The Full Armor of God

After the LORD reminded me, I wanted to remind you to put on and keep on the full armor of God. Not one or two pieces. All of it. We never know when the enemy will come, and we can’t afford to get lazy or be found unprepared, caught up in the world. 

And once we’re outfitted and ready for battle, we must pray in the Spirit.

Just as we’re called to now walk in the Spirit, by the renewed hearts and minds given to us by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that we might obey Him and do all things in His power, so we are called to pray in the Spirit, asking Him to reveal to us the will of the Father, and then pray. Because without Him we can do nothing, but in Him we can do all things.

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him.” 1 John 5:14-15


“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 

Stand firm then, with the

belt of truth buckled around your waist, 

with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 

and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 

In addition to all this,

take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 

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.” Ephesians 6:10-18 

 

 

Sunday Praise and a Father’s Day Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise and glorify you. Thank you for the blessing of calling us to be not only worshippers, not only your kingdom and your church, but your own sons and daughters. Help us grasp even more of the magnitude of what that means not just eternally but in our lives every day. 

Help us daily remember that you are our Heavenly Father and you desire to be and do all a good Father does in the life of His child, so that we never hesitate to call on you for every need, big and small. 

For those who might have had a difficult or even non-existent relationship with their fathers, please show them you are not like that. You are always full of love and forgiveness and compassion and faithfulness, and that you desired a relationship with us so much that you sent your own Son to bridge the gap between us through His death and resurrection. 

Lord, we lift up our fathers to you. First, we pray for those who know you, that they would know the joy of abiding in you and being filled with the knowledge and wisdom that fathers need for their children. Please teach them how to be the dad you’ve called them to be so that they bless each of their children in the way they need. 

Second, we pray for the fathers who have yet to know you. Lord, we ask that you would pour out your Holy Spirit to draw fathers into a saving relationship with you, so you can heal hearts and break the chains of generations of sin, beginning new and godly relationships between dads and their children. 

We are immensely grateful, Heavenly Father, for all you’ve done and all you will do. May we glorify you today and every day. In Jesus’ holy name we pray, amen.

 

Sunday Praise and a Prayer For Strength in Our Brokenness

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise your holy and powerful name. 

Lord, so many times we try to run from our brokenness and our weaknesses and perceived flaws by ignoring them or hiding them or trying to right them ourselves. 

Instead, we offer them up to you today and ask that you would fill those places with your strength and power and make our faith even stronger, our character more beautiful, than we ever would have been without them. 

We give you all the glory and honor and praise in advance for what you’re going to do. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. 

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If you have any prayer requests, please leave a comment, message, or email me. I’d be honored to pray for you. 

Sunday Praise and a Prayer to Be Still

Oh Heavenly Father, we praise you. We praise the One, the only One, Who is full of grace and mercy. 

Today we simply ask that you would help us to be still and know that you are God. Help us to cease from our works, to cease striving to gain your love and your favor. In your Son you fully love us already and nothing can separate us from your love. 

Help us be still within our spirits and lean into our Savior Jesus. 

You know what we need, and we ask in your great grace and mercy that you would provide for us, and that we would give you all the glory. In Jesus’ holy and precious name we pray, amen. 

Sunday Praise and a Prayer on Pentecost

Before we get to our prayer, let’s look for just a moment at Pentecost. 

With the Lord there are no coincidences.

First, Passover is the observance of the time in Egypt when God caused the plague of death to pass over the those who’d taken refuge inside homes where the doorframes were covered with sacrificial lamb’s blood.

And Passover was the day God ordained the crucifixion of Christ, the perfect sacrificial Lamb, and the shedding of His blood so that spiritual death would pass over any who would take refuge in the blood of Christ through belief in Him.

Likewise, fifty days after Passover is Pentecost (which means fifty), also known as the Feast of Weeks, the celebration of the first fruits of the wheat harvest.

It was also the day God ordained to send His Holy Spirit to indwell the disciples of Christ, referred to several times in the Bible as wheat, reaping the first fruits of the harvest of Christ’s work on the cross.

For those of us who believe in Christ and are filled with His Holy Spirit, we are the continued harvest of those seeds Christ planted all those years ago. 

Not only is Passover a day to remember that miraculous, joyful time in the lives of the first disciples, but a celebration of what God’s still doing today.  


Dear Heavenly Father, we praise your glorious name. Thank you for your perfect ways and for the beauty in all your plans. 

Thank you for the gift of salvation and of your Holy Spirit who gives us wisdom, teaches us, ministers to us, comforts us, and leads us through the treacherous terrain in our lives. We are forever grateful for your grace and mercy. 

Father, we pray you would use us to continue your work, and that many more harvests would come as your Holy Spirit works in and through us. In Jesus’ holy and precious name we pray, amen.