Faith fact: the Armor of God lists faith as equipment for protection.
… in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Ephesians 6:16 New American Standard Bible 1995
When Paul wrote about shields of armor, he knew the Roman shield was big – it could cover from the knees to the chin to protect against arrows and spears. You could kneel behind during an attack. History tells us the ancient Roman soldiers had a practice of forming groups in a military formation called a “phalanx”. This strategy allowed soldiers to join closely to each other in order to create a tight circle to protect the larger group from the influx of fiery darts.
I’m drawn to the idea of our church family communities forming a phalanx in today’s world. We need to bind together and use our faith to protect each other from the attacks of the enemy!
Faith can fight fire
The shield had an outer covering that flaming darts could not penetrate. According to Ephesians 6:16, it’s also a fact our faith can “extinguish” the fiery darts from the enemy; or in other words, faith smothers fear.
Each piece of armor connects to the other. If you’re faith is based on truth, on the righteousness of Christ and lived out in the peace of the Gospel, it will put out the lies of the enemies. You don’t have to be afraid.
Faith has to be used
But, here’s the thing: you have to put your faith in action. A shield must be lifted up. It’s no protection if you are just dragging it along. You must put effort into it, you must engage your faith.
Lift up your shield! We lift our shields by meditating and memorizing scripture, and then being in prayer, we replace thoughts of fear and doubt with words of trusting in our Savior. The enemy can’t penetrate the Word!
Congratulations, you’ve made it to the 13th day of my Transformation: Becoming an Effective Prayer Warrior series. For 28 days, we are examining truths about spiritual warfare, corporate prayer and praying in agreement and learning to apply them to our lives.
I don’t pretend to know all the answers. I’m going to be thinking with my fingers, so to speak, as I process what is in my heart about these topics after reading the word and praying for discernment.
You can go here to see each post I will be making on this topic.
Today’s question for your consideration: How can the Word of God be described?
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Sharing at Anita Ojeda’s 2023 Write 28 Day Challenge and Inspire Me Monday