Put On the Full Armor of God | Relationship Resources

Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. – Ephesians 6:11

What are we told to do? Why?
What kind of schemes does the devil use?
What schemes has he used against you?

I’ve made it a habit to put on my armor every day. I know the enemy will try whatever schemes he can against me—and you. We need to be ready for him so that he can’t succeed.

Jesus already won the victory. We just need to put on the armor He gave us and take our stand.

If you haven’t memorized Ephesians 6:10-18, I’d encourage you to start now. Yes, it’s a long passage. Start by writing it out on a card and read it every day. These are important verses you need to know and use every day for the rest of your life!

Stand firm

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… – Ephesians 6:13-14

This passage doesn’t tell us to fight, but rather to stand firm. Four times in these verses (including verse 11) we are told to stand.

Why do you think it tells us to stand, rather than fight?
Does that mean we’ll never fight? Why or why not?
Why are we to stand firm?

I want to encourage you to choose each day to stand firm, so you are ready for the day of evil—so you are ready for the devil’s schemes.

The belt of truth

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist. – Ephesians 6:14

I don’t see a belt as all that important in what I’m wearing, unless of course, I’m wearing pants that are way too big and will fall off without the belt. However, a Roman soldier’s belt was a crucial part of his armor. It is what held the scabbard, which held his sword. Imagine a soldier not having anywhere to keep his sword. All of a soldier’s equipment, including his sword, was attached to his belt. The belt also held his clothes and other armor in place so that they didn’t get in the way and hinder him. It gave him freedom of movement.

Our enemy is a liar and the Father of lies (Jn 8:44). That’s just who he is, so we shouldn’t be surprised that he will do anything to get us to believe lies.

When you put on the belt of truth, ask the Lord to show you what it means. Here are some of the things that are important to putting on truth. We need to be able to:

Recognize the difference between truth and lies. That comes from spending time in the Word and in learning to hear our Shepherd’s voice. Ask the Lord to help you recognize the truth. This includes the lies we believe about ourselves, others and God. For example, do you believe you are worthless or insignificant? What does God say about you? We’ll talk about this more another time. Ask the Lord to show you any lies that you may believe about yourself.
We need to speak the truth. The enemy loves to get us to tell “little white lies” and make us believe that they aren’t that big of a deal.
Walk in the truth. Live according to what the Word says.

This is just scratching the surface on what it means to put on the belt of truth. Each day as you put it on, ask the Lord to show you what He wants you to know for that day.

Shoes of peace

Stand firm then…with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. – Ephesians 6:14–15

Our feet need to be fitted. We need to have shoes that fit our feet perfectly. It’s hard to walk or run when your shoes don’t fit right—either being too big or too small. We need shoes that fit like those new ones where there is a special place for each toe. Have you seen them? They are really cool!
Readiness. We need to be ready to go wherever God calls us to go. There are many places we can’t go if we don’t have good shoes.
The gospel of peace. Jesus came to bring us peace with God, peace with others and peace in our own hearts.
We are to walk in peace, rather than fear, stress or anxiety. But we are also to take that peace to everyone we come in contact with. The world is longing for peace. We have the answers, but are we hiding them?

Think about what your shoes of peace are like. What is the Lord saying to you today?

The shield of faith

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. – Ephesians 6:16

Every day I use my arms to physically show myself holding my shield of faith. I also ask God to increase my faith every day. I want to really believe that “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” I have quite a bit of faith, but it is still lacking. So long as I haven’t raised anyone from the dead, I know I still have farther to go. Actually, even once I do raise someone from the dead (I’m writing in faith!) I know I will still have more to learn.

What does our faith do? It doesn’t say that it will stop the evil one from shooting at us. It just says his arrows won’t hurt us.

What does your shield look like? Can you picture it? Mine is huge and I can see through it. I need it to be see through, because it is higher than my head. I heard a pastor say that he pictures his shield like one in “Star Wars” that surrounds him completely. When he pushes a button it swooshes down around him. What’s yours like?

Are you taking your shield up every day? It’s a choice we need to make every single day. The enemy isn’t going to back off and stop shooting at us. We need to be ready for him.

The helmet of salvation

Take the helmet of salvation. – Ephesians 6:17

What kind of helmet are you wearing? Is it a wimpy little thing that barely protects your head or does it surround your whole head?
How could salvation protect your head? What is it about what Jesus did that would protect your head?

When I put on my helmet each day, here are some things I focus on and discuss with the Lord:

I thank the Lord for what He did for me on the cross and how that protects me today.
The helmet protects our brains and our thoughts. I don’t want the enemy to be able to put any of his thoughts into my mind. I not only want protection from the enemy’s thoughts, I invite the Holy Spirit to control my mind. Romans 8:6 says that “the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.” I want life and peace. How about you?
I imagine myself putting on a helmet like a fancy motorcycle helmet that has an earpiece and a mouth piece, giving a direct link to the person I’m riding with. I want to have a speaker directly into my ear so that I can hear the Lord’s voice so clearly above all the noise around me. I also want to speak directly to the Lord.
The fancy helmets have protection for the eyes. I ask the Lord to protect my eyes from seeing anything that He doesn’t want me to see and to help me see people and situations as He wants me to see them.

You can imagine your helmet any way you want. Just make sure you don’t leave home without it! Or with any of your other armor.

The sword of the Spirit

Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. – Ephesians 6:17

Notice it says to take the sword. It doesn’t say to fight with it. We need to know the Word of God, so we can be ready to use it against the enemy at any time. To know it, we must be spending time in it. The statistics of how many believers read the Word everyday is very sad.

Spend time meditating on this piece of armor as well as all the others. Why is it called the sword of the Spirit? There are several possible reasons, I believe. Here are a few:

The Spirit inspired the Word.
The Spirit knows how to use the Word against the enemy.
We need to not only know the Word, but be in direct connection with the Holy Spirit so we can know what He is wanting to do. I wonder how many times I’ve missed opportunities that God put before me, because I couldn’t recognize what the Spirit was saying to me.
Meditate on your Sword today, asking the Lord to help you understand it and know how to use it correctly.

Pray in the Spirit

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 6:18

Prayer is a weapon, although the Apostle Paul didn’t give it a picture. How do you picture it?

What do you think it means to pray “in the Spirit?” I find when my spirit is in direct connection with the Spirit of God (and I’m sorry to say it isn’t always) that God does some absolutely amazing things in and through me.

Ask the Lord to show you what it means to pray in the Spirit. Don’t forget to do it every day—on all occasions, with all kinds of prayers and requests.

How have you seen prayer disarm or rout the enemy in your life?

God is with you in the battle

Continue to put on each piece of your armor every day to protect you from the evil one. Psalm 18:2 has several names of God that can help you in the battle.

The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. – Psalm 18:2

List each name or description of God in this verse.
How can the Lord help you when you are in spiritual warfare?
Meditate on what this verse says to you today. This is a good verse to write out, memorize and put where you’ll see it daily. It has so much in it.