HealingStrong's Around the Word

Episode 40 - The Jehoshaphat Series: Armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18 NIV)

• HealingStrong • Episode 19

Share episode

We explore the armor of God from Ephesians 6:10-18, connecting these spiritual warfare principles with the story of Jehoshaphat and examining how proper spiritual preparation equips us to face life's battles.

• Understanding that our struggles are spiritual battles, not just physical or emotional conflicts
• Being strong in the Lord's mighty power, not our own limited strength
• Equipping ourselves with each piece of the full armor of God: the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, gospel shoes, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, and sword of the Spirit
• The importance of prayer partners who can support us through difficult spiritual seasons


Suggested Resources:

BIBLE PLAN - Trusting God's Plan in the Battle: Lessons from the Life of Jehoshaphat

PODCAST - Genesis to Revelation Bible Reading

TOOLS - Refresh Your Spirit through God's Word


Please visit our website at healingstrong.org to learn more about our mission and community groups.

HELP US GROW:

Your donation enables us to continue offering this podcast and other resources for free supporting those facing cancer and chronic illness, caregivers and others. Every donation makes a big difference. Please donate here.

Speaker 1:

This is a spiritual battle that we're facing.

Speaker 1:

We're all facing every day and we have to be dressed for that battle. Hi, my name is Cheryl and you're listening to Healing Strong's Around the Word. We're friends sitting around a table who love the Lord and we love digging deep into His Word. Each day, I'll read a Bible passage and then you'll hear us chat about what we're learning from it. Today, I'll be reading Ephesians 6, verses 10-18, from the NIV version of the Bible. So join us Around the Word Ephesians 6, verses 10-18.

Speaker 1:

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. That was our Bible reading for today. So now let's listen in on the discussion that Angie, jeff, susie and yours truly had around the Word.

Speaker 1:

We are wrapping up the story of Jehoshaphat, and we just didn't want to miss the opportunity to tell you about some great ways to prepare for the battle. When you're in the battle, before the battle, it's the armor of God. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power His mighty power, not yours, but his mighty power. In his mighty power, his mighty power, not yours, but his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's scheme. I'm going to stop there for a second. Take your stand. Didn't we see that in what the Lord told Jehoshaphat? Just stand still, stand still. The battle is the Lord's. Yeah, it didn't say go wave your sword, go run and charge them or anything like that. They had to stand.

Speaker 1:

So picking up again, 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. Weren't we talking earlier in the study about the heavenly realms and the conversation with the angels and God? What you see that's happening in your life, that boss that's getting mad at you, that kid that's acting out, those thoughts in your head that you're wondering how in the world am I thinking that it's not just of you. This is a spiritual battle that we're facing, we're all facing every day, and we have to be dressed for that battle. So it says so. Therefore, put on the full armor of God, not part of the armor, by the way. Do you notice that? 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, you may be able to stand your ground. Stand firm, then, with the belt of truth, y'all. What's the belt of truth? It's.

Speaker 3:

His Word, the belt of truth around our waist. It's His Word. Truth is. The Word of God is truth.

Speaker 1:

Truth okay, and then we have so the belt of truth, then we have the breastplate of righteousness. What is that for?

Speaker 2:

Put the breastplate over your heart. Protect where your heart goes, what your thoughts are, what your mind thinks on.

Speaker 1:

And with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. I've heard people say the sandals of the gospel of peace, but with the readiness I noticed that too, we're always on the ready to be able to tell what God has done for us.

Speaker 4:

We're always on the ready to be able to tell what God has done for us. Well, it's just like Jehoshaphat fortified the cities around Judah. He made sure that everything was secure. And we have to go through, in a spiritual sense, being prepared, shoring up our boundaries so that we are prepared when attacks or adversity come our way. We are prepared and ready, and we're so close and so prepared in our spiritual preparation that we're less apt to go the sky is falling. Instead, we're saying, okay, god, I know this is coming. This is a spiritual battle. It may not be that individual, even though they may be a very mean person, or that adversity comes out of nowhere. You're in a car accident, ok, what do we do? Well, instead of panicking, we turn to the Lord and say, ok, help me through this. I am prepared spiritually going into the day.

Speaker 1:

I love it. And then we are taking up our shield of faith. Why are we taking that shield of faith? What does that help us out with?

Speaker 2:

Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the word of God. So we have our faith comes from what we know. You can't have faith in something that you don't know anything about, really, so it's just encouraging us to build up our knowledge of the Word, and then that strengthens our faith and we rely on that Instead of what we see in front of us. We know who we believe and we know what our faith is all about and who supports our faith.

Speaker 1:

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit. So we didn't talk about that helmet of salvation. You know too, wouldn't you want like a helmet? If you're like I mean, we have to wear a helmet whenever we're riding a bicycle, as simple as that. But the helmet protects our mind, you know, especially from those attacks. I swear I wish we could add a couple like the knee pads of submission. I'd be adding that piece of armor. I'd be adding like the headphones or the noise canceling earmuffs so that I wouldn't hear the lies of the enemy.

Speaker 1:

And then we also have the sword of the spirit. I've been told that's our one offensive weapon that we've got.

Speaker 4:

And that is the word of God that he has given us to combat the enemy's lies. Let us remember what Jesus did when he was in the wilderness being tempted by Satan. Anytime Satan used scripture, even though it was half truth, jesus quoted back scripture to deflect the enemy's temptations.

Speaker 2:

It is written, it is written, it is written.

Speaker 1:

That's what Jesus said three times and he didn't even argue with him, by the way, oh no.

Speaker 2:

Satan knows the word. Satan knows the word. Satan knows the word yeah, and that's why he knows how to just give you enough of it or twist it and turn it into a lie. So you got to know what the truth is, the whole truth, so that you can combat your enemy's lies.

Speaker 1:

And then it says in 18, 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 saints.

Speaker 3:

I mean, you definitely think about being in a battle right? Always being alert, always saying prayers, knowing if, especially with the people closest to you, you know what they're dealing with, you know what battle they're in, you know what battle you're in. I love this because it just reminds us that there's no prayer that's too small for God or too big for God. Just he's just reminding us be alert, be alert and always keep on praying.

Speaker 1:

That reminds me of that story with Moses, I think her and somebody else I can't remember, aaron and her. Aaron and her were holding up his arms During a battle, while Joshua and all the guys are down the in the valley battling it out. He's got he's. He's brought in people to lift him up and help, because as long as his hands were uplifted, the Israelites were winning the battle. When he dropped his hands, that's when they were not winning. So that's a good metaphor for us that whenever you have a battle, bring people into it.

Speaker 1:

Bring your, your godly counsel, get your prayer warriors out. This is, you know. Sometimes people are all scared, like I don't want to tell my problems. I don't want to tell I don't want you to think different of me. No, it takes a very strong person to actually talk about what they're going through and to be vulnerable. That actually shows much strength.

Speaker 1:

So if you are battling, please go out and talk to somebody right now. Bring some friends in to pray with you. You don't have to be an eloquent prayer or anything like that. Prayer is just talking to God. By the way, he already knows your needs. There's a verse two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor.

Speaker 1:

That certainly would be said about prayer as well. Bring in your friends, get people praying with you. The more the merrier as far as it's concerned with prayer, and thank you for joining us for Healing Strong's Around the Word podcast. I hope you were encouraged to dig deeper into God's Word and encouraged to get some prayer partners with you to join you and start praying together, because that's really really a big thing. Join us next time for more discussion and encouragement around the word and, if you like our podcast, subscribe to us. Like us, tell your friends and family about us. We would just be so grateful. Also, if you wanna know more about us, healing Strong, just check out our website healingstrongorg, where you can find out all about our community groups, where they meet, and maybe sign up for one. Plus, you can find out about our mission. Until next time, remember, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.