Part 4: The Sword and a Prayer

The Curious Tale of Zorro and the Sword of the Spirit

Ephesians 6:17-20 “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”

Scripture and prayer form the leading edge of the church; they constitute the front lines in our attack against the forces of darkness. A Case from Acts 6 The apostles reasoned together and called seven men to fill in the gaps of ministry, so that they could focus on the front lines of the church’s activity - devotion to prayer and the ministry of the word.

The Roman gladius - a two foot long, two-edged sword, forged from hammered steel. It was an impressive weapon, specifically engineered for the type of hand to hand combat Roman soldiers engaged in. The word of God is referred to as the sword of the Spirit. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) The divinely breathed sword of the Spirit, equips us for every good work, including the very good work of coming against the powers of evil in this world.

Two Uses of Scripture God’s word is powerful against Satan – Matthew 4:1-11. Scripture is a powerful piece of spiritual equipment in the battle we face against our own sinful hearts. “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. ” (Hebrews 4:12) The word of God has power to cut through the darkness that sometimes clouds our hearts, exposing the sin that resides there. The word of God is active within us, but it also is meant to inspire our activity; as James says “do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” (1:22).

The final piece of spiritual armour that we are introduced to is prayer. Paul encourages a continuous relational conversation with God. Spiritual Truth from “Behind Enemy Lines” Paul mentions that we are to pray for each other, quelling the lone ranger feeling we can sometimes get. There is also a need for continued communication with our “eyes in the sky”. There is an alertness that comes from prayer and we can receive encouragement, support and guidance through an ongoing continual prayer life. Prayer often soften the enemy’s grip in certain areas. In many ways, prayer often paves the way for effective ministry.

Paul does not prayer for safety as we might expect him to - protection is implied because of the context, but safety is not mentioned. A pervasive sense of safety often leads to inactivity and a lack of vigilance – safety can make us spiritually lazy. Paul encourages us to pray for opportunity to share the good news of Jesus and for boldness in sharing that same good news. As we engage our enemy, we must begin to pray for opportunity to come against him in whatever circumstances we find ourselves and for boldness in declaring the gospel. As prayer softens the enemy’s grip on his strongholds in culture or in the lives of individuals, we must readily respond with boldness to his weakening grip. We must sieze the opportunities presented us.

The armour of God it is an offensive armour, not one used in a hunkered down defensive stance. We are encouraged to stand in the explosive power of God against the attacks of our enemy as he seeks to destroy us by whatever means he can. We’ve been given the belt of truth to remind us to engage in dynamic and genuine relationship with Jesus – the One who is foundational truth – so that we are prepared to face our enemy. We’ve been given the breastplate of righteousness to act as a heart protector for us, protecting our intellect and emotions from Satan’s schemes and to allow us to stand tall in Christ’s righteousness.

We’ve been given the footwear of peace to surround our hearts and minds, protecting our emotions and thoughts from the enemy’s attack and to ready us by creating within us a calm preparedness to face down oncoming attack. We’ve been given the helmet of salvation to give us hope that we will overcome our enemy and the shield of faith to address the attacks and opposition of our enemy. We’ve been given the sword of the Spirit as an active weapon against evil and access to our Heavenly Father through prayer for support, guidance, and the active breaking of spiritual strongholds.

A Conclusion Romans 8:31-39