Always Be Battle Ready

Always Be Battle Ready

Sister Miki Terayama - 27 November 2022

Weekend Devotion: Always Be Battle Ready

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Now, when is our prayer life the strongest and most frequent? A lot of times, it is when we are immersed in some kind of “battlefield” mode. Maybe we are at a battlefield in our ministry servings, perhaps it is a “battlefield” at work or even at home and such. We go into battle mode for all kinds of things. Now, regarding the “battlefields” of life, Ephesians 6:12-13 says, “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.” Now brothers and sisters, our battlefields are not just in moments of troubles or issues to resolve. Everyday is a spiritual battlefield because what we are dealing with, as the verses tell us, is the unseen forces of darkness. The one that is at work to tempt, deceive and destroy our relationship with God, 24/7.

Today, many people live in their comfortable state, and during this time, it gets easy to lose the sense of being in spiritual “battle mode”. And when we do not have the concept and need of being “battle ready”, we become very loose in our spiritual living. We become complacent and have no vigilance towards our faith state. And of course, we would not be “putting on the full armour of God” daily. This leads to the tendency and gradual habit of letting go of our prayer life as well. The matter of fact is, it may look like we are living in peaceful times on most days, but there is an ongoing struggle against the forces of darkness. Many fight their battles for success, for gains but could it be that we may be looking or picking the wrong area to fight? If we continue to fight the wrong battles and ignore the greater enemy, could we risk becoming desensitised to the fact that are hearts and minds are already weak and bounded? Therefore, brothers and sisters, we must not be loose or complacent about our spiritual living, but know the kind of spiritual battle we are in daily.

Knowing The Spiritual Battle

So firstly to know the spiritual battle we are faced with, we have to know our enemy, Satan. The bible tells us clearly that Satan is an accuser and the ruler of this world. He can use many things of this world, situations and people to attack us. He is also the father of lies, going against the truth given by God, misleading God’s people. In other words, he does have some authority, and the only way we can triumph over him is by relying on the only One with a higher power, that is our Lord Jesus. In other words, we cannot use men’s knowledge, dispositions or material possessions to deal with our spiritual enemy. We have to grasp how to use God’s truth to challenge and overpower his lies, as well as lean on the Holy Spirit to reveal and chase away his workings in us.

Then, we also have to know the main area that the evil One tends to attack us in. And that main area is always anything that draws us away from being guided by the truth. Satan is a sneaky attacker that is unseen by the eye and tends to pick on areas we tend to fall in. So he will try in all ways to pull us apart from a God-driven mindset, emotions and behaviour. By right, God’s children are supposed to live according to the way God desires, being in harmony with the Lord, trust in His covenant, loving God, loving men and receiving blessings. But if we depart from the trust, even if we look like we are at a very desirable and good state, we could still be subconsciously in different kinds of bondages. For example, a person can be very rich and well off, but if his thoughts are bounded by greed and schemes, no amount of money he has can help him battle his developing sense of dissatisfaction and need for more. Actually, a believer’s ignorance is really many times in focusing on problem solving, but having no realisation about the bigger issue at hand— that is how we are already spiritually bounded.

Prayer: Strength and Weapon In Our Battles

As we get to know the kind of true battle we are in through our spirits, locking our target on the right spiritual enemy at work in us daily, then will we have the sense of vigilance and urgency to put on our full “armour of God”- and one of these armor is in our prayers. Ephesians 6:17-18 says, “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.” Now, prayer is truly the strength and weapon in our battle within. In the verses, it says that we have to hold onto “the sword of the Spirit”, which is the word of God. Because we live in our flesh and we face the carnal things around us every day, therefore our hearts must be clear and know the truth. Then can we be sharp and watchful of the enemy’s attacks. Then can we pray with the right intention, direction and conviction. That means, when we pray, it helps us to confirm God’s word, test and affirm God’s will in certain circumstances and practically take steps of submission towards Him. This is also the secret to praying in and out of season. If we are not aware where our hearts are being attacked, and only realise when it affects our flesh to know the seriousness of it, we would not have the upper hand over Satan’s lies and accusations. So brothers and sisters, if you find parts of your life where you cannot fully submit to the truth, cannot be joyful, cannot give thanks or do as the Spirit convicts, that is the time we have to use our spiritual weapon through our prayers.
Finally, at the end of the verses earlier, it says to “keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” This is actually the goal of our prayer life as well. The Lord has given us the Great Commission of saving souls as He preserves our time on this earth, so that we can go into the battlefield for men’s spirits, for the salvation of those around us and the sustenance of their faith journey. As such, we have to keep praying not only for ourselves but for the people of God.
Brothers and sisters, in order to maintain our hearts to pray, we have to keep seeing and experiencing for ourselves that we are in an ongoing battleground. Jeremiah 6:14 says, “They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace.” Do not trust in the seemingly peaceful times we have on the outside, but always hold onto the “sword of the spirit”, sustain and grow our prayer life so that we will not be easily held captive by the spiritual enemy or fall deep in our weaknesses. God bless. 

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Miki Terayama
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Miki is a full-time ministry staff at The Blessed Run Ministries. She is a sister who shares a natural, God-given affinity with children and youths. She is married to Randy (NET Group Youth Leader) and has two little ones of her own, Liora and Jude. She is involved in the children, youth and social media ministries.

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