Gear Up: Put on the Whole Armor of God

[00:00:00] Welcome back to the Prayer Is Breathing Podcast. My name is Latoya and I want to thank you for listening and for subscribing. So if this podcast blesses you in any way, be sure to share it with friends, share with other people and have them subscribe. Also, I would love for you to check us out at awakechristianclothing.com. That's A-W-A-K-E christianclothing.com.

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[00:00:36] All right. Today I want to talk to you about two words and that is gear up, gear up, gear up. So spiritually, we have to be in a place where we are geared up. We are putting on the arm of God. We are ready spiritually for the things that are to come.

[00:00:54] And so God is preparing us. There's many things that are coming and we do not live in fear. We walk by faith and not by sight. And we walk in a place where we are feeding our spirit man. So that means staying in tune with the Holy Spirit.

[00:01:10] That means studying the word of God, walking in faith, walking in victory, not allowing distractions to overtake us, but staying at the feet of Jesus. Amen.

[00:01:22] And so I want to talk to you about what that looks like. And so in order to gear up, in order to get ready, you have to have this understanding that we are wrestling not against flesh and blood.

[00:01:36] And so Paul says this in Ephesians, and these are considered the prison epistles. So he's writing these notes from prison, these letters from prison, but he says in Ephesians chapter six, verse 10,

[00:01:49] finally, my brethren be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.

[00:01:55] Verse 11 says,

[00:02:26] We have to put our strength in the Lord as well, and in the power of his might. And so when we put our strength in the Lord, that means that we are also fortifying our spirit man, reading the word of God, studying the word of God, understanding, meditating on the word of God is important when we're gearing up spiritually.

[00:02:49] And then we have to make sure that in this day and time that we are not just open targets for the enemy, but we have on the whole armor of God.

[00:03:02] So now we get to this in verse 13.

[00:03:34] And so this is above all the other armor of God is the shield of faith.

[00:03:41] And so I want to remind you that we walk by faith and not by sight.

[00:03:46] And in this hour, faith is so important because if you do not walk by faith, you will be given over to the spirit of fear.

[00:03:54] But as the people of God, as the children of God, we walk by faith and faith.

[00:04:00] Also, not only does faith please God, but when we take on the shield of faith, according to Ephesians six, verse 16, we are able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

[00:04:13] So it's important that you are carrying and walking and taking on the shield of faith so that you're not taken out by these fiery darts of the wicked one.

[00:04:26] Amen. Hallelujah.

[00:04:28] All right. Verse 17.

[00:04:29] And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.

[00:04:43] And so putting on the armor of God represents getting ready for battle, staying ready for battle, not being caught off guard, but making sure that we are walking fully armored, fully clothed up, fully ready for battle.

[00:05:00] Why? Because the word tells us, as we read, that we wrestle not against flesh and blood.

[00:05:06] So in order to wrestle not against flesh and blood, we have to put on the spiritual armory that God has given to us.

[00:05:14] We have to put on the shield of faith.

[00:05:16] We have to put on the breastplate of righteousness.

[00:05:18] We have to shot our feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

[00:05:23] We have to take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.

[00:05:30] So when we're going into battle, we are going with the word of God.

[00:05:34] We are taking the shield of faith.

[00:05:36] We are not being defeated by the devil, but we are going in for battle, fully victorious, fully triumphant in Christ Jesus.

[00:05:47] And so I just want to share with you that this is the time to put on the armor of God.

[00:05:52] This is the time to not be caught slipping.

[00:05:54] This is the time to decide whose side are you on?

[00:05:58] Because when we're in battle, we're in war.

[00:06:01] We have to decide, am I on the Lord's side?

[00:06:05] I don't know about you, but I am on the Lord's side.

[00:06:08] I am on the Lord's side.

[00:06:09] And so that means surrendering your whole heart to God, not having one foot in the church, one foot out the church, whatever the saying is.

[00:06:18] But making sure that in this hour, your heart is fully surrendered to the Lord, that you are taking your relationship with Jesus Christ very seriously and walking after him with all your heart and soul and mind and strength.

[00:06:32] So pretty much in other terms, this is not the hour to be playing with God.

[00:06:37] This is the time for you to really hone into your relationship with the Lord, not from a place of fear, but from a place of intentionality, understanding the times that we are in.

[00:06:50] And so the Bible talks a lot about discerning the times and Jesus told his disciples that they understood and they could discern different things in the weather.

[00:07:01] But how is it that you cannot discern the times that we're in?

[00:07:06] And so it's important that we are discerning and we get that from Luke chapter 12, right?

[00:07:13] And Luke chapter 12, verse 54 through 56.

[00:07:17] And this is titled discern the time.

[00:07:20] Then he also said to the multitudes, whenever you see a cloud rising out of the West, immediately you say a shower is coming.

[00:07:28] And so it is.

[00:07:29] And when you see the South wind blow, you say there will be hot weather.

[00:07:34] And there is hypocrites.

[00:07:36] You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth.

[00:07:39] But how is it you do not discern this time?

[00:07:43] And so we are supposed to discern the times that we are in.

[00:07:48] And then from that place, put on the whole armor of God so that we can stand in these times.

[00:07:56] And let me just encourage you that you were born for such a time as this.

[00:08:01] And you were born to be God's ambassador in the earth and to really worship the Lord and to walk according to his will and his plan for your life.

[00:08:13] And I want to say that if you do not know Jesus Christ, this is the greatest time to invite him into your heart, to accept the Lord, to repent of your sins, to turn from wickedness, to turn from all these things and run into the arms of Jesus.

[00:08:29] Just giving him your whole heart and your whole soul and everything that is within you.

[00:08:34] I just want to say a prayer with you as I prepare to close.

[00:08:39] God, I thank you for every person listening to this podcast.

[00:08:43] I pray, God, that we would gear up spiritually and be strong in the Lord and in the power of your might.

[00:08:49] God, I pray for the strength to put on the armor of God.

[00:08:54] Father, I thank you that we wrestle not against flesh and blood.

[00:08:57] I thank you that you have given us victory over every principality, over every form of wickedness in high places.

[00:09:04] God, I thank you that we are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

[00:09:09] And I pray, God, that we will take on the whole armor of God and that we will put on the shield of faith in order to quench all the fiery darts of the enemy.

[00:09:19] God, we see what the enemy has tried to plan.

[00:09:22] But God, I thank you that when the enemy comes in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord raises up a standard against him.

[00:09:29] And so God, help us to stand victoriously in these days, God, and to be intentional about discerning and listening to your voice.

[00:09:39] So God, be glorified in all things.

[00:09:41] Draw us, draw our hearts closer to you, God.

[00:09:45] Draw us and keep us in your presence, we pray.

[00:09:48] In Jesus' name, we pray.

[00:09:51] Amen, amen, amen.

[00:09:53] God bless you.

[00:09:54] I pray that you are encouraged throughout this week, that you stay at the feet of Jesus,

[00:09:59] that you allow God to take you deeper in his presence and deeper in his plan,

[00:10:04] and his heart be revealed unto you.

[00:10:06] God bless you and have a victorious week.

[00:10:09] Thank you for tuning in.