A Prayer to Stand Up to the Enemy
By Sharon Jaynes
“If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all” (Isaiah 7:9b NIV).
Being from North Carolina, I love the old black-and-white Andy Griffith television programs. In one episode, the neighborhood bully is picking on Opie. After Andy, the wise father, figures out what is disturbing his moping son, he gives him a little lesson in standing up to bullies. The next day, when the bully threatens Opie, the little freckle-faced boy looks his opponent in the eye and refuses to crumble under his threats. Opie never had to throw the first punch. All he did was stand his ground and the enemy backed away.
Bullies don’t like it when we stand up to them. Never have. Never will. And it is the same way with the devil. He’s just a bully...daring you to stand up to him.
In Ephesians 6:11-14, Paul admonishes us to stand three times. “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then…”
No one can stand for us. We have to stand on our own two feet and stand up against the enemy—and we stand on the Word of Truth.
The Lord said through the prophet Isaiah, “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all” (Isaiah 7:9b). As the old songwriter penned, “On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.”
Paul wrote, “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ,” (2 Corinthians 1:21 NIV).
Maybe you’ve been running from the bully for way too long. He’s all bark and no bite. He’s a toothless cowardly lion. Go ahead. Take your stand.
Heavenly Father, give me the courage to stand against the enemy today. I put on the armor of God: the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, the sandals of the gospel of peace, the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and the shield of faith. Thank You for the promise that greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
Editor’s Note: Content taken from the Girlfriends in God devotional, “Standing Up to the Bullies in Your Life,” written by Sharon Jaynes. You can read that piece in full here. All rights reserved.
Originally published Monday, 26 November 2018.
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