Through the New Testament Reading - Luke 10-12
Ephesians 6
Ephesians 6:12-13
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Ephesians 6:18-20
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
Day 4 – Key Verses Engaged
As I begin to personally consider the application of this chapter, my first reaction is to become frustrated. The first three chapters of Ephesians remind us that we are seated in Christ. The battle is won in Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. We receive this as a gift, through faith. The next two chapters are intensely practical, reminding us that we are walking in Christ. Now that Jesus bought us, and we have been adopted into God's family, we are to therefore be imitators of God, living lives of love, submission, and humble service in our community, and through our community to others.
As the writer turns toward the powers of this world that would be contrary to this radical God filled life of love and service, I wish that the next action were expressed more actively. We should fight. We should actively make this reality manifest in the lives of those who oppose it.
I do not deny that chapter six is active. The writer isn't saying that we do not fight, or that we do not wrestle. On the contrary, his description of our resistance is militaristic. Clearly, he has actively resisted the contrary powers, since he finds himself in jail for doing so. However, the verb used to describe our battle is not fight, but stand (The pattern I'm identifying of Sit, Walk, Stand came from Watchman Nee). The weapons and armour described are ideological, spiritual, and abstract. His most explicit practical direction for how to fight is to pray. We resist by standing. We fight by praying.
To be honest, I used to be more of a praying man than I am today. That's an understatement. Somewhere along the line I just got really frustrated with praying that God would bring justice for the poor and hungry, and just decided I'd rather give them a sandwich myself (Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove's book _Becoming the Answer to our Prayers_ has good things to say about this). As I consider this passage, what I realize is that my actions toward justice today were birthed in the closets of my prayer years ago. If I believe the first five chapters of Ephesians, I must humbly submit that my own service for the poor and oppressed comes through allowing myself to be God's instrument of freedom and blessing in the world. This is his desire for each of us, that we would manifest his nature of grace and love everywhere we go. For this to happen, we need to know his heart. We need those moments of quiet and reflection and meditation and worship in his presence. If I want to continue to grow in effective love and justice and grace and resistance to the powers of this world tomorrow, I need to continue to be on my knees receiving the strength to do so today.
There are two sides to my spiritual preparation for resistance revealed in this chapter. The first is awareness of the true nature of who and what I am resisting. The second is awareness of others who are experiencing persecution for their resistance. In both I stand. In both I pray. All active resistance by those in Christ begins here, otherwise we are battling naked and alone, and we will fail.
In God's armour, we resist in his strength. The battle is already won, and the victory is ours.
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