Helmet and Sword for Protection – Eph 6:17-18

©lightwritingmatters - 2015

“17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. [Eph 6] – NIV

Breaking it down

The verses above are a small portion of scripture describing what is called the ‘suit of armor’ found in Ephesians the sixth chapter. [The whole suit will be addressed in the future.] In verse seventeen the suit of armor ends with the last two things you would gear up with after covering your body for battle, your helmet and of course your weapon. The helmet protects the head. In the metaphor for helmet, according to Strong’s Concordance, it is ‘the protection of the soul which consists in (the hope of) salvation.

1.  Little picture: helmet protects your head. A blow to the head, especially with a sword, is fatal. 
2.  Big picture: Salvation = Helmet. If you are killed and have not accepted salvation from the Lord, it is the same as being without a helmet when the sword slices through your brain. However, if you have accepted the gospel and the Lord then THAT hope through God’s Word becomes the helmet.

Praying How? What? When

In verse eighteen, notice we are to pray;

1. HOW: IN THE SPIRIT.
2. When: On all kinds of occasions
3. WHAT? All kinds of prayers.

Analysis

Let’s start with #2, When to pray – On ALL kinds of occasions. We are to pray in totality, in every or whatever occasion. It is written in 1 Thess. 5:17, “Pray without ceasing.”

#3, What kind of prayers? Again, it is written in 1 Tim. 2:1 “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people…”

#1, How do we pray? IN THE SPIRIT! There are many who interpret ‘in the SPIRIT’ different ways. However, according to Strong’s Concordance it is defined in this scripture as ‘the disposition or influence which fills and governs the soul of any one’ more closely defined in Thayer’s Greek Lexicon to mean ‘in the power of the Spirit possessed and move by the Spirit’.

Provided here for you is a collection of scripture which contains the same sense ‘pneuma,’ the Greek word for Spirit, used in Ephesians also used elsewhere. Please read through each of them and pray for clarity of understanding as to how the SPIRIT fills and governs each of us in CHRIST. Matt 22:43; Mark 12:36; Luke 2:27; Luke 4:1; Jude 17-21; Rev 17:4; Rev 21:10.

Perhaps, most germane to this discussion from Ephesians is Jude: “But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. ¹⁸ They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires. ¹⁹These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. ²⁰ But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.”

Wrapping it up

With the Spirit we are most blessed today to have God’s Word so readily available to us and in so many forms and languages as it is the SWORD – our weapon of choice, to do battle. Ephesians chapter 6 earlier in verse 12 refers to how we will use the sword: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

Knowledge is power! 

Remember: Arm yourselves with GOD’S Word – become a skilled fencer with your Sword! Your helmet [salvation] and your sword [God’s Word] with the rest of the suit of armor and you are ready for battle.

©lightwritingmatters - 2015