Priscilla Shirer: You Can Stand Against the Enemy with the Armor of God

I am excited about God's Word tonight I'm going to teach on a precious topic of Scripture to me that actually I have taught on in Memphis before so if some of this insight some of you have heard before you know get over it maybe it's just me that's hard-headed but every now and then the Lord just got 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 tonight 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 needs clarity father for direction for this next phase of their life they've been waiting on you to give them clarity I ask that you give it to him tonight in Jesus name Lord there's somebody that needs victory in some area where they are watching the enemy come in and run rampant in some area of their lives so tonight Lord I'm asking you to give somebody a strategy a battle strategy for victory Lord would you do it where your daughter's Lord we came to hear from you we don't want to go back home inspire tonight inspiration where's our father we need to be changed transform us Lord we don't need another Women's Conference we don't need to just hang out and have fun we thank you for the fun but Lord what we need the word from God it's so speak Lord come on somebody say speak Lord we are your daughters we are sitting on the edge of our seat to see what it is you will say to us in Jesus name come on everybody agreed and said Amen so those boys that I mentioned to you I think the reason God gave me children is for illustrations because I keep finding illustrations of 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 really grew very attracted to baseball for several years there he's laid it down now for basketball has taken his passion but but baseball was really what he loved for lots of years we were in baseball season and I enjoyed baseball season kind of Miss it I wish she was still playing it I enjoyed it because spring ball is fun to me in the evening you sit out there with your kid the bright light of the baseball diamond there as you sit on the bleachers the cool spring air brushing across your cheeks you're enjoying just watching your kid playing 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 just warm up slightly you know it's hot hot like where you feel like 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 and I've enjoyed watching my my boy play but I especially loved it in the spring because when the summer rolls in it's just that excruciatingly heat we're really you're trying to be happy that your kid is doing well and 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 cuz he's doing well but but you've got to go out there on Thursday at 8 a.m. and then at 10 a.m. and then you get a little lunch break but then you got to come back for the 2 p.m. game in the 4 p.m. game then depending upon how your kids team did they're gonna take your team shift it to an entirely different bracket of teams because on Friday you have to come back for the 8 a.m. game and then the 10 a.m. game and you get a lunch break and noon but you're coming back for the 2 p.m. game in the 4 p.m. game and then if your kids team had the nerve to do well you got 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 with 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. and then forget Sunday's supposed to be dedicated to the Lord you're coming back on Sunday to play those last round of games before they hand out the awards and I got to tell you my second son probably partly because of his size he's always been just a good player he had a knack for baseball and I remember at 10 years old was the first time he got a really good hit and sent the ball over the fence at 10 years old he was great at first base just had a knack you know certain kids have a knack for certain sports while baseball was his was his neck he's had to work really hard for the other ones baseball came easy to JC so we were proud of him of course had a lot of maturing to do but we enjoyed the tournaments because his team usually did well and 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 and your neck and the inside of your shirt and your jeans and 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 and a couple of seasons ago I remember we were out there during the summer we're sitting underneath that outdoor tent we bought from the sporting goods store that 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 could not wait until lunchtime so we could go to a little nearby restaurant and just have air conditioned 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 felt a little refreshed and 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're walking over toward the baseball dugout that will be that is assigned to the next field that we're gonna play at I'm following behind my second son my second son is a very gregarious personality he's ready for the next challenge his shoulders are back his chest just 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 closer we got to the field though the more I watched my son's countenance completely changed I watched his head start to hang down I mean y'all 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 I'm watching his countenance change and as we were walking I realized we were passing right by some other team members they were from another team I realized as I passed by them 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 and so I was getting a look at all these these players as we passed and the more and more I passed the more I realized what was wrong with my boy because 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 [Applause] ain't nobody got time for that he's the kind of parents where you know when they gave birth to their boy they put a mint on one hand a baseball on the other they've been waiting for this their whole lives you know and we have played this team earlier in the season and when we had played these team they were good players they've 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 when we had played these boys before 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 this was the challenge that was in front of him they walked right by him and because we were so close there were two players that leaned over to talk to each other one of them leaned over to the other 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 that first base he's the one that caught all those outs so that's Jerry Shire when my son heard his name crossed the lips of the opposing team members that head that had been hanging down all of a sudden it popped back up again I watched my boys throw his shoulders back I watched them 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 in mind will change not because they go away but because we over here and really understand what the enemy thinks about us when he sees a daughter of God coming because when he sees you and he when he sees me he doesn't see us and 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 on the 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 we're not sure about all this stuff you need to know 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 second Corinthians you've been made competent puppets 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 and I'm saying what a shamed it would be for the enemy to believe more about our potential than we do what ashamed 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 of 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 and not rising up to be the daughters of God and I know that in a group decides there are some challenges sprawled out in front of you there are not many of us probably that are in this room that can raise our hand and say that we don't have some challenges right now in our life because all of us in this room are probably in one in one of in one of three places we're either right smack dab in the middle of challenge you're on your way into a challenge or you're on your way out of one cuz that's the nature of the world in which we live jesus said it 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 and if for some reason you happen to be sitting in here tonight you don't have any particular struggles we just want to say we're happy for you [Applause] but for the rest of us live 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 of all of Paul's writing 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 you know a lot of the Apostle Paul's letters a lot of those letters that he wrote 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 a part of this new race of people no longer Jew and Gentiles separated that they were now brought together under the umbrella of Christ 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 to understand this new family of God and of all of 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 and then another and then another just making sure you know what is the hope of his calling and choosing you he wants to make sure you know what is the lavishness of the mercy of God that has been bestowed upon every one who placed his faith in Jesus Christ he wants to make sure you 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 hand-picked 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 you know most of the stuff we're in most of the pits we're in it ain't the devil is 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 pitch you've dug for your own self that the mercy of God is not so great and so grand that he can't reach down in that pit and snatch you up out of that pit he wants you to know that you had been pulled out of darkness and flung into the marvelous light of God is that 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's just cuz if they just be opened he says grace you would see you would see once and for all 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 and then he's trying to figure out how to close a letter like this how do I put an exclamation point on that letter so that the daughters of God in Memphis Tennessee if the Zoi conference will step up to the plate so that when they go back home and the challenge is still just right there in their face they won't shrink back in fear and insecurity but that they'll go ahead and rise up to the mandate of chapters 1 through 3 how do I put a period on this thing I want you to just imagine Paul he was in a Roman prison probably 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 pick picture the beads of sweat on his brow as the Holy Spirit begins to inspire him to write these words and Ephesians chapter 6 verse 10 he says finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his mind he says put on the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes somebody say schemes the schemes of the devil he says in verse 12 our struggle it is not against flesh and blood but it is against rulers and against the powers against the world Force's 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 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 Testament from which we can infer the topic but this is the first time a writer comes right out in big big bold letters and says you have an enemy and 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 your boss is not your real enemy somebody needs to be told tonight that your co-worker you know that one that one that if she says one more thing to you you go knock her out that one [Applause] 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 that are 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 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 just 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 he's preying on the fact 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 to the stage right pulling the strings of much of what is happening in our life he so disguises himself behind life's most pressing problems in hopes that if he decides 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 and your money will work and your solutions will work and your rationale will work your connections will work he knows that we will use earthly weapons and they will only accomplish earthly natural results as long as we forget that there's a real enemy Oh y'all if we can get this in our minds our hearts and when we go home tonight tomorrow and we look that problem dead in the face the bills that are still there that health concerns that we have the trouble on our job to 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 a really small church it was 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 what I say trunk-or-treat okay lots of you do some of you may not a trunk-or-treat is when members of the congregation volunteer to bring their cars into the parking lot on Harvest Festival night 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 one car after the other it's like a big carnival and you just go from one car together and 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 so that was the longest line we were standing in this long line I was holding Jude's hand he must have been about 4 at the time he's almost 9 now I'm holding his hand and we're standing in the line it was really clever they placed a few stairs right at the edge of the bed of the truck so that a kid could walk up into the bed of the truck they gave the kid a huge plastic mallet and then they had attached a table top a huge table top about the same size as the bed of the truck they'd attached it to the side of the truck cut six holes in the table top draped it with fabric and out from those holes every few seconds a puppet would pop through so the job of the kid was run up and down the bed of the truck to pop the puppets on top of the head it was a homemade whack-a-mole game that's what homemade welcome so we're standing there waiting our turn there was a kid behind us y'all that had us laughing hysterically cuz he was very frustrated with this whole situation and he was very verbal about his frustration first of all mother I do not understand why I'm standing in this line did not come to the carnival to have fun it's not funder standing line I have an idea mom how about I go over there and play those games while you stand in line and hold our foot space and 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 but he was also very frustrated because 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 but for just a few seconds because then the puppet comes right back what is the point of this game if I'm gonna hit the puppet on the head but the puppets gonna come back he worked himself into such a frenzy that before any of us could see straight out of our peripheral vision we just saw a put a little kid running past us as he ran toward the the whole 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 [Applause] we got a good laugh and we also got a good lesson that there is always something you can't see influencing what you can and if you spend if I spend all of my time and all of my attention and all of my natural weapons trying to smack at everything that keeps showing up in my life at best I will achieve temporary results and I will exhaust myself in the process without having actually accomplished anything that will be lasting in my life the Apostle Paul says today is the day to pull back the curtain and let the enemy know we got our eye on you to pull back the curtain y'all and use some weapons that actually work back there behind the curtain he 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 regards to larger entities like nations or churches or communities he can 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 would agree to that that I'm fairly easygoing I'm not wound up very easily in terms of anger it's just I made like my dad in that way we're just easygoing so someone offends me or hurts my feelings or whatever and the may ask for forgiveness I'm gonna forgive him really quickly and easily I probably don't even know that they offended me it just stuff rolls off of me really easy 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 nother story I mean you know don't get it twisted I'll take these earrings off and we tweekin don't let the little white shirt fool you if I find out somebody's 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 could figure out how to 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 and not only have you been watching and studying me in my current state you've been looking into my history so that you can figure out what abuses I've suffered what hurts I have so that you can figure out what tender places I might still have in my heart so that you could take advantage of those and when I find out not only have you had the nerve to be studying me but you've been studying this man that the Lord has given me to be married to for the past eighteen years you are studying him to figure out what his weaknesses are so that you can try to lead him astray in the right way you've been trying to figure out what the frailties of his flesh are and what he's inclined towards so that you can lead him away from our family and from our home and from the god-given destiny that he's been called to and then when I find out not only have you been studying him in his current state but you've been looking into his history so that you can figure out what hot-button issues he has from his history so that you can make his history and my history combust so that we cannot have peace in the four walls of our home and then when I find out that not only have you been studying me and my husband but you've had the nerve to have your eyes on these three boys that the Lord has given me to rear into men of God when I figure out you like your eyes already set on their fears their anxieties their weaknesses you're already planning at this fledgling stage how you can trip them up so that they do not rise up and become the men of God that they have been called to be when I find out that you've been scheming against me and the people I love well if it's a war you want is the war you go have the process you get doesn't it should cause a holy indignation to rise up on the inside of you it should should compel you that he's scheming against you that you wanna have a scheme against him no we gotta have a plan of action listen to me he is preying on lazy Christianity he is hoping we will come to church on Sunday and say Amen and come to the conference and applaud and have a great time what he does not what is someone who rises up on Monday through Saturday and stands in the guest the gatekeeper of her home he wants a lazy and indifferent and apathetic not picking up the armor of God and standing firm against his schemes he don't care if you say amen to the message he wants to make sure you don't go home and live the thing day after day somebody's got to rise up and say not today devil not on my watch I'm not just gonna lay down and let you run roughshod over my family my peace of mind I've gotta go to war y'all we gotta go to war we gotta go to battle against the schemes of the enemy if your marriage is falling apart it's your time rise up and be a woman of God your teenager is going to stray don't just lay back and watch the enemy take your son or your daughter on a ride you'll be the one that has found on her knees with her hands outstretched luring her family grandmother grandfather we need you to go to war for your grandkids the enemy wants you out pathetic he wants you lazy because then he can take advantage of you any scheming scheming have you ever wondered why that particular carrot is dangled in front of you it's that temptation that wouldn't bug your girlfriend cuz it's not her thing she's not even interested in that 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 but it always seems to be right there when you're overwhelmingly hungry vulnerable easily enticed that's not coincidence that's escape and his schemes against nations he has schemes against communities he has schemes against churches and he has a scheme against 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 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 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 that you have your heart just like your physical heart pumps all of the energy and life you need in order for you to continue to function in your physical body without the canoe you'd lifeline on function and health of the heart you would not be able to survive physically so it is that your spiritual heart is the lifeline for your spiritual well-being all the fervency the fire the passion you need to have a prayer life that is not just talking to a random person without feeling the fire and passion of God all of the fervor you need to follow God fully and to be on his assignment for your life with some sort of fervor in your footsteps and passion in your heart the fire and the fervor that you need to open up the Bible and it not just be you reading some ink on a page but to actually hear the voice of God speaking to you to the Scriptures 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 all else listen to me young people more than all else cuz I'd be after your heart the Apostle Paul says your breastplate is righteousness somebody say righteousness 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 quick far enough - way to feel like we're worlds away quiet little two-lane road horses are over there on somebody's land there's some cows over there on somebody's land we move there because there was a yard there was a backyard with trees and bugs and mud and things boys need in their lives because I'm that kind of mama that says boy go outside are there any mothers in the house that still believe in outside anytime they come to me and have the nerve to tell me they are bored I say you see that tree right there go play with it you can eat it you can play tag with it I don't care what you do with it go play one of the things we love is that my one of my closest friends lives across the street she has for 10 years she has a pond in the 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 local super Walmart we have some extra bobbers in the tackle box we always lose those little bobber bobble thingies got extra hooks cuz we might need a couple extra hooks and I've got some scissors in there just in case we need scissors and I have gloves in the tackle box cuz y'all know 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 that's our bait because you know we're professionals we walk across the street we stand on that the edge and we just fish right there on the edge we catch little sun perch no big deal in an hour we can catch like 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 every now and then Leslie I'm feeling adventurous and there's a boat there my neighbors have this boat they got this metal rowboat on Craigslist they leave it upside down so that it will drain water when it needs to so that you know if it were to rain it wouldn't collect all the water they leave it upside down and when any of the neighbors want to take it out we just turn it over we push it out we can go out a little bit to the middle of the pond and fish from there so whenever I'm feeling adventurous I'll 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 gotta turn it over and I already know that the environment that has been created underneath this upside-down mo its moist in there it's dark it's damp it's shaded it's perfect for a critter so I know when I turn it over I know something's gonna hop out from underneath it I know something's gonna waddle out from underneath it or worst of all some y'all are my people y'all know but 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 inevitably something comes out it's always amazing to me that never once have I had to write a golden sealed invitation 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 in that little portion of the shore there where we like to stand never once have I had to stand there and call into the brush on the other side of the pond to say hey we're here come on come come 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 unrighteousness 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 and your mind in your heart in your home on your job and your fight it says in your health listen you can be in your war room praying against the devil tell 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 it's 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 whether it's in your attitudes in any place you have dug your heels into the ground and you refuse to walk in a way that is honoring 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 yo this is what the old-school preachers old-school back in our Grandmama's day great Grandmama's day the preachers didn't have any sort of fear to be political politically correct they weren't interested in that they just called it what it was they said listen be holy they called it holiness that's what it is holiness keeps a breastplate fitted on your life it staves the enemy off to where he's trying to figure out how he can get in and mess with your heart and your mind and your marriage and your relationships and your finances but you've got such a big barrier of armed rooms on the front side of you he can't figure out how to get in 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 cuz the enemy wants to take advantage of you do we have a few more minutes Lesley am i okay listen listen in this pre seeker seeker-sensitive era where we want everybody to feel comfortable and welcome yes come as you are but don't stay as your and I'm afraid that we are in this generation I'm including myself y'all I'm afraid that we're impressive but we have on no breast plate I'm afraid young people listen to me I'm afraid that we have a whole lot of Instagram followers but no press 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 that we have sacrificed holiness because we want to be impressive to other people and so we have a likeness of holiness but we're not actually living right and so if you are under the sound of my voice and you know you are living in a way that this otter scoff whether in your actions or in your attitudes you have dug your heels into the ground and you have refused to turn to repent means not to say you're sorry but by the power of God's Spirit to turn and 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 [Applause] my grandmother went to see Jesus a couple years ago she said Priscilla when I see him I don't want to see him and meet him with my head hung down I want to be able to look him in his eyes she said he paid much too high a price for me to live in eoq ran away I don't want to meet him with my head on when I see him face to face he's not going to ask me about the stuff most people ask about he'd not gonna ask me about that movie not gonna ask me how many people read these books he's not gonna ask me how many people followed me or applauded me or knew my name he just kind of asked me if I knew Jesus and then I'm gonna 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're just not you know you're not you you're living with him you are sleeping with him you are 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 you don't want to change you happy where you are living in the squander the good thing about the Holy Spirit y'all I've seen it proof for myself 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 [Applause] he can make you want to do right and then he can give you the power so that you can't [Applause] if you've refused to forgive it can make you able if you've been comfortable in your bitterness he can help to soften that place in your heart so that you can be healthy and whole and free in Jesus name if an attitude or action you know you've been walking the wrong way so you know you don't have a breastplate on and you're watching the enemy just run ramp it 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 gonna pray together once and for all we're gonna walk out of here with some victory that's you and you need prayer for that [Applause] you can stay standing or on your knees whatever 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 [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] every freedom [Music] [Music] [Music] Oh so Lord here we are your daughter's Lord and we asked right now in this precious moment Lord 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 will do what they're 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 from the alcohol to leave somebody's mouth and Jesus snake Lord I'm asking you that they legitimate time 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 what I'm asking you and break that emotional physical time right now in Jesus name Lord the next time she goes back to him help her to not want to do what you don't want her to do any longer father lord I am asking you for the bitterness to melt off of somebody's heart the one that you have called to forgive and she's refused to forgive father and asking today you would set her free how were to walk in forgiveness and to 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 [Music] righteousness righteousness we're gonna live right Lord not by our strength we're gonna live by right 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 the Lord and to walk according to the flesh 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 life 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 break the chains right now in Jesus saying 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 that 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 Anji snake addiction is spending the Dean right now in Jesus name sickness it's bending the knee right now in Jesus name we're gonna leave pray denied jesus healed and whole in Jesus name [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] everybody look at me look at me look at me I'm gonna 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 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 we can want to walk in righteousness but if you've got to walk in righteousness in your own strength that's gonna last about a week then you're gonna be tired you gotta have the Holy Spirit to help you to 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 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 thing up tonight so you can get this breastplate on okay just wave your hand at me if that's a prayer you need to pray tonight you've never placed faith in Jesus Christ so you want to do it tonight if that's a decision you need to make okay in the balcony anybody you need to place faith in Jesus tonight we're gonna take care of this tonight we're gonna 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 gonna pray the prayer of faith the Bible says you believe in your heart you confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and you shall be saved okay we're gonna all pray this together so that 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 the sin take up residence in me and the person up the Holy Spirit right now in Jesus name in Jesus name [Music] [Applause] I want to say one more thing and then we're gonna sing like wild women listen so you remember in the Lion King it's all these hyenas messing with Simba and symbols like RAM and the hyenas are like he tries again rare and they're like are you seeing these we're not afraid of that puny weakling stuff you got going on you can't do anything to us he tries again nothing tries one more time and this time when he opens up his mouth a war comes out of nowhere that he can't imagine and it's because Mufasa has shown up behind him [Applause] I can't get out the funny the enemy is gonna be running away not because of no war but because the father is [Applause] [Applause]

Channel: Going Beyond Ministries with Priscilla Shirer

Views: 1,400,336

Keywords: priscilla shirer, priscilla shirer teaching, priscilla shirer sermon, priscilla shirer sermons, priscilla shirer armor of god, armor of god, the armor of god, how to stand against the enemy, victory, victory over the enemy, victory over sin, spiritual victory, victory in christ, word of god, truth, truth of god, trust god, how to trust god, faith, faith in god, faith in christ, christian inspiration, christian motivation, biblical encouragement, bible, jesus, p2s4b, gb2ps, 4p2sm, 1psg6, sp61g

Id: gO1172mbGMI

Length: 60min 50sec (3650 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 09 2019