Prayer Requests and Gratitudes

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Empty Promises

~~~ Ephesians 6:10-20 ~~~ Psalm 144 ~~~ Luke 13:31-35 ~~~

Draw your strength from the Lord...
Put on the armor of God...

Paul speaks here of waging a great battle.
This battle is against an enemy that does not have a physical presence.
This battle is against the evil spirits.
This battle is against...
 ...the world rulers of this present darkness...

Sounds remarkably similar to the world that exists today.
There will never be a time when evil and darkness does not roam about
preying upon the human condition of weakness.
Today we have those who use the internet to propagate their evilness.
They lure innocent victims with their lies and deceit.
How often now do we hear reports of identity theft and cyber crimes.
These are examples of the battles we are waging
 today with the evil spirits.

It is precisely this persistence of evil that continues to haunt us today.
Thankfully, Paul lays out the battle plan for us...


It is the truth and righteousness of God that must be our armor.
Our feet must be grounded in peace;
our shield must be the strength of our faith.
If our faith is weak or lacking we become a prime target
 to be drafted by the empty promises of the Evil One.

Without a strong faith in God we become confused and disoriented.
We cannot wage a battle if we are not confident.
We must be confident that we have received the best training.
We must be confident that we have the best armor and weapons.
We must be confident that in the end good does win.

We have the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.
It is here that we find our most reliable defense.
It is in the quiet of prayer that the battle is ultimately won.
Praying does not mean we put our heads in the ground pretending
to ignore the real and present danger.

We must persevere in our prayer.
Jesus was not deterred from his mission of healing just because
Herod placed a target on his back. 

Even though it appears that evil is gaining strength
 in our world today we must never cease
 to pray for peace and guidance.

We must remain strong for the day will come
 when we will sing a new song.
The day will come when we will join in saying...
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Paul leaves us with his timeless message...
With all prayer and supplication,
pray at every opportunity in the Spirit.

Prayer is the most effective means we have to wage battle
 against the present day evil spirits.
Nothing has really changed since Paul
penned this letter from his prison cell.

The ultimate power against the evil spirits
has been and always will be
P R A Y E R.

Blessed...for the Lord is our Rock
 and our Salvation.
No other shall prevail.
~~~ Peace~~~

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