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Most Christians are familiar with the Ephesians 6 passage about "the whole armor of God". Paul
uses the equipment of a Roman soldier, the best the world then knew, as a metaphoric picture of a Christian well equipped
for spiritual battle:
- The helmet of salvation protects our minds;
- The breastplate of righteousness protects our heart;
- The shield of faith blocks and deflects attacks hurled against us;
- The belt of truth supports and anchors the entire equipage;
- The boots of the Gospel of peace give us firm footing in life’s fights;
- The sword of the Spirit, God’s Word, is our weapon for fighting in close quarters.
This is how the "whole armor" is commonly presented, but is this word picture complete? The Roman soldier,
the subject of Paul’s metaphor, had one other offensive weapon that allowed him to strike his foe beyond the range of
his gladius (his sword). The Roman soldier also carried the pilus (javelin or "dart"), that could be employed
before the opposing armies clashed face to face. The pilus was used to disrupt the foe’s formation (a key objective
because soldiers protect each other in tight formations ) by killing or wounding soldiers or by entangling their shields.
Did Paul forget this key weapon in crafting his metaphor? Hardly.
Centuries ago, John Bunyan pointed out in Pilgrim’s Progress (the fight against Apolyon) the
weapon mentioned in verse 18, prayer. Bunyan called it "all-prayer". Prayer serves several purposes in the life of a believer
and in a believer’s relationship with God. One is as a channel of communication with the Commander in chief, always
a significant problem in battle. This article isn’t a treatise on prayer, but is intended to highlight a reason why
Paul included prayer in the equipage of the well-armed Christian soldier.
Like the javelin, prayer is a "stand-off" weapon. It extends the Christian soldier’s reach to include
more than the people and circumstances encountered in daily life. The spiritual fight may be centered around someone or something
that touches the Christian individual directly. Or it could be around someone or something close to them, but which the Christian
cannot affect directly. On the other hand, prayer can be directed toward people we may never meet and spiritual battles that
are on the other side of the Earth. I’ll bet the Roman soldiers wished their pilus had that kind of range, accuracy,
and efficiency!
God calls individual Christians to different walks, ministries, and battles in life. In instructing all Christians
to put on and use the full spiritual armament God has provided, God is encouraging Christians both to see and be engaged in
their daily battles at close quarters and at the same time to "hurl" long-range prayers into Satan’s more distant ranks.
In so doing, Christians can support each other’s spiritual battles and disrupt Satan’s battle plans.
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