Life is a real battle sometimes. How well are you fighting? Do you feel like you are constantly loosing ground? If so this four part bible study on Spiritual Warfare is for you. Let get you armed for victory.

A couple weeks ago I shared some of my favorite verses for spiritual warfare and for fighting a good fight. As promised today we are going to look at the armor of God. Now I started writing this post out and by the time I was finished I had to break it down into three parts just so that I wasn't bombarding y'all with information overload. If you missed the Intro post to this study you can check out our The Good Fight Page to see the whole series as they become available. (there's a link below too!)

I think it is so important that we know what God has armed us with and how it enables us to withstand the things life throws at us and to resist the enemy. God tells us to take up our armor piece by piece so that we can stand firm. We’re going to read Ephesians 6:10-17 and then we’re going to break down the armor of God piece by piece. This week we will start with the first two pieces and next week we will look at the next two pieces!

Life is a real battle sometimes. God says we have a set of armor but how does one put on truth or righteousness? Join us for this 3 part bible study on the armor of God, spiritual warfare and fighting well.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, Ephesians 6:10-17

Just to give you some context I want to remind you that Paul wrote this letter to the Ephesians while he was in a roman prison. He could have been looking at a roman soldier as he wrote this letter and broke down each piece of armor.

The Belt of Truth

The belt is an important piece because it held everything else in place. These belts were like girdles and, ladies, we know that you only wear a girdle when you mean business. The men would generally only wear them when they were ready for some kind of action or on duty.

My husband has recently lost all of his newlywed weight. I think I found all of it plus some but that is beside the point. Anyway, he has gone down a pant size or two and without his belt, his pants would for sure hinder his productivity on job sites all day.

The belt holds everything together and in place. Without the belt nothing is secure. In the same way, so does Truth. I always say that we have to let the Truth outweigh the facts. In this Christian walk sometimes the facts and the Truth don’t line up.

The fact may be that you are struggling with an illness. The Truth is by the stripes of Jesus you are healed. You’re healed. (Isaiah 53:5)

The fact may be that you are in need of some serious financial help. The Truth is that your loving Father owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Everything is His and you are an heir and His beloved child. (Psalm 50:10; Romans 8:16-17)

The fact may be that you are struggling to sense the presence of God or hear His voice. The Truth is He is forever and always with you. Always. (Hebrews 13:5)

The fact may be that you are feeling like a failure buried under a mountain of guilt and shame. The Truth is that there is no condemnation for those of us in Christ. None. (Romans 8:1)

The fact is that you feel like a huge disappointment. The Truth is God will never regret His decision to save and ransom you. (Romans 5:8)

Pray this over yourself:

Lord thank You for Your Truth. Thank You that Your Truth holds me together. Today I take up that belt of Truth and I put it on! Today I will walk surrounded all around by the Truth of who you are and who you say I am. I say no to lies and fear today. No matter what the facts are, today I say yes to Truth.

The Breastplate of Righteousness

This piece of armor is essential! The breastplate covers all your vital organs. You do not go to war without a breastplate. To modernize it, you would not go to a shootout without a bullet proof vest. You can’t go to battle without this protection and you can't march into your day to day battles with your own righteousness. You can’t because your righteousness is nothing. It’s just filthy rags.

Those of us in Christ, however, have a righteousness that is not our own. We are now the righteousness of God in Christ. We are hidden with Christ in God. When God sees us, He see us just as He would see Jesus. That is who you are. It is crucial that you know and believe that. It will cover you and shield you from lies that try to attack those vital places within you and convince you that you are what you’ve done when that is just not the case.

Pray this over yourself:

Father thank You for Your Son. Thank You for His sacrifice. Thank You, that because of His sacrifice we are now covered by Him. Thank You that I am hidden with Him in You. Thank you that when You see me, You see me just as You would see Jesus. Thank You that my identity has been rewritten. Thank You that I am not what I have done. Today I arm myself with the breastplate of righteousness by agreeing that I am the righteousness of God in Christ. That is who I am and I stand against any accusation to the contrary.

I don’t know about you guys but reading over these things just settles my soul. It is refreshing to remember that you are not alone in the fight. God is with you and He fights for you. He is victorious and our fight now is just clinging to that truth when things may seem contrary. To help you guys and myself I have created this Armor of God prayer card printables. It’s totally free and you can have it without even giving me your email. (Though you should still totally give me your email because I have other wonderful freebies and lots of exciting things coming up you won't want to miss!)

You can grab the free prayer cards PDF here!!(:

The printable will have the first two pieces of armor on it and next week when I release part two it will have the next two so I hope you will come back! I would also love it if you would share this out with your friends and followers so that we can rally more believers to stand confident and to fight.

If you have missed the intro post or want to read more of this study you can head over to The Good Fight page to see the whole series as they become available.

Also, make sure you are a member of our growing online community! I send out weekly doses of encouragement as well as recaps of all the new posts that go live each week on the blog. Members also get instant free access to our eBook Overcome which is packed full of help and hope for life tough times.