This section contains a passage I imagine is familiar to many Christians, that of the armor of God. If you’re anything like me, you have heard this many times, and probably forgotten it as well. But I think there’s a lot in here that is very helpful to us.

Paul tells us to put on all of God’s armor, “so that you will be able to stand firm against all the strategies of the devil” (v. 11). I think this is important to note, because the implication here is that the devil is cunning. This is confirmed in other scriptures. It means we need all of the protection we can get, because Satan is going to attack us in any way he can. The only defense we have is God’s armor. It also says to put on ALL of God’s armor. There are many different pieces, as I’ll get to in a moment. I stress the all because if our armor is incomplete, then we are vulnerable. Imagine a soldier these days going into battle without his bulletproof vest or helmet. That would be crazy!

So, the armor of God. We are told all the pieces in verses 14-17: "Stand your ground, putting on the belt of the truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. for shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.“

That’s a lot of armor, but we need it. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t been wearing my armor lately. I find that it’s very easy for Satan to attack me, and find the areas where I’m vulnerable. I haven’t been spending much time in the Word recently, and haven’t been putting my faith into practice. Without my sword and shield, it’s very hard to resist any attack. Nor do I feel that I’ve felt God’s righteousness being very apparent in my life. I get mad over tiny things that have no real bearing on anything, but I seem to not care about things that really matter.

My wife is a much better example of what being righteous is about. She has such a heart for homeless people. That’s something worth getting upset over, the injustice that some people face. I could really learn a thing or two (or two dozen) from my wife.

The last thing Paul says in this part is to pray at all times. I don’t think that the importance of prayer can be stressed enough. It is used, in one form or another, 512 times in the Bible. Clearly, that makes it pretty important. Let’s be honest, we all need prayer. It’s how we communicate with God. When we don’t pray regularly, it’s like never calling the person that matters most to you. It’s pretty much impossible to have a relationship with someone when you never talk to them. And that’s what God wants with us, a relationship.

Prayer is, sadly, another thing I’ve not done much lately. I’ve been trying to do it more often, since I know I need to, but it’s been hard. I’m not sure why, but I guess I just don’t think about praying very much. I’m going to work on that.