Armor Up!

This June while we were serving at camp, we were given this prayer.  We were told to pray this prayer every morning before we worked with the kids.  Once we came home we continued to pray this prayer.  We realized that our enemy is always there trying to defeat us.  Whenever I heard someone talk to, my dear friend and Camp director Renae, about their troubles, she would ask “have you been armoring up?”.  The answer is always no.  




Now, I know that you can not recite words from a page and expect them to protect you, but as you visualize yourself putting on the armor and saying the words, it compels you to live a life full of the life of Christ. Saying “May the two-edged sword of Your word be ready in my hands so I can expose the tempting  words of Satan” will give you the desire to seek His word and to have it daily in your life.

 


Going daily to your Heavenly Father and inviting Him to join the battle with you, invites His power, love and strength into our day.

Here it is:
Heavenly Father,  Your warrior prepares for battle. 

Today I claim victory over Satan by putting on the whole armor of God!

I put on the Girdle of Truth!

May I stand firm in the truth of Your Word so I will not be a victim of Satan’s lies.

 

I put on the Breastplate of Righteousness!

May it guard my heart from evil so I will remain pure and holy, protected under the blood of Jesus Christ.

 

I put on the Shoes of Peace!

May I stand firm in the Good News of the Gospel so Your peace will shine through me and be a light to all I encounter.

 

I take the Shield Of Faith!

May I be ready of Satan’s fiery darts of doubt, denial and deceit so I will not be vulnerable to spiritual defeat.

 

I put on the Helmet of Salvation!

May I keep my mind focused on You so Satan will not have a stronghold on my thoughts.

 

I take the Sword of the Spirit!

May the two-edged sword of Your Word be ready in my hands so I can expose the tempting words of Satan.

By faith, your warrior has put on the whole armor of God!

I am prepared to live this day in spiritual victory!

AMEN!
 

At the camp you will find this taped to every mirror in the bathrooms.  I encourage all of you to copy and paste this on to a word Doc and taped it to your mirror, to remind you to do it ever morning.  I have mine in my Bible and pray it in the morning during devotions.

God Bless
Jeannie

Prayer Challenge

A little over a week ago, I told you about the trip to a youth conference I attended with the youth from our church. 

I also mentioned that I would have a prayer challenge for us to do.  I wanted to make sure that I did it at least once before I presented the idea to you. 

So, here is the challenge:

To wake up 30 minutes earlier one day a week and spend that time, not in the bible, not reading a book, not doing laundry, but in total silence, waiting on the Lord.  Now, if you do not have a newborn this should be attainable for most of us.

In our family room, where there is no TV, we have a wall writing.  I love what it says!


Let us be silent that we may hear the whispers of God.

That is my challenge to you and to myself.  To get up at a time when no one in the house is awake and just be silent, waiting on God to speak to us.  I suggest to have a journal in hand just incase you like what he has to say and you want to write it down, or if he puts something on your heart to pray. 

I am going to do a linky party on this next Tuesday.  So, some on back here and link your post about the prayer challenge here.

Here is my button:

The rope in the button relates to the verse

In Ecclesiastes:“Two are better than one, because they have a good
return on their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."

When we don’t have each other and God then we become as weak as the fraying rope above.

Jeannie

How do you get connected?

This weekend I went on my first youth conference as an adult.  My teens have gone for years, but having little ones also, has made it difficult for me attend.
I had a blast,  I really didn’t realize how much I would enjoy the kids.  I love mine, but normally get irritated by others.  I think that God is changing my heart.

The theme of the the conference was “Connected”.  The speaker taught them all about staying connected to God, through prayer and about how that is as essential to our life, as plugging in our ipad is to its use.  If you don’t plug in the pad you have no power when you need it.  If we don’t plug into God, through prayer, we also won’t have the power when we need it.

It was so amazing, through the whole weekend the kids and leaders did 6 hours of prayer.  Not once did the kids complain or get tired of doing it.  One speaker said “We can bring in the best speakers and the best bands but nothing can change your hearts like God can through the power of prayer”.
Isn’t that so true.  We can talk and talk but only God can change the hearts of those we love.  I am going to set up a weekly time at our church for the kids to come as they are and have a quiet place to pray, starting this week. 

God also convicted me on my prayer life.  I pray almost constantly, daily but I don’t spend very much time waiting on the Lord.  I normally do all of the talking.  So, I am going to, next week present a prayer challenge for you all to join me in.  More details on that later.  But for now I just encourage all of you to take a look at your prayer life.  How well are you connected to the King of the Universe?