Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Thursday, 11 September 2014 "Prayer: equipping us with spiritual 'armor'"

Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Thursday, 11 September 2014 "Prayer: equipping us with spiritual 'armor'"
Daily Scripture:  Ephesians 6: A Fight to the Finish
10-12 And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.
13-18 Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.
19-20 And don’t forget to pray for me. Pray that I’ll know what to say and have the courage to say it at the right time, telling the mystery to one and all, the Message that I, jailbird preacher that I am, am responsible for getting out.
Reflection Questions:
We might think the letter to the Ephesians, written from a prison cell (cf. Ephesians 3:1), would call the Romans the great force opposing Christians. But the apostle Paul's vision was far more cosmic. "We aren't fighting against human enemies but against rulers, authorities, forces of cosmic darkness, and spiritual powers of evil in the heavens," he wrote. He used the image of soldier's armor, but the actual spiritual armor he used came into view in verse 18: "Offer prayers…all the time."
To the Ephesians, Paul wrote, "Offer prayers and petitions in the Spirit all the time." To Christians in Thessalonica, he wrote, "Pray continually" (1 Thessalonians 5:17). But Paul clearly led a very active life—he didn't kneel by his bed all day, every day. What have you found that helps you to go through even busy days in a spirit and attitude of prayer? What value do you see in nurturing a continual connection with God?
What do you make of Paul's words (which fit well into Roman, Greek and Hebrew views of the universe) about "rulers, authorities, forces of cosmic darkness, and spiritual powers of evil in the heavens"? Do you see video beheadings, deceitful invasions and police shootings as just expressions of "human cussedness," or does there seem to be something bigger and darker at work against God's kingdom? In what ways do you need spiritual armor to keep you "strengthened by the Lord and his powerful strength"?
Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, at the moments when the darkness of this world seems overwhelming, remind me that your light is greater than the darkness. I pray for your spiritual power to guard me, and fill me with your light. Amen.
Insight from Janelle Gregory
Janelle Gregory serves on the Resurrection staff as a Human Resources Specialist.
My guess is that when most people think about what the devil looks like, it’s either a pitchfork carrying, horned creature with a really bad sunburn 

or perhaps something like this:
While I don’t know precisely what Satan looks like, my guess is that our pitchfork carrying friend is a wee bit off. And though I’m pretty confident that evil spiritual forces played a significant part in the Holocaust, I don’t believe that Satan is limited to acts of mass murder and violence.
Killing and destruction might be two tools in the devil’s toolbox, but I believe he uses a variety of vices to try to thwart goodness and the plans of God. He’s not only evil, but I think some of his finer work (if you can call it that) is seen through acts of manipulation and deception. He uses voices in people’s heads, troubling circumstances, and anything else that might be turned and twisted for his plans.
We see it through overwhelming fear that keeps one from serving in the “bad part of town.” It is evident when churches divide over insignificant issues and bickering. He uses hurtful words from a childhood to haunt a woman who God wants so desperately to know she is beautiful. His work can look like excuse after excuse as to why one just can’t make it to church that day. And we see it when the loving, godly husband suddenly finds himself loving another man’s wife.
I understand that not every bad situation has found its way to us via hell, but I also think that we run into issues when we deny that this could be a possibility at certain times. Talking about demons, devils, and dark forces might make us feel whacky or maybe even freak us out. We would generally much rather focus solely on what is good, but ignoring what might be at the root of an issue can be extremely dangerous.
C.S. Lewis, in his book The Screwtape Letters, wrote:

“There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors.”

So what is there to do about the cunning work of the devil?
The biggest thing is to recognize when we think Satan might be at work and then decide not to give him the satisfaction of success. The easiest way to do this is to go to God and prayer and to use the words he gives us – words that speak of his power, words that convey truth, words that guide us to victory over the forces hell. When you feel like you can’t fight Satan’s schemes on your own, remember words such as these that we find in Ephesians 6: “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.”
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