I don’t know about you, but as a soldier the thought that I might lose any ground to an adversary makes me dig deeper, ball up my fists and redouble my efforts to fight and win ... As bad as physical defeat is, Paul tells us in his letter to the Christians at Ephesus that the physical battles we face are a diversion. The reality is that the physical battles we fight are caused by the spiritual battle that is going on in the background. These days we are getting more and more accustomed to fighting a physical enemy that uses tricks, lies, ambushes, coercion and terror to try to destroy us. Our physical enemy is merely following the lead of our spiritual enemy---the difference being that our spiritual enemy can also penetrate our homes and directly target our families.

As Sonja held down the fort while her husband Jason was deployed, she quickly saw the need to go on the offensive against spirits of fear, worry, resentment, anger and bitterness. Instead of waiting for discouragement to invade and occupy her home, she countered it at every turn by wielding the Sword of Truth: God’s Word.

During childhood many of us were taught the Lord’s Prayer. We can recite it “from memory” and it doesn’t mean a thing, if we’re not careful. Whether we call it the “Lord’s Prayer” or the “Model Prayer” it reads like this in Matthew 6:9-13: “. . . Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts (some say ‘trespasses’), as we forgive our debtors (or ‘those who trespass against us’). And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” Whether praying this prayer before beginning your day, going out on patrol, standing watch, before going to bed at night, or as part of worship or a discipline of daily time with God, it’s a good reminder to examine this prayer for our “heart attitude” so that it doesn’t become just part of a “check-list of to-dos.”