Priscilla Shirer - You Can Stand Against the Enemy with the Armor of God
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Summary
In this passionate message on spiritual warfare from Ephesians 6:10–13, the preacher uses vivid personal stories—her son’s shifting confidence upon overhearing the opposing team’s respect, a child’s frustration at whack-a-mole revealing hidden operators, and critters thriving under an upside-down boat—to illustrate the enemy’s subtle schemes. She urges women to recognize invisible spiritual battles behind visible struggles, reject lazy Christianity, and put on the full armor of God, particularly the breastplate of righteousness (holy, right-side-up living). Unrighteousness invites demonic influence; righteousness protects the heart and invites God’s favor. The message culminates in an altar call for repentance, freedom from bondage, and salvation through faith in Jesus, empowering believers with the Holy Spirit for victory.
Opening Excitement and Prayer
I am excited about God’s Word tonight. I’m going to teach on a precious topic of Scripture that has been meaningful to me, one that I have taught on in Memphis before. So, if some of this insight sounds familiar to you, just get over it. Maybe it’s just me that’s hard-headed, but every now and then, the Lord has to say something to me more than once for me to really take hold of it and do something with it.
Lord Jesus, we are your daughters. We’ve worshiped you in spirit and in truth. We have rolled out the red carpet for you to come, and so, Father, I ask that you would come. Lord, rend the heavens and come down. Speak to your people because, Lord, we are so glad that each other is here, but we didn’t come to see each other; we came to see you. So, Father, I am asking that tonight, as we open up your Word, you would speak to your daughters. There is someone here that needs a word; somebody’s marriage is hanging on by a thread tonight. I pray that you would salvage it in Jesus' name. Lord, somebody needs healing in their physical body or their mind, or their broken heart needs to be mended. I’m asking you to do it tonight in Jesus' name. For somebody, clarity is needed, Father, for direction in this next phase of their life. They’ve been waiting on you to give them clarity; I ask that you give it to them tonight in Jesus' name. Lord, there’s somebody that needs victory in an area where they are watching the enemy come in and run rampant. So, tonight, Lord, I’m asking you to give somebody a strategy, a battle strategy for victory. Lord, would you do it? We are your daughters, Lord; we came to hear from you. We don’t want to go back home inspired tonight. Inspiration is good, but we need a word from God. So, speak, Lord. Come on, somebody say, «Speak, Lord.» We are your daughters, and we are sitting on the edge of our seats to see what it is you will say to us in Jesus' name.
Come on, everybody agreed and said, «Amen.»
Baseball Story: Overhearing the Enemy
So those boys that I mentioned to you—I think the reason God gave me children is for illustrations, because I keep finding illustrations from the life of my boys. I mentioned to you that they’re all very engaged in sports; they play really whatever is in season. But my second son, in particular, grew very attracted to baseball. For several years, he laid basketball down because baseball was really what he loved. We were in baseball season, and I enjoyed it; I kind of miss it. I wish he was still playing. I enjoyed it because spring ball is fun for me! In the evenings, you sit out there with your kid, under the bright lights of the baseball diamond, as you sit on the bleachers, with the cool spring air brushing across your cheeks. You’re enjoying just watching your kid play in the cool of the spring evening. I like spring ball.
The only problem with spring ball is that it becomes summer ball, and Memphis is just like Dallas, Texas, where in the summer it does not merely warm up slightly; it’s hot—hot like you feel the Sun must be mad at you. You feel like you must have done something to the Sun, and the Sun is trying to get you back all summer long. It’s just piercing and blistering hot. I’ve enjoyed watching my boy play, but especially loved it in the spring because when the summer rolls in, it’s just excruciatingly hot. You’re trying to be happy that your kid is doing well; you’re really okay when you’re just out there for one game on a Saturday. But at the end of the season, they have a tournament.
So you’re sitting out there trying to be happy for your kid because he’s doing well, but you’ve got to go out there on Thursday at 8 a.m. and then at 10 a.m., and you get a little lunch break. But then you have to come back for the 2 p.m. game and the 4 p.m. game. Then, depending upon how your kid’s team did, they might shift your team to an entirely different bracket because on Friday, you have to come back for the 8 a.m. game and then the 10 a.m. game. You get a lunch break at noon, but you’re coming back for the 2 p.m. game and the 4 p.m. game. And then if your kid’s team had the nerve to do well, you have to come back on Saturday for the 8 a.m. game and the 10 a.m. game, and then you get lunch. But you’re coming back for the 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. And then forget, Sunday is supposed to be dedicated to the Lord; you’re coming back on Sunday to play that last round of games before they hand out the awards.
I’ve got to tell you, my second son, probably partly because of his size, has always been a great player. He has a knack for baseball. I remember, at 10 years old, it was the first time he got a really good hit and sent the ball over the fence. He was great at first base—just had a knack. You know, certain kids have a knack for certain sports. Baseball was his; he had to work really hard for the other sports, but baseball came easy to JC. We were proud of him, of course; he had a lot of maturing to do, but we enjoyed the tournaments because his team usually did well. You’re trying to be happy, but you’re sitting out there sweating. And I’m not talking about those cute little glistening sweats; I’m talking about the kind where the sweat is rolling down your face, your neck, and the inside of your shirt and jeans. You’re trying to celebrate, but really, you’re wondering if it’s ever okay to pray your kid loses so you can go home. Come on, can I get one witness in the house?
A couple of seasons ago, I remember we were out there in the summer, sitting underneath that outdoor tent we bought from the sporting goods store, that person promised us when we bought it that it would stave off some of the heat of the sun. But there we were, sitting under the tent, sweating bullets, and could not wait until lunchtime so we could go to a little nearby restaurant and just have air conditioning. That’s what we were after. We sat down, had a little light lunch, got some water—iced water that actually still had ice in it for a little while—and felt a little refreshed. Then we came back for the next game. We lifted up the back of the SUV and got all the gear out: the bats, the bags, the ice chests, the outdoor tent—all that stuff. We were walking over toward the baseball dugout that was assigned to the next field where we were going to play at. I’m following behind my second son.
My second son has a very gregarious personality. He’s ready for the next challenge; his shoulders are back and his chest poked out. I remember his chin was up, and because I was right behind him carrying the bags, I could see that he had a skip in his step. He was ready for the next challenge. The closer we got to the field, though, the more I watched my son’s countenance completely change. I watched his head start to hang down. I mean, y’all, it’s a short walk from the place where we parked to the dugout, but I watched that chin go down, and I watched his shoulders slump over. I watched him start wringing his hands like he was nervous, and I watched his eyes get a little bit skittish, like he was afraid. I’m trying to figure out what was happening because it was just a short walk from point A to point B. I’m following behind him, watching his countenance change. As we were walking, I realized we were passing right by some team members from another team. I realized as I passed by them that this was the team we were about to play. These boys were sprawled out underneath the shade of a tree on some grass, and we were walking right by them.
I was getting a look at all these players as we passed, and the more I saw, the more I realized what was wrong with my boy. I recognized these players; we had faced this team earlier in the season, and this was a team of serious baseball players. You know the kind of team that has the serious parents? They’re the kind of parents who you know, when they gave birth to their boy, they put a mitt in one hand and a baseball in the other. They’ve been waiting for this their whole lives. We had played this team earlier in the season, and when we had, they were good players. They had been playing since they were toddlers—they were incredible players, and they had annihilated my son and his team earlier in the season. I remember it had been a complete embarrassment, a complete upset, and now this was the team they were about to play next. So my son walked by, and as he did, his countenance changed because he realized there was a challenge before him.
They walked right by him, and because we were so close, two players leaned over to talk to each other. One of them leaned over to the other, and he was whispering. I think he thought he was whispering, but we could hear him. He said, «There goes the big kid from the Red Sox team. Is he the one that hit the ball over the fence?» Yep, that was him—that’s the one that was at first base. He’s the one that caught all those outs. So, when my son heard his name cross the lips of the opposing team members, that head that had been hanging down all of a sudden popped back up again. I watched my boy throw his shoulders back. I watched him get a little swag back in his step. In fact, we had to bring him down a few notches before the game started.
It was amazing how completely different his countenance was, how much his countenance changed—not because the challenge went away, but just because he overheard what the enemy thought about him when he saw him coming. It’s amazing how your countenance about your difficulties and challenges will change, not because they go away, but because we overhear and really understand what the enemy thinks about us when he sees a daughter of God coming. When he sees you and me, he doesn’t see us in our weakling power and fledgling strength; no, he sees the power of Almighty God that is on the inside of us. He sees the Holy Spirit that lives inside of us. So, let me tell you something: even if you don’t believe everything that the Word of God declares to be true about you—even if you’re not sure about all this stuff—you need to know that if you don’t believe it, the enemy does. You might doubt it, but he doesn’t. He knows that you have already been forgiven. He knows that there is, therefore, now no condemnation for those of us who are in Christ Jesus. He knows that he is already underneath your feet. He knows that he can form a weapon against you, but that that weapon has no possibility of prospering in your life. He knows that according to 2 Corinthians, you’ve been made competent for the task by the Holy Spirit of God. He knows that you have been given the victory. He knows that, in the end, we win.
What a shame it would be for the enemy to believe more about our potential than we do. What a shame it would be for him to be able to just sprawl out a little difficulty and challenge in your life, and just the sight of it is enough to keep you and me from rising up, stepping up to the plate, and being who God has called us to be. He just scares us out of reaching our full potential; enough intimidation and fear will keep us paralyzed and insecure, keeping us from rising up to be the daughters of God.
Challenges in Life and Ephesians
I know that in a group this size, there are some challenges sprawled out in front of you. Not many of us can raise our hands and say that we don’t have some challenges right now in our lives. Because all of us in this room are probably in one of three places: we’re either right smack dab in the middle of a challenge, we’re on our way into a challenge, or we’re on our way out of one. Because that’s the nature of the world in which we live. Jesus said it in John 16:33; he said, «In this world, you will have trouble.» It’s coming; it’s a part of the world in which we live.
If, for some reason, you happen to be sitting in here tonight and you don’t have any particular struggles, we just want to say we’re happy for you. But for the rest of us living in the real world, the Apostle Paul wrote some serious words for anybody interested in victory. His words are written in the book of Ephesians. As you turn there to the book of Ephesians, let me just tell you that scholars say that of all of Paul’s writings, the book of Ephesians is like the cream of the crop. I love the book of Ephesians; it’s like the cherry on top of the cake. A lot of the Apostle Paul’s letters were written to first-century believers in provinces during that day and age. He wrote letter after letter to disciple them and mature them; they didn’t know what it meant to be part of this new race of people, no longer Jew and Gentile, but that they were now brought together under the umbrella of Christ’s blood shed on Calvary. They were a new race of people; they didn’t know what that meant. So, he wrote them letters to help them understand this new family of God.
And of all those letters that would become the New Testament, scholars say the cream of the crop of all of Paul’s letters is Ephesians, because in the book of Ephesians, he spends more than the first half of the book just rehearsing who you are. He spends one chapter, then another, and another, just making sure you know what the hope of His calling and choosing you is. He wants to ensure you know what the lavishness of God’s mercy has been bestowed upon everyone who places their faith in Jesus Christ. He wants you to know that even if you’ve been rejected by everybody else—mother and father, sister or brother, best friend or spouse has walked away from you—that you have been handpicked and selected, adopted by the Most High King. He wants you to know that there is no pit of sin that you’ve gotten yourself into. Most of the stuff we’re in, most of the pits we’re in, it ain’t the devil; it’s us. Really, a lot of it, y’all, we do to ourselves. Come on, somebody say «Amen.»
The Apostle Paul says, «I want you to know there is no pit you’ve dug for yourself that the mercy of God is not so great and so grand that He can’t reach down into that pit and snatch you up out of that pit.» He wants you to know that you’ve been pulled out of darkness and flung into the marvelous light of God. As Paul gets so beside himself, he bursts out in a prayer, and he prays in the first chapter of Ephesians, «I’m praying that the eyes of your heart would be opened.» He just wants to make sure you see what is the hope of His calling and choosing you. He writes this incredible letter about who we are, about why we can step up to the plate and have victory because of our relationship with Christ.
Then he’s trying to figure out how to close a letter like this. How do I put an exclamation point on this letter so the daughters of God in Memphis, Tennessee, at the Zoi Conference will step up to the plate? So that when they go back home and the challenge is still right there in their face, they won’t shrink back in fear and insecurity, but that they’ll rise up to the mandate of chapters 1 through 3. How do I put a period on this thing? I want you to imagine Paul; he was in a Roman prison, probably under house arrest when he wrote this letter. Imagine him hanging over the parchment paper with his ink quill in hand, trying to figure out the words to say to make sure that we never succumb to the schemes of the enemy. I want you to picture the beads of sweat on his brow as the Holy Spirit begins to inspire him to write these words.
In Ephesians 6:10, he says, «Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.» He says, «Put on the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes—somebody say schemes—of the devil.» He says in verse 12, «Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness that are in the heavenly places.» He says, «So, therefore, in verse 13, you might as well go ahead and put down all the weapons of this world that haven’t been working for you anyway and take up some weapons that actually have some power. Take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.» He says, «You want to just go ahead and stand firm!»
Spiritual Warfare and the Enemy’s Schemes
Therefore, the Apostle Paul puts a period on his letter to us, an exclamation point on his letter to us, by introducing to us a concept that has never been disclosed in Scripture. There are other places in the Old and New Testaments from which we can infer the topic, but this is the first time a writer comes right out in big, bold letters and says, «You have an enemy!» Your enemy is not the person you’re sitting next to tonight; somebody needs to hear that. Your husband is not your real enemy! Somebody needs to know that your boss is not your real enemy. Somebody needs to be told tonight that your coworker—you know that one that if she says one more thing to you, you’re going to knock her out? That one! The Apostle Paul came to tell you tonight through the Holy Spirit that your real enemy is no one or nothing that is flesh and blood—tangible and touchable—physical anything you can see is not your real enemy.
The Apostle Paul comes right out to say, «You have an enemy—an invisible, unseen enemy who is hoping that just because he’s invisible, you will also think he is fictional.» The Apostle Paul brings up the topic of spiritual warfare. He says you have an unseen enemy behind many of those challenges sprawled out in front of your life. Behind many of them is an influence or someone who is stirring the pot in hopes that you will be so intimidated and insecure that you’ll never rise up to be the daughter that God has called you to be and claim the victory that is already rightfully yours. It’s his scheme; it’s his sinister attack against your life to compel you to shrink back in fear and insecurity and never become who God has called you to be.
You’ve got this unseen enemy. He’s preying on the fact, y’all, that he hopes we will forget he’s there. This is what he does: he shifts the attention cleverly stage left so that you’ll forget he’s the one off stage right pulling the strings of much of what is happening in our lives. He disguises himself behind life’s most pressing problems in hopes that if he disguises himself cleverly enough, you will forget he’s the one behind the scenes. Because then, he knows you will direct all the wrong weapons at the wrong culprit. He knows you’ll think your words will work, your money will work, your solutions will work, your rationale will work, and your connections will work. He knows we will use earthly weapons, and they will only accomplish earthly, natural results as long as we forget that there’s a real enemy.
Whack-a-Mole Illustration
Oh, y’all, if we can get this in our minds and our hearts, when we go home tonight and tomorrow and we look that problem dead in the face—the bills that are still there, the health concerns that we have, the trouble on our jobs, the struggle, and friction in our relationships—if we will go home and see them from a spiritual vantage point, we will stop using the weapons we’ve been using to fight that problem. When Jude was younger—actually all three of the boys, but particularly Jude—I would take him to this Harvest Festival at a church around the corner from our house. It was a really small church; it’s like their answer to Halloween. They have a Harvest Festival, and it’s a trunk-or-treat. Does anybody know what I mean when I say trunk-or-treat? Okay, lots of you do.
Some of you may not know. A trunk-or-treat is when members of the congregation volunteer to bring their cars into the parking lot on Harvest Festival night, and they open up the trunk of their car. Kids line up one trunk after the other to play a carnival or fair-like game that’s been created in the trunk of the car. Most of the time, whether the kid wins or loses the game, the person that owns that car gives them a whole bunch of candy and sends them home. We are so grateful!
So we just go from one car to the other. It’s like a big carnival, and you just go from one car to the next. A few years ago, the game everybody wanted to play was behind the bed of a truck. It was so cool because it was the only truck in the parking lot. It had the longest line, and we were standing in this long line. I was holding Jude’s hand; he must have been about four at the time—he’s almost nine now. I’m holding his hand, and we’re standing in line. It was really clever; they placed a few stairs right at the edge of the bed of the truck so that kids could walk up into the bed. They gave the kid a huge plastic mallet, and then they had attached a huge tabletop about the same size as the bed of the truck. They attached it to the side of the truck, cut six holes in the tabletop, draped it with fabric, and out from those holes, every few seconds, a puppet would pop through.
So the job of the kid was to run up and down the bed of the truck to pop the puppets on the top of the head. It was a homemade whack-a-mole game. So we’re standing there waiting our turn. There was a kid behind us, y’all, that had us laughing hysterically, because he was very frustrated with this whole situation, and he was very verbal about his frustration. First of all, he said, «Mother, I do not understand why I’m standing in this line. I did not come to the carnival to have fun. It’s not fun standing in line! I have an idea, mom: how about I go over there and play those games while you stand in line and hold our spot? Then, when you get up to the front of the line, I’ll come back and join you.»
But he was not only verbal about his frustration regarding the line; he was also very frustrated because he said, «Mom, I don’t even understand this game! Why in the world would I spend all my energy popping those puppets on the head if every time I see one of those kids hit the puppet on the head, the puppet disappears for just a few seconds? What is the point of this game if I’m going to hit the puppet on the head and the puppet is going to come back?» He worked himself into such a frenzy that, before any of us could see straight, out of our peripheral vision, we saw a little kid running past us. As he ran toward the game, he grabbed the fabric and pulled it clean off the top of the board. Underneath, there were three adults with puppets on each hand!
We got a good laugh, and we also got a good lesson: there is always something you can’t see influencing what you can see. If you spend all your time and attention and all of your natural weapons trying to smack at everything that keeps showing up in your life, at best, you will achieve temporary results, and you will exhaust yourself in the process without having accomplished anything of lasting value in your life.
The Apostle Paul says today is the day to pull back the curtain and let the enemy know we’ve got our eye on him! Pull back the curtain, y’all, and use some weapons that actually work.
The Enemy’s Schemes and Holy Indignation
The Apostle Paul says, «I want you to know the tactics of the enemy are so sinister against you.» He doesn’t have this blanket approach—of course, he can in regard to larger entities like nations or churches or communities—but he’s very specific in his targets against you. The Apostle Paul wants to make sure you know that because he uses a specific word to describe the enemy’s warfare in our lives. He says he is scheming—somebody say schemes!
I want to tell you something about myself: I am a fairly easygoing personality. I think that people that know me would agree to that; I’m not wound up very easily in terms of anger. If someone offends me or hurts my feelings, I probably don’t even know that they offended me. Stuff rolls off of me really easily. I’m kind of wired that way. So, if somebody does me wrong, I can get over it. But if I find out someone was planning to do me wrong, well, that’s a whole other story! I mean, you know, don’t get it twisted—I’ll take these earrings off and get to it!
Don’t let the little white shirt fool you! If I find out you’ve been scheming, that’s different. I find out you’ve been thinking beforehand; you’ve been studying me so that you can watch to see when I come and when I go. You’ve been watching to see what my weaknesses are so that you can dangle the right carrots at the right time to lead me astray in the right way. You’ve been trying to figure out what my weaknesses are, what the proclivities of my flesh are, so that you can take advantage of those. Not only have you been watching and studying me in my current state, but you’ve also been looking into my history so you can figure out what abuses I’ve suffered, what hurts I have, so you can identify what tender places I might still have in my heart.
When I find out you’ve been scheming against me and the people I love, well, if it’s a war you want, it’s a war you’ll get! The process and the struggle should cause a holy indignation to rise up on the inside of you. It should compel you that he’s scheming against you. You don’t just lay down and let him take advantage of you!
No, we’ve got to have a plan of action! Listen to me; he is preying on lazy Christianity. He is hoping we will come to church on Sunday, say «Amen, » and come to the conference to applaud and have a great time. What he does not want is someone who rises up Monday through Saturday and stands as the gatekeeper of her home! He wants a lazy, indifferent, apathetic woman who won’t pick up the armor of God and stand firm against his schemes. He doesn’t care if you say «Amen» to the message; he wants to make sure you don’t go home and live it day after day. Somebody’s got to rise up and say, «Not today, devil! Not on my watch!» I’m not just going to lay down and let you run roughshod over my family!
My peace of mind—I’ve got to go to war, y’all! We’ve got to go to war! We’ve got to go to battle against the schemes of the enemy! If your marriage is falling apart, it’s your time to rise up and be a woman of God. If your teenager is going astray, don’t just lay back and watch the enemy take your son or daughter for a ride—be the one who is found on her knees with her hands outstretched. Grandmother, grandfather, we need you to go to war for your grandkids! The enemy wants you apathetic; he wants you lazy, because then he can take advantage of you.
He’s scheming! Have you ever wondered why that particular carrot is dangled in front of you? It’s a temptation that wouldn’t bug your girlfriend because it’s not her thing; she’s not even interested in it. It’s the one that suits your fancy. Has it ever occurred to you that that carrot is always dangled when you’re particularly lonely? That that carrot seems to show up when you’re overwhelmingly tired, hungry, and vulnerable? It always seems to be right there when you’re easily enticed.
That’s not coincidence; that’s the enemy’s schemes.
Breastplate of Righteousness
Against nations, he has schemes; against communities, against churches, he has a scheme, too. The Apostle Paul says don’t be afraid, but you better be on your guard! You gird yourself with some armor that works! I don’t have time to go through all the pieces of armor, but I do want to tell you about one in the last five minutes and thirty seconds that I have with you. There’s one I can’t let get away: the Apostle Paul says you need a breastplate because you’ve got to have something that blocks the enemy from a full-frontal attack.
You need something to cover and guard the most vital spiritual organ you have: your heart. Just like your physical heart pumps all the energy and life you need for you to continue to function in your physical body, without it, you wouldn’t survive physically. So it is that your spiritual heart is the lifeline for your spiritual well-being—all the fervency, fire, and passion you need to have a prayer life that is not just talking to a random person, but actually feeling the fire and passion of God! All of the fervor you need to follow God fully and be on His assignment for your life—with some sort of fervor in your footsteps and passion in your heart—all of that is tied to the health of your spiritual heart.
So if I were your enemy, oh, I’d be after your heart more than anything else! Listen to me, young people, I’d be after your heart! The Apostle Paul says your breastplate is righteousness.
Somebody say righteousness!
Boat and Critters Illustration
Jerry and I live in a fairly rural part of Dallas. We planned it that way; we like it. We’re close enough to get there quickly, but far enough away to feel like we’re worlds away. It’s a quiet little two-lane road. There are horses on someone’s land, cows on someone else’s land. We moved there because there was a yard, there was a backyard with trees and bugs and mud—things boys need in their lives. Because I’m that kind of mama that says, «Boys, go outside!» Are there any mothers in the house that still believe in «outside?» Anytime they come to me and have the nerve to say they’re bored, I say, «You see that tree over there? Go play with it! You can eat it, you can play tag with it—I don’t care what you do with it; just go play!»
One of the things we love is that one of my closest friends lives across the street. She has a pond in front of her property. So I grabbed the two fishing poles I bought on sale at the local Super Walmart. I got a tackle box on sale at the local Super Walmart. We have some extra bobbers in the tackle box because we always lose those little bobber thingies, and I’ve got extra hooks just in case we need a couple extra hooks. I have some scissors in there just in case we need scissors, and I have gloves in the tackle box because, y’all know, I don’t mind going fishing, but I ain’t gonna actually touch no fish!
We grab whatever hot dog meat is left from the week—that’s our bait, because you know we’re professionals! We walk across the street, stand on the edge, and fish right there on the edge. We can catch little sun perch, no big deal; in an hour, we can catch ten fish because they’re just all right there, so we’ll just fish. It’s like an easy, quick outing with me and the boys.
But every now and then—I’m feeling adventurous, and my neighbors have this boat; they got this metal rowboat on Craigslist. They leave it upside down so that it will drain when it needs to, so if it were to rain, it wouldn’t collect water. They leave it upside down, and when any of the neighbors want to take it out, we just turn it over. We can go a little bit to the middle of the pond and fish from there. So, whenever I’m feeling adventurous, I say, «Come on, boys, let’s take the boat out.» That doesn’t happen often, though, because in order to get in this boat, I’ve got to turn it over, and I already know that the environment underneath this upside-down boat is moist, dark, damp, and shaded. It’s perfect for a critter, so I know when I turn it over, something’s gonna hop out, something’s gonna waddle out, or worst of all—some of you are my people, y’all know!
Every now and then, I’m adventurous. I say, «Come on, boys, let’s do it.» I let them get the sides of the boat. I stand way back at the edge, we turn it over, and inevitably, something comes out. It’s always amazing to me that never once have I had to write a golden sealed invitation and send it into the brush nearby to let the critters know we’ll be here at one o’clock today. You’re invited to come and join us! Never once have I had to stand there at the shore to say, «Hey, we’re here! Come on, be a part of our party!» Never once have I had to invite the critters!
Why? Because the environment created by the upside-down boat is invitation enough. Righteousness is right-side-up living that invites the sunlight of God’s favor and His grace on your life! Unrighteousness—are you listening? —is upside-down behavior to where you don’t have to invite the enemy to come and make himself at home. The environment that unrighteousness creates is the invitation; it creates the environment where demonic influence will flourish in your relationships, your mind, your heart, your home, on your job, and in your fight!
Listen, you can be in your war room praying against the devil until you are blue in the face, but if you come out of that prayer closet and live a raggedy, wayward, unrighteous life, the enemy will still be on the way. The reason why he dangles the carrot in front of your life is because he wants you to follow that carrot down a path of unrighteousness. Because as soon as you follow him down that path, the boat has been flipped over, and the environment he needs for demonic activity to flourish in your life has been made in your existence!
Whether it’s in your actions or your attitudes, any place you have dug your heels into the ground and refuse to walk in a way that is honoring to God—righteousness does not mean perfection; it means as a lifestyle you have chosen to honor God to the best of your abilities, to align your behavior with the truth that you say you affirm. This is what the old-school preachers in our grandmothers’ day called it—holiness! That’s what it is.
Holiness keeps a breastplate fitted on your life; it staves off the enemy to where he’s trying to figure out how he can get in and mess with your heart, your mind, your marriage, your relationships, and your health. But you’ve got such a big barrier of armor on the front side of you that he can’t figure out how to get in.
Call to Righteousness and Altar Call
Which is why if he’s leading you astray in some area of your life, if you’re living—if I’m living in a way that is out of alignment with the truth of God, if right now the Holy Spirit’s burning on the inside of you because you know you are walking in a way that is outside of alignment with the truth of God, that’s His way of saying, «Your breastplate is off, girl! It’s time to put it back on, » because the enemy wants to take advantage of you!
Do we have a few more minutes? Leslie, am I okay?
Listen, in this pre-seeker-sensitive era where we want everybody to feel comfortable and welcome—yes, come as you are, but don’t stay as you are! I’m afraid we are in this generation, and I’m including myself! I’m afraid we’re impressive, but we have on no breastplate!
I’m afraid, young people, listen to me—I’m afraid that we have a whole lot of Instagram followers but no breastplate! I’m afraid that the enemy is satisfied with how much applause we’re getting from people because our selfies are perfectly lit, but then he’s ripping us to shreds because we have no protection! I’m afraid we have sacrificed holiness because we want to be impressive to other people. We have a likeness of holiness, but we’re not actually living right.
So if you are under the sound of my voice and you know you are living in a way that is out of order, whether in your actions or your attitudes—you have dug your heels into the ground and you have refused to turn—repentance means not just saying you’re sorry, but by the power of God’s Spirit turning to go a different way! If you have not made that choice, I want to invite you to make that choice tonight so that you can walk out of here with a breastplate!
My grandmother went to see Jesus a couple of years ago. She said, «Priscilla, when I see Him, I don’t want to meet Him with my head hung down—I want to be able to look Him in His eyes!» She said, «He paid too high a price for me to live in regret or shame!» I don’t want to meet Him with my head hanging low. When I see Him face to face, He’s not going to ask me about the stuff most people ask about; He’s not going to ask me about that movie. He’s not going to ask me how many people read these books. He’s not going to ask me how many people followed me or applauded me or knew my name. He just kind of asks me if I knew Jesus, and then I’m going to give an account as to whether or not I squandered this gift or whether I walked in a manner worthy of the call.
And I know you do too! So if you’re in this room and you’re not living holy—you know you’re not. You’re living with him; you’re sleeping with him. You’re smoking that substance; you’re addicted. You’re drinking that alcohol; you’re addicted. You are bound by every sin and hindrance and to be honest, you don’t want to change. You’re happy where you are living in the squander. The good thing about the Holy Spirit, y’all, I’ve seen it proven in my life—is that He has a way to make you want to do the stuff you don’t want to do.
He doesn’t just free you; He changes your want-to. He can make you want to do right, and then He can give you the power so that you can! If you’ve refused to forgive, He can make you able. If you’ve been comfortable in your bitterness, He can help soften that place in your heart so that you can be healthy, whole, and free in Jesus' name.
If an attitude or action—you know you’ve been walking the wrong way—if you know you don’t have a breastplate on and you’re watching the enemy just run rampant in your life because you have on no breastplate, but you want to get that thing on tonight, come down here and meet with me right now at this altar. We’re going to pray together once and for all, and we’re going to walk out of here with some victory.
Altar Prayer and Salvation Call
That’s you, and you need prayer for that.
You can stay standing or on your knees, whatever works for you; just come as close as you can, okay? There’s lots of room on this side as well, over here and on that end!
Oh, every freedom! Oh, Lord, here we are, Your daughters! Lord, we ask right now in this precious moment that Your Spirit would come and set people free. Lord, I’m asking right now in the name of Jesus Christ that the Holy Spirit would do what they are admitting they cannot do in their own power! I’m asking right now supernaturally, miraculously, would You break chains off of people’s lives? Father, I’m asking you in the mighty, matchless name of Jesus Christ that for the one caught in addiction, I’m asking you, Father, for the taste for the drug to leave somebody’s mouth right now in Jesus' name!
I’m asking you, Father, for the taste of alcohol to leave somebody’s mouth in Jesus' name. Lord, I am asking that the legitimate tie emotionally that this woman has to that man—I’m asking you to break that tie in Jesus' name! For the woman caught in an adulterous affair, Lord, I’m asking you to break that emotional and physical tie right now in Jesus' name! Lord, the next time she goes back to him, help her to not want to do what she doesn’t want to do any longer. Father, Lord, I’m asking you for the bitterness to melt off of somebody’s heart—the one you have called to forgive but she has refused to forgive. Father, I’m asking today that you would set her free to walk in forgiveness and extend grace to that other person.
Father, Lord, I’m praying for the wife that has dug her heels into the ground; she is resentful against her spouse and she will not follow in humility. I pray that you would give her a submissive spirit right now in Jesus' name to honor her husband as he honors you. Righteousness! Righteousness! We’re going to live right, Lord! Not by our strength, but by Your power, Your Spirit. I thank you for Your Spirit, Lord. I pray that the Holy Spirit would become a reality in the lives of all of these women in my life!
Lord, help us to no longer lean on the flesh, but to walk according to the Spirit! Show us what it means to walk according to the Spirit so that we will not fulfill the desires of the flesh! And Father, as we honor you by living righteously according to Your Spirit, I pray that the breastplate would so defend us against the schemes of the enemy, Lord, that he cannot infiltrate our lives.
So, Father, I pray against every demonic attack of the enemy against these women, against their husbands, against their children, against their finances, against their peace of mind, against their peace of heart. Lord, I pray right now in Jesus' name that every attack of the enemy would be canceled in Jesus' name and by His blood that has been shed on Calvary. Break it right now in Jesus' name! Break the chains right now in Jesus' name!
I pray for strongholds to crumble at the name of Jesus! I pray for any demons to tremble at the name of Jesus! Because it is in His name that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, so depression is bending the knee right now in Jesus' name. Unforgiveness is bending the knee right now in Jesus' name! Addiction is bending the knee right now in Jesus' name! Sickness is bending the knee right now in Jesus' name! We’re going to leave here, prayed up, healed and whole in Jesus' name!
Everybody look at me! Look at me! Look at me! I’m going to ask you a question: have you placed faith in Jesus Christ? Listen to me, I’m not asking you if you have been in church all your life, if you’ve been in the choir, or if you’ve done good things. I want to know because victory, you know, is only ours in Jesus if we have a relationship with Him! Okay?
So I can pray for you; we can want to walk in righteousness, but if you’ve got to walk in righteousness in your own strength, that’s going to last about a week, and then you’re going to be tired. You’ve got to have the Holy Spirit to help you walk in righteousness, okay? You can’t—I can’t do it on my own, and neither can you, okay? So, in whatever area right now you need to break free and walk in holiness, you cannot do it without the Spirit.
You receive the Spirit when you receive Jesus Christ! Okay? It is a gift of your salvation; it’s the best gift you’ll ever get because the Holy Spirit comes bearing fruit! He comes bearing gifts! He comes in like a flood and He changes your life! He gives you power to do this stuff, okay? So I’m asking you—can the lights come up a little bit because I need to see you? I’m asking you: have you placed faith in Jesus?
Okay, if you’re right here in the aisles, wherever you are—y’all, wherever you are—if you’ve never placed faith in Jesus but you want to seal that tonight so you can get this breastplate on, just wave your hand at me if that’s a prayer you need to pray tonight! You’ve never placed faith in Jesus Christ, but you want to do it tonight! If that’s a decision you need to make—okay! In the balcony, is anybody there? You need to place faith in Jesus tonight? We’re going to take care of this tonight—come on! We’re going to get some breastplates on up in here! I see you; I see you!
Okay, keep your hand up if that was you! Y’all sisters can you look around? If there’s somebody near you with their hand raised, just reach over and put your hand on their shoulder—grab their hand—just let them know they’re not alone in this moment. Look around you in the balcony! Come on, y’all!
We’re going to pray the prayer of faith. The Bible says if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, you shall be saved! Okay? We’re going to all pray this together so we can build an atmosphere of faith for those who are praying it for the very first time.
Let’s pray: «Lord Jesus, I am a sinner in need of a Savior, and I believe that you are that Savior. So today, I place faith alone in Christ alone to remove my sin and take up residence in me in the person of the Holy Spirit right now in Jesus' name! In Jesus' name!»
Closing: The Lion King Roar
I want to say one more thing, and then we’re going to sing like wild women! Listen! Remember in The Lion King when all those hyenas were messing with Simba and Simba was like, «Raaah!» and the hyenas were like, «Pshh! We’re not afraid of that puny weakling stuff you got going on! You can’t do anything to us!» He tries again-nothing. He tries one more time, and this time, when he opens his mouth, a roar comes out of nowhere, throwing them back, and it’s because Mufasa has shown up behind him! I can’t get over the funny image; the enemy is going to be running away not because of no roar, but because the Father’s roar is now coming up on the side of your victory! In Jesus' name!