Renovating Your MindSample

Peter found himself engaged in a war that he was neither prepared nor equipped for. He could draw a sword on a great multitude of soldiers, but he could not sit down and pray with Jesus for an hour. [i]  He had mistakenly placed his faith in his strength and in the weapons of this world, rather than in the Almighty God and the weapons He has given us. 

But are we any different? How quickly we reach for the wrong weapons when we are engaged in battle. We see a situation and we react in the flesh rather than reflect in the Spirit. For us to be successful in battle, we have to change our thinking from the carnal to the spiritual, as our battle is not a physical one, but a spiritual one. Our weapons of warfare are not of this world; they are prayer and the preach­ing of God’s Word. 

We need to stop swinging for the head and start focusing on the heart. You want to change your family, your workplace, your community, this world . . . you want to turn it upside down and wreck it for Jesus . . . then get on your knees and pray so that you will be prepared for every good work. Study the Word of God, know it, apply it, preach it, so that you will be equipped for every good work. 

The truth is that when we lose confidence in the weapons that Christ has given us, we lose all effective power for change and victory. When that happens, we pick up the weapons of this world, which only maim and bludgeon. How many ears have we cut off by trying to wage war in our own strength? Too many to count, I fear. 

The failure of the disciples in the garden was not in their intent or their fervor, for they loved Jesus incredibly. No, their failure was in their preparation as they did not watch and pray. Though we too love Jesus, we often reject the instructions to watch and pray because we see no peril on the horizon; we see no reason to watch and pray as we mistakenly place our confidence in our own strength and abilities by proclaiming, “I will be ready.” And yet we are neither prepared nor equipped for the coming battle, all because we lack faith in the weapons He has given us. 

The question we have to ask ourselves is, how will we ever stand in the day of adversity if we are not a people who faithfully pray and skillfully wield the Word of God? An even better question is, when is the day of adversity? Do we know? When are we going to get that phone call, that diagnosis? When will the persecution of Christians come to our doorstep? The mistake we often make is that we wait to prepare ourselves until a situation has come upon us; but by that time, it is already too late and we are found to be lacking. So, believer, don’t be caught unprepared or unequipped for the day’s battle, because every day could be the day of adversity.

    

[i]David Guzik, “Matthew 26-Jesus’ Betrayal and Arrest,” Enduring Word, 2018,