“Are you ready? Let’s Go!” You can hear these words echo through our suburban home each morning as we are desperately trying to leave the house to get to school on time. “Did you brush your teeth? Did you get your snacks? Did you fill your water bottle? Did you get your lunchbox, your eye glasses, your folders, your homework, your project? Don’t forget your jacket!” When are my kids ready to leave? When they are equipped for everything their day at school requires.
When my kids leave the house without their lunch box then they are not prepared for lunch. When they don’t have their folders then they are not prepared for class. A day at school can be difficult, especially if you are not ready.
A day in your life may be difficult. It is especially difficult when you are not prepared.
Holding on to faith and hope may be difficult but it is especially daunting when we are not prepared spiritually.
It can be a fight and a struggle to get ready each morning in my household. But in my
To fight against the cold we tell our kids to put on their coats. To fight against the Evil One the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 6 to “put on the full armor of God.”
Because each day we enter into an unseen battle against spiritual forces. And in order to take our stand against them, we must be strong in the Lord.
A baseball player may have all of his equipment, standing in the batter’s box except one item, his bat. Is he ready to take the first pitch? No. He is useless against it.
You may believe that you are ready for the day. You’ve got all your stuff and your
Take look at Paul’s list.
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. –
Ephesians 6:14-17
The only thing Paul left out were pants. Did you notice that? Just an observation, probably something to do with first-century war
If you left the house with no pants, I would hope that you would notice.
Would you notice if you left the house with no armor?
We either start our day without armor out of neglect or out of ignorance. We have neglected the things of God and ways of God. We are not relying each day on the grace and wisdom of God and our communion with him. We are more concerned about being prepared for parenting or preparing our bodies through physical fitness. We are more concerned about being prepared for work or our continuing education.
We have planned our day or at least have an expectation for how well the day will pan out. We may be prepared for all those things and more but still, enter our day with no strength and no power from God.
Here is what I know about preparation and planning. Things never go according to plan and something undoubtedly comes up that you did not prepare for.
“Everyone has a plan ‘till they get punched in the mouth.” – Mike Tyson
You need to be ready for an adversary that is looking to punch you in the mouth. Sometimes it’s a sucker punch. You didn’t see it coming.
I’m not advocating that we need to be prepared for the unpredictable. I believe that the unpredictable will occur so be prepared.
Paul is not warning us to be prepared if the Devil attacks us. The Devil will attack us so be ready.
Every day you need truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, and the word of the Spirit.
These items are not found on your Amazon shopping list or in your local grocery store. They are not goals for improving your life and they are not part of your WOD (workout of the day). You cannot attain them through merit.
The armor of God cannot be achieved it must be received.
You must ask for them.
The armor of God must be activated.
Just like Billy Batson must say the name of the wizard “Shazam” to activate the power of the Gods (Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury). You must activate the power of God in your life by calling out to him in prayer and worship.
“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.”
– Ephesians 6:18
And keep praying, and keep praying, and keep praying.
Live a life of love
In the book of Ephesians Paul teaches us how to live a life of love by becoming who we
Prayer and worship is the only way that we can fight against the unseen forces of the Evil One. It’s how Paul fought his way through being in prison, flogged, lashed, beaten with rods, exposed to death, shipwrecked, in danger from Jews and Gentiles, in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea, being without sleep, living in hunger and thirst, being cold and naked, living in concern for all the churches, and living with a “thorn in [his] flesh.” – from 2 Corinthians 11 & 12.
Prayer and worship call upon the one who fights our battles for us.
It’s not that when we pray, we will not be attacked. When we pray we cloth ourselves with Christ and we are able to stand up against Satan and extinguish his flaming arrows.
Prayer and worship is the most important way to start your day. We can stand strong when our lives stand on prayer. In order to stand we must start on our knees with our hands outstretched and lifted high.
“Fight all your battles on your knees and you win every time.” –Dr. Charles Stanley
Are you desperate for the power of God in your life to win against the spiritual struggles of this world and beyond?
Prayer and worship, this is how we fight our battles.
Are you ready? Let’s go!
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Jovan preaches for the Littleton Church of Christ near Denver, Colorado. Visit here to listen to sermons preached at the Littleton Church.