Lord, show us where we're stubborn. We're cantankerous.
We say things we shouldn't say. Everything that follows us, we're not
preparing for peace. We are doing things and saying things that
literally prepare for gossip, that prepare for strife, that prepare for
division. We're doing things that are not preparing because the gospel
moves forward in peace. Show us where we are actually paralyzing or
handicapping ourselves because we're not preparing for peace. Therefore,
the gospel is not shared through us. Therefore, the gospel has no
effect through us. People look at us and it does nothing for them
because our gospel is a gospel of criticism, a gospel of judgment, a gospel of
strife, a gospel of hate, a gospel of unforgiveness. There's nothing
preparing for peace. Show us where we are off because where we walk,
the preparations should be being made so the gospel can go forth in peace.
That's what should follow where we walk because our feet are shod with the
preparation for the gospel of peace. So, yes, get us to a position we are
walking in peace. Get us in a position where we're paying
attention to what kind of effect we're having on people.
Is it preparing them for peace or is it preparing them for some other thing
that is not you? Show us, change us. Folks, this is how you put on the
armor. This is how you put on the armor.
It's a heart thing, like Mary said. You have to take the statement, apply it to
your life in prayer, in the direction of change me, work in me,
clothe me. So, that's what we're doing right now.
Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you are able to quench the
fiery darts of the wicked one. Lord, I renounce and I rebuke that
Christian saying that says, the devil has been after me.
The enemy has been at work. And all that little phrases that we use
to make excuses for why we're failing in our Christian life.
Because the devil's so big and God is so little
and the enemy's been after me all week. Lord, help us to learn how to walk
in faith. Take up that shield of faith and anything he throws at us
does not hit us. It hits the shield. It hits the faith.
Show us where we're out of faith. Show us where we're not walking in the
faith of Almighty God. Because again, that's where we're open. We're vulnerable.
Show us where we're walking in unbelief. Show us where we're actually
expecting bad things to happen or negative things to happen.
Show us where we're waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Because it never turns out good for me in the long run anyway.
Show us where we're out of faith. Teach us faith.
Teach us how to step in to the realms of faith.
To operate in faith. To think faith.
To speak faith. To hear your word spoken to us so we can have
faith. Help us take up the shield of faith so that we have a defense.
We have a protection from the one who walks around as a roaring line trying to devour us.
Help us get the shield up into position. Get the shield up into place so we can quench
everything that gets thrown at us. Because as long as we're living on this earth,
there's going to be fiery darts thrown at us and the only repellent or protection
we have for those attacks of the darts is faith.
Otherwise all kinds of questions will stick into us.
All kinds of unbelief will stick into us.
We will wander from the truth that will stick into us.
All kinds of things stick into us and begin poisoning us and taking us down
because we're not walking in faith. So I say again, Lord, grow us in our faith to another level of
glory. Grow us in our faith to another realm where you can operate through us because we are
a people of faith. And no matter what the demonic throws at us, we answer with faith.
Like Jesus did in Matthew chapter 4. No matter what Satan said to him, Jesus answered by the word
because he was solid in his face in the Word. So his faith became the shield and he repelled
them back with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Lord, we need to learn your
Word. We need to study it. We need to read it. Don't let us rest without growing more
and more and more in your Word. And then, Lord, not just having it dropped into our heart
by Ramah, not just studying it and it goes to the inside of us, but teach us how to use your Word
as a sword, which your Spirit wields through us. So Holy Spirit, we're totally dependent on you
now to be able to wield the Word through us. Show us what we need to say in every situation.
We've got the shield of faith up and now we're going to go on the offensive and we're not going to
wage war as the world does. We're going to let the Holy Spirit wield the Word through us
as an offensive weapon. Something that doesn't destroy people, but something that reaches in
to divide the bones from the marrow, divide the soul and the Spirit. Lord, help us to realize
sometimes we use the Word to kill people. That's not the Holy Spirit wielding it through us.
The Holy Spirit will separate things out as we work with the Word so they can see it.
They can understand it so they can repent and a change can happen in their heart.
Show us how to wield the Word in a way that helps people. Show us how to wield the Word when
we're dealing with the demonic realm like Jesus did. Giving no room for deception,
giving no room to make the wrong choices, but just taking the Word and putting it out there
and saying, this is what God says. This is what I'm doing. This is what I will obey. And you'd have
nothing to say in it. You can't affect me in it. We're not going to do it. Praying always with
all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. Lord, teach us how to pray in the Spirit.
Show us where we're not in the Spirit when we pray. It's coming out of our head.
It's coming out of our reasoning. It's coming out of someone else's idea.
It's coming out of religion. It's coming out of tradition. It's just a prayer we recite.
It has really no power, no meaning to it. It's just words we say. Lord, show us how to pray
and make supplication, which is a form of intercession, in the Spirit, or in other words,
led by the Spirit. Praying always with all prayer. There's all kinds of prayer
and supplication or forms of intercession in the Spirit. Lord, not what we think,
not what we want, but speaking and interceding as the Spirit leads us, as the Spirit guides us,
dealing with situations, dealing with things, as the Spirit sees they need to be dealt with.
Teach us how to do that. And for those of us that are growing in that, grow us more.
Grow us more through visions, through dreams, through your leading, the
rainbow words being spoken to us, through your input, through the inward witness.
There's many ways to be led. Holy Spirit, lead us how to pray and intercede that it's
you doing it. And Lord, help us to be watchful to this end. The end being putting on the armor,
praying by the Spirit, with all perseverance and supplication
for all the saints. Teach us how to persevere for each other, not just for ourselves.
Help us grow past the selfishness of the last age. In the last days, terrible times will be.
Paul said, people will be lovers of themselves. Lord, teach us how to get beyond praying for us,
our need, our life. Teach us how to pray in supplication, intercession for others,
and persevere doing it. Stay with it. Stay focused on it.
Cause things to come into being, because now we are clothed in our heart, in our being,
with the armor of Almighty God. Now we're ready for battle for others also.
Teach us this, grow us in this, in Jesus' name. Amen.