SOAP: Ephesians 6:11
S: Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
O&A: Verse 13 says, "Therefore, put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand." There have been so many times that I have only been able to stand. Not actively fight, but just STAND. In the armor of Adonai. Thayer's Greek Lexicon has this elaboration: "also of one who in the midst of the fight holds his position, against the foe". 1 Peter 5:8 speaks of the roaring lion, seeking to devour. Thayer's Greek Lexicon elaborates that seeking: to seek (i. e. in order to find out) by thinking, meditating, reasoning; to inquire into. The adversary, haSatan, is checking out our armor. Am I missing something? Is it strong enough? I have studied armor (not extensively, but with homeschooling my 2 sons, of course we examined medieval armor, lol). What about when I lift my arms in praise - have I offered him a view of vulnerability in the gap of my chest armor, my armpit has been exposed. In medieval times, the goal to harming someone covered by armor was to "go for the gaps". The universal weaknesses of plate armor are the visor, the armpits, the elbow, and the 'seat area' where the body touches the saddle - the buttocks, the back of the thigh, the back of the knee, and the groin, the neck. I believe that this is what haSatan does spiritually. He looks to see where we are lacking, and goes for it. He is our foe!
O&A: Verse 13 says, "Therefore, put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand." There have been so many times that I have only been able to stand. Not actively fight, but just STAND. In the armor of Adonai. Thayer's Greek Lexicon has this elaboration: "also of one who in the midst of the fight holds his position, against the foe". 1 Peter 5:8 speaks of the roaring lion, seeking to devour. Thayer's Greek Lexicon elaborates that seeking: to seek (i. e. in order to find out) by thinking, meditating, reasoning; to inquire into. The adversary, haSatan, is checking out our armor. Am I missing something? Is it strong enough? I have studied armor (not extensively, but with homeschooling my 2 sons, of course we examined medieval armor, lol). What about when I lift my arms in praise - have I offered him a view of vulnerability in the gap of my chest armor, my armpit has been exposed. In medieval times, the goal to harming someone covered by armor was to "go for the gaps". The universal weaknesses of plate armor are the visor, the armpits, the elbow, and the 'seat area' where the body touches the saddle - the buttocks, the back of the thigh, the back of the knee, and the groin, the neck. I believe that this is what haSatan does spiritually. He looks to see where we are lacking, and goes for it. He is our foe!
I believe that we fight differently. We do not try to learn his weaknesses, as he does ours. Instead, we keep our eyes on Yeshua, on God, and learn HIS strengths. In learning HIS strengths, I learn more of my own weaknesses, and have been blown away by how His strength overcomes my weakness. I don't have to regularly worry about if my knee is exposed, because my entire being, my entire spirit is covered in the blood of Yeshua - HE is my chain mail, if you will. HE covers my weaknesses, and my faults. That doesn't mean I can slack in the other areas of armor, though. I still NEED the utility belt of truth buckled around my waist, the breastplate of righteousness, and having fitted my feet with the preparation of the Good News of shalom; above all, taking up the shield of faith, with which I will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. And the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
"with all prayer and requests, praying at all times in the Spirit, and being watchful to this end in all perseverance and requests for all the holy ones:" <~ This part right here... I am not only looking out for MY armor, but in prayer, I am covering others in the armor. At our Messianic synagogue, at the end of our service all the men with a tallit (prayer shawl with tzitzit/tassels on it) lift their tallit and put it over their wife, children, sometimes even over single women to bring them under the covering, as our Messianic Rabbi sings the Aaronic benediction. We are being covered both physically and spiritually. When we pray for others, it is like we are extending the tallit over them, offering Abba's safe place, His refuge, while they are in the midst of a fight.
One brief story here, a real-life application, if you will. A few weeks ago, my husband and 2 sons were trying to help a brother get a large, heavy armoire up to the second floor of his home. It wouldn't fit up the stairs due to the way the stairs curved, so they decided to bring it up over a ledge on the second floor. (EEK!) So my husband and 18 year old son were standing on a table downstairs lifting the armoire up while the brother and my 13 year old son were pulling it up by ropes from the second floor. Then my husband runs upstairs to help, and my 18 year old is holding this thing by himself. (!!!) They get ahold of it upstairs, and husband has 18 year old come up, too. So now 4 strong men trying to bring it up, and one of the ropes slips. I couldn't watch, and then my husband, realizing that this isn't going very well, tells me, "Sweety, get far away from this thing, leave the room." So I go huddle in the laundry room with the sister (the brother we're helping's wife, so my sister) and their very young son. I can now hear them and it's not sounding good. The report is sounding bad. As they begin exclaiming that it's too heavy, my husband runs back downstairs to get under the furniture, lifting it alone. He shows me a vision of Aharon/Aaron and Hur holding up Moshe's/Moses' arms in battle (Exodus 7:11-12). I can't even help it, my arms lift up as I pray, asking Abba to help them. "Abba, keep this thing up, and everyone safe and unharmed!" I hear them still, saying, "I'm getting weak", "I can't keep holding this", "My arms are trembling". Can you imagine how terrifying this is??? My husband calls my 18 year old back down to get the piece back on the floor. My arms lift as high as they can go as I plea for Abba to sustain them, to keep it up, no one hurt. My heart is pounding, tears are in my eyes, and I know that HE is the one keeping them safe. They get the furniture back down safely, no one was hurt (except that my husband pulled a back muscle, and he's now recovered, halleluYah!). Our friends' 10 year old son said to me a few days later, "Thank you for holding your arms up." He wasn't in the room with me when I was doing it. No one told him I had done that. I don't know how he knows, except that Abba revealed it to him. (Turns out that wasn't as short as I thought it would be... sorry!)
But that is what prayer for others is and what it does: the action of intervening on behalf of another. When Yeshua gave His life for us, He intervened on our behalf, so that we *could* be clothed in His armor, and our weaknesses strengthened by Him. But it is still up to us to don the armor each and every day, BEFORE the battles have begun. We have to be diligent and not lazy, never thinking that there isn't a war going on, because there absolutely is. Unlike the physical armor of medieval times, the armor we put on has weight to it, but I believe it is much like our Master's yoke and burden - it is easy and light; it is not too heavy for us, but we must still be responsible for our portion. His word says in spirit and in truth...
"with all prayer and requests, praying at all times in the Spirit, and being watchful to this end in all perseverance and requests for all the holy ones:" <~ This part right here... I am not only looking out for MY armor, but in prayer, I am covering others in the armor. At our Messianic synagogue, at the end of our service all the men with a tallit (prayer shawl with tzitzit/tassels on it) lift their tallit and put it over their wife, children, sometimes even over single women to bring them under the covering, as our Messianic Rabbi sings the Aaronic benediction. We are being covered both physically and spiritually. When we pray for others, it is like we are extending the tallit over them, offering Abba's safe place, His refuge, while they are in the midst of a fight.
One brief story here, a real-life application, if you will. A few weeks ago, my husband and 2 sons were trying to help a brother get a large, heavy armoire up to the second floor of his home. It wouldn't fit up the stairs due to the way the stairs curved, so they decided to bring it up over a ledge on the second floor. (EEK!) So my husband and 18 year old son were standing on a table downstairs lifting the armoire up while the brother and my 13 year old son were pulling it up by ropes from the second floor. Then my husband runs upstairs to help, and my 18 year old is holding this thing by himself. (!!!) They get ahold of it upstairs, and husband has 18 year old come up, too. So now 4 strong men trying to bring it up, and one of the ropes slips. I couldn't watch, and then my husband, realizing that this isn't going very well, tells me, "Sweety, get far away from this thing, leave the room." So I go huddle in the laundry room with the sister (the brother we're helping's wife, so my sister) and their very young son. I can now hear them and it's not sounding good. The report is sounding bad. As they begin exclaiming that it's too heavy, my husband runs back downstairs to get under the furniture, lifting it alone. He shows me a vision of Aharon/Aaron and Hur holding up Moshe's/Moses' arms in battle (Exodus 7:11-12). I can't even help it, my arms lift up as I pray, asking Abba to help them. "Abba, keep this thing up, and everyone safe and unharmed!" I hear them still, saying, "I'm getting weak", "I can't keep holding this", "My arms are trembling". Can you imagine how terrifying this is??? My husband calls my 18 year old back down to get the piece back on the floor. My arms lift as high as they can go as I plea for Abba to sustain them, to keep it up, no one hurt. My heart is pounding, tears are in my eyes, and I know that HE is the one keeping them safe. They get the furniture back down safely, no one was hurt (except that my husband pulled a back muscle, and he's now recovered, halleluYah!). Our friends' 10 year old son said to me a few days later, "Thank you for holding your arms up." He wasn't in the room with me when I was doing it. No one told him I had done that. I don't know how he knows, except that Abba revealed it to him. (Turns out that wasn't as short as I thought it would be... sorry!)
But that is what prayer for others is and what it does: the action of intervening on behalf of another. When Yeshua gave His life for us, He intervened on our behalf, so that we *could* be clothed in His armor, and our weaknesses strengthened by Him. But it is still up to us to don the armor each and every day, BEFORE the battles have begun. We have to be diligent and not lazy, never thinking that there isn't a war going on, because there absolutely is. Unlike the physical armor of medieval times, the armor we put on has weight to it, but I believe it is much like our Master's yoke and burden - it is easy and light; it is not too heavy for us, but we must still be responsible for our portion. His word says in spirit and in truth...
P: Avinu Malkeinu, my Father and my King, Your strength and glory are incredible! Abba, You are just so incredible. You show me through Your Word and through Your Son, and by Your kadosh/holy set-apart spirit just how awesome You are. With You, I don't have to worry about not being covered. I don't have to worry that I'm not enough, because YOU ARE ENOUGH. Help me be strengthened and more rooted in Your ways, in Your word, and in fulfilling the calling You have for my life. In Yeshua's name, Amein.
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