I have been studying, meditating on, and praying the armor of God for probably 32 years now. I have taught on it more than a few times, and continue to consider how to concisely pray the scriptural foundations of putting on the armor. The following is a version of a prayer that I have written to condense the heart of my study and meditation into a concise prayer. In practice, I pray other scriptures in relation to the armor as well, but I think this is a good start for anyone who would like a concise prayer for putting on the armor as rooted in the truths of the Gospel. What is most important is that we put on the armor daily in prayer and in deed. It would be better to simply pray through the passage of Ephesians 6:10-18 than to pray nothing at all about it…but the prayer below is intended as a slightly longer and richer prayer of meditation on the armor and what it means to wear it.
Introduction:
Father, we are your children by faith, having been baptized into Christ (Galatian 3:27). Therefore, help us to put on Christ as our armor that we may walk as children of the daytime making no provision for the flesh (Romans 13:14) so that we could say as your Son our Lord said, “The prince of this world has come, but he has nothing in me” (John 14:30). Strengthen us and arm us to stand firm in the evil day (Ephesian 6:10).
Belt:
By your Holy Spirit, please guide us into all truth as our Lord Jesus has promised (John 16:13). Secure our innermost feelings in the belt of your truth so that our enemy may not pull us down by fear or anxiety. Remind us always, Lord Jesus, that you are the Truth in whom all things hold together (Colossians 1:17), even those things which seem desperate and chaotic in our limited understanding. Bind us to yourself as the truth who sets us free, and so free us from the lies told by the world, the flesh, and the Devil. We renounce these three in order that we not be misled by our own lust and enticed into sin that would separate us from you (I John 2:1-17, Ephesians 2:2-3, James 1:14). Let us not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21)
Breastplate:
Anoint us in your Christ, good Father, that your Spirit would abide in and with us (I John 2:26ff), and teach us all that is true, good, and beautiful, for you have promised blessings upon those who hunger and thirst after righteousness (Matthew 5:6). So fill us with the Spirit of Christ, for Jesus is our righteousness, holiness, and redemption (I Corinthians 1:30). You, Lord Jesus, are the sinless one (Hebrews 4:15) who became sin–putting it to death on the tree and trampling death by death–that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). Therefore please help us Lord to seek first your kingdom founded in your righteousness (Matthew 6:33), and let the eyes of our hearts be enlightened so that we may know the hope to which you have called us (Ephesians 1:18). Moreover let the light of your love and righteousness so flood the eyes of our hearts that there would be no room for darkness in us, but that our whole selves would be filled with your light (Matthew 6:22). Let us be purified by walking in your light, because the pure in heart see God (Matthew 5:8), and you promise that when we see you, Lord Jesus, we become like you for we see you as you are (I John 3:2). Therefore let our hearts always be surrounded and guarded by you, our breastplate, so that the eyes of our hearts would always be fixed on you.
Shoes:
As your transforming work daily shapes us more into the likeness of you, Lord Jesus, teach us to take up our cross daily (Matthew 16:24) without shrinking back (Hebrews 10:39). Becoming like you in your death, dear Lord, let us participate in the power of your resurrection (Philippians 3:10) in order that we may be excellent in what is good and innocent in what is evil so that you, our God of Peace, may crush Satan under our feet (Romans 16:19-20). In your Gospel of Peace you told us, Lord Jesus, that you came to “destroy the works of the Devil” (I John 3:8). Prepared by that Gospel of Peace, grant us the courage to walk in self-emptying love that does not fear the one who can kill the body only, but rather fears only the One with power over the soul and the body. For you, Good Father, are that One who sees even the sparrow fall and told us through your son to “fear not” because we are of greater value than many sparrows to you (Matthew 10:28-31). Therefore, as we receive and come to know more deeply your love, embolden us to walk in obedience to your commands that begin and end in Love.
Helmet:
Above all, Lord, let us be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2) and put on as the helmet of our salvation and crown of our new life the very mind of Christ. Teach us to set our minds on things above (Colossians 3:2) that we may embody the humility of Christ and serve others just as he who is the full embodiment of God emptied himself and served (Colossians 2:9, Philippians 2:6). And let us give up all grasping and self-serving ways because our confidence is in the promise that you, having begun a good work in us, will complete it in the day of Crist Jesus (Philippians 1:6).
Shield and Sword:
Finally, Lord, may the faithfulness of Christ which justifies us (Galatians 2:16) surround us as a shield, protecting us from the darts and schemes of the enemy (Ephesians 6:16). For “You, oh Lord, are a shield about me, my glory and the lifter of my head” (Psalm 3:3). Teach our hands to war (Psalm 18:34) that we may rightly handle the word of truth (II Timothy 2:15) as our sword.
Our Strength:
So surround us, equip us, and lead us into battle, Lord, for you are “a victorious warrior who exults over us in joy” (Zephaniah 3:17). Please draw us deeper into your joy that it may be our strength in this day of battle.
Amen.
Puddleglum Contra Mundum 