Check Your Spiritual Armor

Today we had our monthly Men's Prayer Breakfast and we focused our discussion on 'preparing for prayer to a Holy God.' Some of the Word we discussed was from the famous lines in Ephesians 6:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; 19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
Naturally we talked about God's Armor, and the thought occurred to me as to 'how' do we check our armor? I am a believer that all things spiritual have a physical context that it can be referenced too. Having been in the military and worn modern day armor-you knew you were wearing it by its weight. You could also tell when you were missing something by the change in weight of your gear.​
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 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. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
So here is my thinking: do we-in preparation for our daily walk-wake up and put the armor on before facing the world? To test this we must feel the 'weight' of our spiritual armor. If we don't feel the weight of God's Word as we walk through our day-then we are not wearing our armor and therefore we are unprepared and exposed to spiritual attack.​
I instantly thought of these verses to illustrate my point in preparing oneself to put on the armor:​
Romans 8:6, Romans 12:3, I Thessalonians 5:8, Titus 2:12, 1 Peter 1:13, 1 Peter 5:8​
Sober = Nepho #3525
A: To be sober, to be calm and collected in spirit​
B: to be temperate, dispassionate, circumspect​
So before we can begin to pray we must be: #1 sober minded and #2 prepared with the armor. We should feel the weight of God's Word and His righteousness before we approach Him. We should have an understanding about the Power that we stand before and will be subject to in judgment.​
Anyone like to contribute to my madness?​
 
i have come to see in my brother a likable mischievous spirit....here bro your take on sober is indeed wise (i won't tell anyone you wife briefed you)
 
Well, I look at putting on the armor of God maybe a little differently than others. To me, weapons and armor are the tools of warfare. The armor of God and the sword of the Spirit are the tools necessary to fight effectively the spiritual warfare each christian faces every hour of everyday. Now I know the Word says we fight not against flesh and blood and I agree with that. But, we all know God uses people, in many, many cases to carry out his will. The same goes for Satan. He too uses people. When I think of quenching the darts of evil. I think how many times I helped pawns of Satan have a field day with me when I didn't walk in truth or in righteousness or in faith. Or how many times I failed to minister using the Gospel. How many times I failed to answer a worldly phrase or question with the Word because I didn't know it well enough.
I've heard some well meaning intelligent people say how you can't really put on the breastplate of righteousness because we can't really be righteous because that only leads to self-righteousness, but I say malarkey to that. To me the armor of God is not about obtaining salvation through works. It is about walking your daily life with the tools needed to get through each day effectively in our christian walk.
If we tell the truth daily, we take away the ammo of those slandering us. If we do the right thing (breastplate of righteousness), we make it hard for anyone to point the finger of hypocrisy at us. If we have faith, then we can overcome those who rejoice in casting doubt. If we know the Word, then we have an answer to questions asked by us and to us.
When I think of the armor of God, I think of obedience. He is saying "Here is how you walk and abide in Me on a daily basis. Now I have given you the tools so use them."
My problem is I can't quite fit some of those pieces on because of all those gnats and camels. I admit. Until I can figure out how to apply these tools, I will surely be crippled in my walk. Or crawl in my case.
Anyway that's my madness.
 
i started reading and expected a poor slant but i found none...until i came to My problem is I can't quite fit some of those pieces on because of all those gnats and camels. I admit. Until I can figure out how to apply these tools, I will surely be crippled in my walk. Or crawl in my case.
 
we all have gnats bro, what 's the prob....go in your strength

I would have to disagree Brother Rob: Go in HIS Strength! ;) It's much more powerful...

@ Dan: #1 Solution be obedient to God's Word-we all fall short-make the effort and ALLOW God to make up the difference.

We had a guest speaker today who touched on this today at Church using Peter as the disobedient example. If Peter can overcome and become an effective disciple-so can we. We all have the same opportunity to engage in the unchanging Holy Spirit.

To clarify with Brother Rob; I do believe you were touching on the same point, to go in the strength we have,and let God do the rest....
 
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