As I type this blog post, there’s a 6x6 hole in my laundry
room ceiling. The last three months have
been full of ups and downs. There have been some awesome “ups” from my
girls’ good report cards, a warm weathered soccer season (thank you Jesus!), to
a positive outcome in a family situation.
We’ve enjoyed fun times with family and friends. My oldest daughter
celebrated her 7th birthday, Star Wars style nonetheless.
But then there seemed to be double the amount of “downs”. Like I said, there’s a hole in my
ceiling. I went to do laundry one day
and something odd about the ceiling caught my gaze. It had a big bubble! After some investigation,
we figured out it was coming from our bathtub/shower. It took two weeks and a much LARGER hole in
the ceiling to determine its exact cause.
Then there were the costly
repairs to both of our household’s vehicles.
Then, all three kids got sick. And
then, my laptop decided it didn’t want to work anymore. (Are
you sensing a theme here?) It is by
the grace of God, I’m able to type this post!
One evening, I sat on my couch, ready to throw myself a pity
party. I was feeling down and alone. I kept recounting all the things that had
gone on in my head, focusing more on the bad than the good. I was feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. Then it hit me what was happening…
I was under attack! While
all of these ups and downs were occurring, I was being obedient to God,
focusing in on Him. I was preparing to
emcee the Women’s Fall Kickoff event, organizing all the shoes donated from the
shoe drive for the Extravagant Love Makeover, and most importantly, I was
praying hard for the salvation of a family member.
So what can you do? When you realize you are under attack,
what should your next steps be? You need
an awesome outfit! You need to put on
the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:13-18).
No evil can penetrate it! Let’s go over the list. Check through it as if you were pulling each
item out of your closet, dressing for the day: the belt of truth (we have God’s
truth which tramples on all the enemies lies), the breastplate of righteousness
(it covers our heart, protecting it with God’s righteousness), feet fitted with
the readiness that comes from the Gospel of Peace (a great pair of shoes
motivating us to share the Good News ), shield of faith (to extinguish ALL the
flaming arrows of the evil one, giving us protection), helmet of salvation
(guarding our mind against doubting our salvation), sword of the Spirit (God’s
Word!). Last but certainly not least, is
prayer, the finishing touches to your outfit (pray in the Spirit on all
occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests, when we pray we are depending
on God).
One more thing about prayer, don’t hold back from enlisting
the help of others! There’s power in
prayer and it is even greater when you have got a few prayer partners interceding
for you. That night as I was feeling
down in the dumps, I knew I needed some prayer warriors to come alongside
me. I sent an email to the Women’s Prayer
Team right then and there, pouring out my heart. Can I tell you, the next morning, I felt so
much better. I felt like a weight had
been lifted.
The attacks from the enemy can be stressful and scary. But remember that we have the armor of God to
guard ourselves with. We have the power
of prayer to draw on. Most importantly
we know that the One who is in us IS
greater than the one who is in the world (1 John 4:14)!
Ladies, the Women’s Prayer Team is here for you! It is women praying for women and all prayer
requests are confidential. Your prayer
requests or praise reports can be emailed to: womenpray@westridge.cc
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