Armed For Battle

I believe one of Satan's greatest weapons in his arsenal is busyness. It disconnects us from prayer and devotion until we hit a wall of crisis, facing anxiety, stress and worry. His tactics are far reaching and he will use everything at his disposal to throw Christians off track.

By the time distress digs in, the ship of faith and strength we once traveled in safely with our Savior has become a rickety rowboat with one oar. The calm once enjoyed inside the Lord's refuge has lifted and there's no land in sight as we drift.

We allow the noise and distraction of this world to take precedence over the needed solitude with God, and quietness becomes elusive, changing our attitudes in frightening ways and making us ill equipped to fight the enemy.

Throughout Jesus’s ministry, he routinely stole away for times of isolated prayer with his heavenly Father. He knew the threat of the devil all too well and took it seriously enough to separate himself from the evil he regularly fought. Those routines armed Jesus for spiritual battle.

Today, we face the same intense spirit that makes itself known in loud and obvious ways. Evil has seeped into every operating system of the world without any sign of backing down. Jesus stood toe to toe with the arch enemy and emerged victorious every time. Why? His times of prayer and devotion in seclusion with his father always prepared him for spiritual conflict, no matter where he went or what confronted him.

As followers of Christ, we need to take the wickedness of this world seriously and begin each day preparing for war, because our earthly home is a battleground. Like Jesus, our preparation must start with prayer and an earnest devotion to the Word of God. Then as we go forward into our day, we are ready for the spiritual war ahead.

Be armed for battle against distraction. Let prayer, one of our greatest weapons against all that Satan attempts to wield, be first as we seek quiet solitude with our almighty God.

Heavenly Father, I know what awaits me when I leave the isolated safety of my prayer and devotion time with you each morning. Arm me for the battle ahead. I pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Throughout This Day: Take measures to ensure you are armed for every spiritual battle by carving out prayer and devotion time with the only one who can fully equip you for the fight, almighty God and his Word.