Spiritual Warfare: Are You Wrestling or Resting?So to be strong in the Lord you need to put on or
sink into the armor of God as your protection against
the wiles of the devil. Then in verse 13, the Bible says,
"... TAKE UNTO YOU the whole armour of God...."
According to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the
Bible, the word "take" means to take up. In other words,
once you've got the armor of God on, then you've got to
do something with it—use it!
Paul used an example of the armor of a Roman
soldier here to give us a picture of what the armor of
God is like. The helmet of salvation is the knowledge of
your position in God because of your salvation and
redemption in Christ.
The helmet of salvation is directly related to the
prayers Paul prayed for the Church in Ephesians 1:17-
22: "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ ... may give
unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation IN THE
KNOWLEDGE of HIM...."
The helmet of salvation includes having your mind
renewed to know and understand your rights and
privileges in Christ and who you are in Christ. The
helmet of salvation protects your mind—Satan's chief
battleground.
The girdle of truth represents a clear understanding
of God's Word. Like a soldier's belt, it holds the rest of
the armor in place. Your loins must be girded with the
truth of God's Word because you aren't going to get
anywhere in prayer unless God's Word abides in you
(John 15:7). A successful prayer life must be based on
the promises in God's Word.
Then you must have on the breastplate of
righteousness. That refers to your right-standing with
God. When you accept Jesus, you become the
righteousness of God in Christ (2 Cor. 5:21). You