praying for your family - part six

Take…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:17, NIV)

On behalf of myself and all in my family, I now take the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God – living and active, sharp and double edged, penetrating even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, judging the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (Hebrews 4:12) – and I wield it with the pinpoint accuracy that comes from constant practice.

I picture in my mind a stainless steel sword with an ornately carved handle inlaid with gold and precious jewels.  Although the sword is heavy, an indication of how solidly constructed it is, it is also perfectly balanced. Every time I open my Bible, my sword is activated. Every time I pick it up, I am in awe of its power. The sword was not given to us so that we could hang it on the wall and admire it from a distance.  The sword was intended to be used against every assault of our enemy. My confidence in wielding the sword effectively grows as I practice with it every day. 

Let’s look closer at the capabilities of the weapon God has given us.

Living and active.  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1 , NIV) God exists outside of time and space. He cannot be confined to a season or a location.  Therefore, the Word existed outside of time and before the creation of the universe because God is the Word. The Word is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow (Hebrews 13:8).  So much for those worldly minded people who want you to believe that the Bible isn’t relevant today.  Every word is relevant and useful for building us up in our faith. If God spoke it, there is life in it because He is Life! And because He is eternal, so is His Word! His Word is at work every time we speak it out, and we can rest assured that His Word has the power and the authority to refute any accusations our enemy may launch at our minds. “So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11, NIV)

Sharp and double-edged. I want you to get a picture of what that looks like. The Word is deadly against the enemy.  It destroys his wicked schemes both as it is being driven forward and as it is being pulled back. Another way to look at it is the Word cuts both ways.  That idiom means that for every thrust something is affected positively and something is affected negatively.  What is good for us is not good for the devil.  God gave us His word for our good, so that means the devil will flee when we pull out our sword.  Jesus used the Word as His weapon against the temptations of Satan in the desert (Matthew 4:1-11)

Penetrating. There is absolutely nothing hidden from God. He made us. He knows what we are. He doesn’t just look at us; He looks intently into us. He sees our physical bodies and He also sees the unseen parts - our spirit and our soul. There is no place we can go to escape His gaze.  That is the most powerful protection available for us in all the universe. And what He knows about us is not only what we have been, not just what we are now, but also what we will become as we yield to Him and obey His instructions.  He looks at our potential, not at our faults.  He’s not concerned as much about where we are as He is about where He wants to take us.  His Word is how we get from point A to point B safely.

Dividing soul and spirit. Man is made in the image of God. God is Triune:  He is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  Because we are made in the image of God, we are also triune: we are a spirit being, with a soul, housed in a physical body. The soul and the spirit are the “unseen” parts of our being. 
The soul is the mind, will and emotions. The soul is the part of us that is self-conscious. God wants to separate us from looking at self where we see all our mistakes and instead, turn our eyes towards Him.  I remember a time during worship when I realized everyone else was lost in His presence, and I was still painfully aware of me.  I told Him I wanted to be lost in His presence.  His response drove this point home: “Then take your eyes off yourself and look at Me.” 

The spirit is our conscience, wisdom and communion. The spirit is the part of us that is God-conscious. We were created to be in relationship with God; everything we need for that relationship to be real in us is contained within our spirit. I believe that when God breathed the breath of life (the Hebrew word is “ruach” which means breath, wind, spirit,) into Adam, and Adam became a living being (Genesis 2:7), that is when God’s DNA became a part of our being. That is where we became God-conscious.  

It is our spirit that unites with His Holy Spirit at the moment of our conversion. God intended we would be separated unto Him – meaning, set apart for His purposes - that we be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:16). God never intended for us to ever be separated from Him.  If we are separated from Him, it is because we have made a conscious choice to do so. If that describes you, now is the time for you to turn around and turn to God.  His love never fails. His forgiveness and grace are readily available. He is waiting to receive you and will not delay His response to your heartfelt request.

Dividing joints and marrow. This refers to our physical bodies which are made up of bones, tissue, and blood. Our physical bodies are only a temporary dwelling designed to house our soul and our spirit until we receive our immortal bodies when Jesus returns for His Bride.

The Word has provided us with a “how to” manual to understand our bodies and to know how to respond whenever our bodies get sick. God intends that His word separate us from those things that adversely affect our bones, tissue and blood.  If we are suffering from some sickness, disease or infirmity, God has written us a prescription for our healing.  It’s in His Word. 

“Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the LORD will raise him up.  If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” (James 5:14-16, NIV) 

Judging thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Our thoughts and attitudes emanate from our souls – from our minds, wills and emotions. God knows everything we will think before the thought even crossed our mind, and He knows every motive behind our actions even before we realize what is going on. He knows when we are sincere, and when we are not. He knows when we are lying to ourselves and when we are lying to Him. He knows our thoughts and attitudes even when we are afraid to acknowledge them.  There is no way we can get anything past our omniscient (all knowing) God!

Our thoughts and attitudes affect our words and actions - as a man thinks, so is he (Proverbs 23:7, NIV). Our thoughts and attitudes affect our relationship with God – “you have not lied to men but to God. When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died.” (Acts 5:4-5, NIV).  And our thoughts and attitudes also affect the health of our bodies! “I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” (3 John 2,NKJV)

God wants to teach us another way to think; He wants to change the attitudes of our hearts. “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’” (Isaiah 55:6-9, NIV) He wants us to get in tune with His thoughts.  How do we do that? Every time we pick up our sword, the Word of God, we come into alignment with His thoughts and His ways. The blessing is there and it is ours for the taking!

Wielded with pinpoint accuracy. This phrase is not found in the Biblical description of the sword of the Spirit, rather, this is an understanding God has given me.  All of the Divine weapons in our arsenal are tactical weapons. The word “tactical” means weapons or forces employed at the battlefront. We are combat soldiers in a spiritual battle against unseen forces. Our weapons are not just for show - to make us look good; they have an intended purpose – to destroy all the works of the devil in the lives of our families.

God expects us to be trained and ready to respond whenever the enemy launches his assault against us or our families. Would you hire a lawyer who had not practiced law before? Would you go see a doctor or a surgeon if he had never practiced medicine or operated on anyone before? Of course you wouldn’t! And that is because they are not ready. The same applies to our practice with our tactical weapons.    To wield our weapons with pinpoint accuracy requires constant practice. Therefore, we must know the Word and use this sword for it to be powerful and effective in our hands as we engage the enemy of our souls.

Every day, as I pray this prayer for my family, my faith grows.  I pray that as you have read this post, your understanding of the power of the weapon God has given you  - His Word - will increase and you will be victorious over all of your enemies!

Next time: Praying in the Spirit
​
Blessings,
Linda
 
© Linda Sue Harper 2018