Swinging the sword...in prayer

When I was a kid, I was a major Star Wars fan. I would get all these Star Wars action figures and Star Wars toys and play with them with my friends. One thing I never did get though, was a lightsaber. It was so disappointing. I think two of my friends had them and they seemed so cool at the time. Of course, they were first generation lightsaber toys, and back then, they looked something like plastic florescent lights. And unfortunately, they didn’t make any cool sounds as you swung them around like the one Pastor Fumi brought last week. Anyhow, since I didn’t have one, I either had to borrow my friends’ lightsabers or just use a stick or something. I have a vague memory of using an old broom handle. Definitely not cool. Anyway, as kids, there was no real technique involved in our fights. We were just swinging around our lightsabers wildly.

But when I was in high school, I once had to do a sword scene for a Shakespeare play in my English class. I’m not sure, but I think we were practicing a scene from Romeo and Juliet. And for that sword scene, we had to learn a little “technique.” I still remember some of the choreography for that, actually. Now they didn’t teach anything complicated. We weren’t doing this in a theater or anything. We were just performing in the classroom. But to make it look more realistic we needed to learn to wield the sword.

I had a lot of fun with that, though. I don’t know what it is, but there’s just something cool about doing sword fights. Maybe it’s just a guy thing. Now that’s not to say I ever got into fencing or anything. I much preferred safer sports, things like basketball.

But in our Life of a Champion series, we’ve been seeing that it’s impossible to simply live a “safe life.” We are in a spiritual war. And as Pastor Fumi talked about last week, if we are going to be victorious, we need to learn to wield our sword, namely the sword of God’s word. And that’s especially important when it comes to prayer. What do I mean by that. Well let’s look at Ephesians chapter 6.

We’ve been going through the armor of God in verses 10-17. So before we read today’s passage, let’s briefly review some of the things we’ve read so far. As we do, I want us to look at this passage in terms of five commands. In many translations, it may seem like there are a lot of commands here. But in Paul’s original words, there are really only five.

What’s the first command? Be strengthened by the Lord and his vast power. Like we said in our first message in this series, this is not a command to “gambaru.” This is a command to march out to battle, not alone, but with our brothers and sisters in Christ, relying on God’s power, and wielding the weapons he has given us.

And that brings us to the second command: Put on the full armor of God. Why? So that we can stand against the devil’s schemes. Again, a lot of Satan’s schemes are based on lies and deceit. So if we want to stand against those schemes, we need to clothe and arm ourselves with God’s truth. All the parts of God’s armor have their roots in his truth. And that’s why it’s so important to be familiar with God’s word. That’s a point we’ll get back to in this message.

Paul’s third command is basically a repetition of the second: Take up the whole armor of God. Don’t leave any parts of it on the floor where it’s worthless. Pick it all up, put it on, and use it so that you’ll be able to resist Satan’s attacks and stand strong.

And that’s the fourth command: stand! Everything Paul says about putting on the different parts of our armor are not commands in themselves. The command is to stand. Put another way, Paul is saying, “You’ve put on the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel, and you’ve got the shield of faith, right? Good! Now stand your ground! Don’t give an inch to Satan’s lies and attacks.”

The only way you’ll be able to stand, though, is if you have already put all those pieces of armor on you.

Then we come to the final command in verses 17-18,

also receive THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times with all prayer and petition in the Spirit, and to this end, being on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.

I really like this English translation. Most English translations say, “take” the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit.” But the word Paul uses in verse 17 is different from the words translated “take” in verses 13 and 16. You can see this in the Japanese translation too. The word in verse 17 is usually translated in the New Testament “receive” or “welcome.”

That’s important to notice, because our salvation is a gift from God. It’s not something we work for or earn. We receive it as a gift.

But we are also to receive the word of God as his gift. God gives it to us for our good. So the question is, do you welcome God’s Word in your lives as joyously as you welcome his salvation? The truth is, both his word and our salvation are closely linked. The apostle James wrote,

Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. (James 1:21, CSB)

Our salvation depends on us humbly receiving the words God has given us. You can’t receive his salvation without first receiving his words.

But getting back to Ephesians 6, Paul’s words are kind of hard to translate into Japanese, so the translators broke his words up into three commands, “receive,” “pray,” and “be alert and pray.” But as you can see in the English translation, Paul's really giving only one command in verses 17 and 18: receive the helmet of salvation and the Word of God. Praying and being alert in prayer are not direct commands in themselves, but they are somehow connected with all the things that Paul said earlier in verses 10-17. The question is how?

Well, part of staying alert means having all your armor on. It’s not going to do you any good if the enemy suddenly attacks and you’re not wearing your armor. And if we’re going to stand our ground and resist Satan, we not only need to have our armor on, we need to be connected to our Captain in prayer. Because he’s where our strength comes from. But beyond that, I also see in verse 17 a strong connection between swinging the sword of the Spirit and prayer. Here’s my personal, very, very loose paraphrase of that verse: receive/welcome...the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, wielding that sword as you pray at all times in the Spirit.

Do you want an effective prayer life? Do you want to pray prayers that make a difference? Swing the sword of the Spirit as you pray. Pray scripture. Quick question: how often do you use scripture when you pray? A lot? Occasionally? Rarely? Never? Swinging the sword is the key to an effective prayer life. But what does that look like?

Well, let me give you some examples of my prayer life. Recently, I’ve been praying my own paraphrase of Revelation 4:11 to start my day: Father, by your will, I was created. And by your will I have breath to live another day today. So God be glorified in everything I do.

As I’m going through the day, there’ll be times that I’m struggling with my heart. I’m questioning if my heart and motives are right, particularly if I’m having relationship problems. And in those times, I’ll swing Psalm 139:23-24: “Search me O God and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any hurtful way in me. Lead me in your everlasting way.”

Other times, I’m struggling so much in prayer, I don’t even know what to pray. Have you ever felt that way? I feel that way more times than I want to admit. And so I’ll swing Romans 8:26-27. “Holy Spirit, I have no idea how to pray right now. But Paul said that when I don’t know how to pray, you pray for me. Not only that, you pray for me perfectly according to God’s will. So pray for me now. I’m completely lost.”

Recently I’ve been praying Titus 2:10 a lot before work, “Father let me be totally faithful at work today. Let me adorn your gospel with my heart and attitudes toward the other teachers, to my students, toward this job you’ve given me.” I pray that almost every day now, because I’d been noticing too many times where I hadn’t been adorning the gospel with my attitude.

Most times I come up here to speak, I’ll swing John 15:5. “Jesus, without you I can do nothing. My words have no power without you. But with you, I can bear much fruit. So speak through me. I need you.”

Recently, I’ve also been praying Jesus’ prayer from John 17:17 a lot. “Father, sanctify your people by the truth. Your Word is truth. Help all of us at Crossroad to counter Satan’s lies with your truth.”

There is power when we swing the word of God in prayer. So swing it. I think that’s part of what it means to pray in the Spirit. Align yourself with what the Spirit wants. Align yourself with what the Spirit prays. The best way to be sure we’re doing that is to swing his sword. To speak his words.

Swing God’s word with prayers of thanksgiving. Swing it in your prayers of struggle. Swing it when you’re confessing your sins. Swing it when you’re praying for your needs. But don’t just swing it praying for yourself. Paul tells us here to pray with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, for all our brothers and sisters in Jesus. Why? Because again, we are not standing as lone soldiers on the battlefield. We are part of an army. We need each other. We need each others’ support. And a big way to do that is through our prayers. So swing that sword and pray not just for yourself, but for each other. Pray for your family. Pray for Pastor Fumi and Miko. Pray for the people in your plant group. Pray for me. I need all the prayers I can get. And as you do, swing that sword.

But can I say something pretty obvious? You can’t swing what you don’t hold. Specifically, you can’t swing God’s word if you don’t know it. God has given us the sword of the Spirit. He’s given us his word as a weapon. But do you know it well enough to swing it? You can only swing what you know.

That’s why I was encouraging us all to memorize those verses from Romans 8 a few weeks ago. I hope you’ve been doing that. I’ll admit, though, memorizing verses can be tough, especially if you’re older like me. So if you’re really struggling to memorize verses, let me suggest something else you can try. Just start reading Romans 8 every day. But don’t just read it silently. Read it out loud. More than that, read it like you mean it. There is power when you read the word of God out loud like you mean it. And as you’re reading it that way, if something really hits your heart, stop and start reading that passage over and over again. Think through what those words you’re reading mean.

It’s so easy for us to speed through our Bible reading and say, “Okay, I’ve done my Christian duty for the day,” and then completely forget what we read. Don’t do that. My wife always accuses me of eating too fast. She’s probably right. My daughter on the other hand eats really slowly. But she probably gets more out of her food than I do.

Reading our Bible is the same way. Don’t just speed through it. If something hits you, chew on it. Think and meditate on those words. And the next day when you open your Bible, don’t be in such a rush to move on to something new. It’s okay to stop at the passage you read the day before and focus on it some more. Read it some more. Think about it some more. Swing the sword in prayer using that passage. And only after you’ve squeezed every last drop out of that passage that you can, then move on to the next passage that touches your heart. And the thing is, if you do that enough, you may find that you’ve actually memorized it. At the very least, the truth of those words will be burned into your soul so that you can remember it later.

One way I sometimes do all this is I’ll emphasize different key words in the passage with my voice.

So for example, if I’m reading Romans 8:1, I might read it this way: THEREFORE, therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. “Therefore.” What is the therefore there for?” (That’s always a good question to ask.)

What does it say in the previous verses? Well, it talks about Paul’s struggle with sin. And Paul’s crying out, “Every day I still struggle with my sin! Who’s going to rescue me from this body of death? Thank God. Jesus rescues me. Jesus saves me. Therefore…therefore, there is now no condemnation.

Next, I might start emphasizing the word “Now.” NOW there is no condemnation. I love the Japanese translation there. Not just “今” but “今や.” It puts a strong contrast between the way things were before and how they are now. BEFORE I was condemned. BEFORE God did judge me for my sin. But now, NOW, there is no condemnation.

Then I might focus on the word “No.” There is NO condemnation. Paul doesn’t say God still condemns me a little. He says “No condemnation.”

“God this is awesome! NO condemnation! Before you did condemn me. But not anymore. Now there is NO condemnation.”

Some of you might be thinking, “Wow, Bruce. You get really excited about the Bible.” I do. It’s that kind of reading that makes God’s word a joy to me. It’s what makes my Christian life a joy, my relationship with God a joy.

Now not all verses can be read in multiple ways like that. But when it can, it can be a powerful way to read your Bible and burn it into your soul. And when those words are burned in our souls, we can start swinging it in prayer.

But just as fencing takes practice, learning to swing the sword in prayer takes practice. One simple way to start is by praying the Lord’s prayer Jesus gave us in Luke 11. Take his words, and as you pray them, think about what you’re saying and expand your prayers from there.

“Father. Father. That’s so incredible. You are the God of the universe, and we can call you Father. Father.

May your name be honored. May your name be honored in my speech. In my thoughts. In my life.

Your kingdom come. Your kingdom come to Japan. So many people I know need you. Your kingdom come to my wife’s father and brother and sister. They’re really nice people. But they need you. Your kingdom come to the students and teachers in my school. I see so many hurting people there. Use me to touch them.

Give us each day our daily bread. Our daily bread. Not just my daily bread. Our daily bread. I have what I need now. Thank you. But my Christian brother needs a job. Help him to find one. Provide his daily bread.

Forgive us our sins. Father, I got really annoyed at my daughter this evening and it showed. Forgive me. Let me show her the same patience you show me. Help me to show the same forgiveness for her failings that you show me for my failings.

Do not bring us into temptation. Father, you know how weak I am. It would be so easy for me to fall. So keep me from temptation, from trials. But if I do have to face them, strengthen me so I can stand.”

That’s swinging the sword in prayer. Here are some other scriptures I often swing in prayer. I’m mentioned some of them earlier.

When I’m struggling with what to pray, I pray Romans 8:26-27. “Holy Spirit, Paul says you pray for me. Pray for me now.”

When I’m struggling to know my own heart, I pray Psalm 139:23-24. “Search me O God and know my heart.”

When I’m confessing my sins, I sometimes pray Psalm 51:10. “God create in me a clean heart.”

When I pray for people in my plant group, I often pray 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12. “By your power, fulfill their every desire to do good. Be glorified by them and them by you.” Ephesians 1:17-18 and 3:16-19 are also good prayers to pray for Christians you love. If you want to pray for Pastor Fumi and I on Sundays before the message, Ephesians 6:19 is another good prayer.

When I’m praying for people who don’t know Jesus, I’ll often pray 2 Corinthians 4:3-6. “Father, Satan has blinded their hearts and minds so that they can’t see the truth. Open their hearts. Open their minds. Shine your light in their hearts. And in whatever way you can, use me.”

Those are prayers I often pray. But a lot of times, I’ll simply borrow the words from my Bible reading for the day and pray them. If you’re on the Bible reading plan, you’ve seen some of those prayers in the emails I send. I’m swinging the sword in prayer as I read. I really encourage you to do the same.

I said it before, I’ll say it again: There is power when we swing God’s word in prayer. It knocks down Satan’s strongholds. It strikes fear into Satan’s heart when God’s people take God’s Word and wield it in prayer. And anything that makes Satan tremble is what I want to do. How about you?